Last weekend, towns all over Belgium had carnivales to celebrate a bunch before the somber weeks of Lent. (Well, they probably used to be somber a while back.) We went to the Carnivale parade in Aalst, one of the most famous in Belgium, despite warnings from my co-worker Pascale of the rather drunken and crazy revelers. We got there before dark and people were a bit inebriated, but nothing too bad. I did want to leave at dusk though. All the shops were boarded up in anticipation of the "festivities." It looked like the town was expecting a Florida hurricane. But, while we were there, the whole town was out to see the parade, with kids dressed in costume and shooting silly string at the floats. People watched from the upper floors of buildings and had commandeered first floor businesses as party centers. It is clear the development of this parade is very involved as there are the complicated floats, music, costumes, and dancing. This is just a sampling. I will post a web album and some videos (really, I will). It was definetely a Belgian experience not to be missed.
Eliot watched intently the whole time from the backpack, which he was glad to see again after months of disuse.
There were still a few floats expressing displeasure at the former US President.... There were some about Obama, too.
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