karneval in bonn, part 1

last sunday we ventured into the altstadt here in bonn to partake in the day's karneval festivities. karneval lasts thursday-monday, but sunday seems to be the big day here (more on why later). here's a sampling of what we saw upon arriving.

this greeted us in the street as we were walking in (about 1:30 pm).
a big part of karneval is that everyone is supposed to get dressed up in costumes -- sorta like halloween for adults, only people seem to take it really seriously. here's a man dressed up as a kangaroo with a koala in his pouch.
here's a little stand selling these karneval medallion thingies people wear around their necks.a reibekuchen (= delicious fried potato pancake) stand.another food vendor. the sign translates to "the greatest fire tongs punch in the world?", but i have no idea what that's supposed to mean!