A ‘Wii’ bit of Carnival 2010

Alas, the annual carnival revelers did not make it to Venice, Nice, Faro or any of Italy’s medieval villages this year. Despite having the dates since Autumn, time flew and suddenly expensive air travel and hotel logistics required herculean efforts.

Email chains from Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom, China and the US evaluated the options.  We were not prepared to freeze in sub zero temperatures in Germany, Hungary, nor risk being hit by flying oranges in Binche, Belgium. Did we need Kolsch beer, bars of chocolate, flowers, sweets, or actually enjoy having shaving cream and silly string on our coats? And even if it was Valentine’s Day, could we get by without those flattering winks from charming Italian gentlemen? Wasn’t the idea of carnival weekend really about being together after all?

And so Brussels became our carnival hub for 2010. The ladies descended upon ‘Europe’s capital’ for a weekend of camaraderie, champagne, food and shopping (in that order). Saturday’s dinner was a hearty raclette, a convivial winter feast of potatoes, melted cheese, charcuterie (cold cuts) and vegetables. This was accompanied by an indulgent champagne tasting (a deliberate deviation from the Swiss tradition of tea and coffee). Gold leaf brushed chocolate lips and hearts added a sweet finish to this Carnival, Valentine’s and Chinese New Year meal.

Somewhere around 11.00 PM, it seemed like a particularly good idea to open up the new Wii.  Fortunately we had a Wii expert to show us the ropes.  We were soon in tears of laughter as we created our ‘characters’ and female likenesses – going so far as adding ‘sexy’ goatees, pigtails and droopy eyebrows for amusement’s sake. Cool characters in place, we officially opened the ’2010 Champagne Wii Olympics’. Our butts were quickly whipped in a bowling game by a seemingly sweet innocent blonde who claimed she never bowled. The room then transformed into an intense tennis match. Competition was rife, cameras flashed and beads of sweat threatened to roll down brows as the volume of laughter increased and time became obsolete.

This was Carnival 2010. We now have the carnival dates until 2016. There are no excuses not to get organised in advance. I like to put my own spin on the hearty carnival cheer,”Kolle Alaaf” (‘Cologne is alive”). For me, it means “Carnival is Alive“. May the key ingredient for carnival reunions (with or without a Wii, Valentines or Year of the Tiger) always be: good friends.

Related stories: Carnival 2009 – Viareggio, Italy: ‘After that bear we’re going through‘

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