If you have business contacts in the German Rhineland, I suggest you don't bother calling them until Wednesday at the earliest, as the annual Karneval is in full swing. The normally rather sensible burghers of Cologne, Mainz and Düsseldorf get dressed up in pantomime-like costumes, drink Sekt for breakfast, and parade through the streets having a generally rather merry time of it.
In the UK of course, we know better, and make pancakes.
For around ten years now (with a couple of regrettable absences) I've been gleefully attending my friend Matt's pancake party.
Originally Matt and I saw it as a way of consoling ourselves that we couldn't be elsewhere. He in Sydney at Mardi Gras, and I in Cologne. But since then, for me at least, I'd actually, on balance, rather be sitting at his table eating pancakes with people I see all too rarely - in a place which still feels like my real home.
Posted by Eurodan at February 7, 2005 11:53 PMYeah Pancake party...interesting, Spain, well that's another story, here in Barcelona, everybody move to Sitges to see the drags night.....and it does't end till the first train comes back to the city at 6 am!...sooo I'll have some Pancakes in sitges for my brit friends
Posted by: Edu at February 8, 2005 11:09 AMAw. I'm certainly delighted you're returning to the fold to participate in tonight's gluttony :)
(WT seems to be blacklisted, btw.)
Posted by: matt at February 8, 2005 1:16 PMSorry about that Matt... I've fixed the problem.
Thanks for the pancakes last night by the way!
Posted by: Eurodan at February 9, 2005 11:28 AM