Rosenmontag, European Parliament, and the Munster Market!

Week of 07.03.2011

It was so nice to have Monday off after our EU institutions trip to Frankfurt, Brussels, and Paris! Monday, March 7^th is not a German National Holiday, but all the schools are closed and people don’t have to go to work. Rosenmontag celebrates the German Carnival season and is the Shrove Monday before Lent begins.

The celebrations differ for each region of Germany, but they usually involve a public parade, masks, and a huge street party.

The Frieburg celebrations are more traditional, rooted in “scaring” away Winter and inviting Spring.

The parade was a spectacular sight! People dressed up and participating in the parade threw candy, chanted loudly, grabbed bystanders, chased children, poked fun, and performed skits.It seemed like all of Freiburg showed up ready for fun and excitement! Afterwards, the confetti-sprinkled streets were crowded with busy bratwurst stands and drunken students.

Wednesday, IES planned a trip to the European Union Parliament in Strasbourg, France. We had free time to tour the city before our Parliament visit. Strasbourg, straddling the French and German border, is only an 1½ from Freiburg. It is the capital city in the Alsace region and reminded me of Colmar, France. To me, Strasbourg was an extra-large Colmar with a body of water running through it.

There was not much to see or do in Strasbourg besides visiting the Notre Dame church and European Parliament.

At our visit to Parliament, we watched a live debate in the parliamentarian chambers. It was so exciting to see Baroness Catherine Ashton, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union in action! We listened to the debate on the no-fly zone in Libya and the European Union’s reaction to unfolding violence. It was very impressive to see the representatives of member countries address Catherine Ashton in 23 different languages.

Saturday, I visited the Freiburg open market at the Munster Square. The market is open Monday through Saturday from morning until mid-afternoon. It was gorgeous weather, so the market was very crowded.

Vibrant flowers, fresh fruits and vegetables, varieties of teas, cheeses, bratwurst and wines filled the square.

I bought some of my groceries for the week, including purple carrots and a block of feta covered in garlic and mixed with grapes and tomatoes. It was great in a salad I made for lunch! I’ll definitely be taking my mamma and daddy there when they visit!