Helau and Alaaf: Carnival is coming!

Today is an important day to all who are into carnival. In Germany (and maybe elsewhere as well), 11.11 at 11.11 a.m. is the kick-off of the carnival season, the so-called "fifth season," which ends on Ash Wednesday, which - in 2024 - happens to be on Valentin's day. What a cosmic concidence !!!

Carnival, as you know, is a large dress-up as somebody or something else party and doing crazy things. Hence, today is a perfect day for Franziska to resurface, even though I doubt that there will be many carnevalists out in Frankfurt today and I hope that Franziska will be anything but viewed as one of them. In any case, Franziska is getting ready for a day out and about at that very moment this post is published.

I still owe you a posting on Franziska’s year-end 2022 evening as her brunette self. After an enjoyable day out and about in Frankfurt, Franziska headed home to get ready for the evening. From downtown Frankfurt that is just a 20-minute walk or a 5-minute ride on the e-scooter along the river. A change of outfit into this wonderful glittery golden calf-length dress and some touch-up on the makeup, a dash of perfume, and off she went to “Alte Oper” to see – a real classic – Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s “CATS.”

Portrait of the evening

A very funny thing happened on the way to “Alte Oper.” I had called a taxi to pick me up at home. Shortly before the expected arrival, I left the house to wait downstairs, when I noticed on the taxi app that the one reserved for me was still far, far away from where I was. A quick call to the taxi hotline and another one was on the way. That one took a wrong turn towards out-of-town. I called the hotline again – it was getting tight to still make it on time for the show – and cancelled the taxi. While I was trying to secure an Uber ride on my app, a taxi stopped – unnoticed and unexpectedly – right in front of me and the driver said out of the blue: “Madam, did you order a taxi?” Thrown off guard, still preoccupied with my cellular phone and my Uber app, and being slightly unnerved at that time, I said to the taxi driver in my deepest MALE voice and with an irritated tone, “YEAH – but half an hour ago !!!”

I got in the taxi. I explained to the young and handsome Muslim driver why I was dressed that way and why I was irritated. We shared a good laugh. I apologized to him for my aggressive tone and we had a nice chat on the way to “Alte Oper.”

A familiar sight to my regular readers: my pre-ordered glass of wine and sparking water at intermission, next to the little card, stating that this table is reserved for “Franziska.”