The first carnival in Cyprus

Yes, some people won't understand why we didn't fly to the carnival capital in the Rhineland for Carnival, but the carnival in Cyprus is so fantastic; you really have to experience it for yourself.

It's crazy how different, but also how beautiful the carnival is here.

A week before Women's Carnival Day, most of the shops here close, and the owners set up grills and provide drinks. Anyone passing by is welcome to help themselves to food and drinks, all free of charge.

(Donations are, of course, gratefully accepted.)

There's laughter, dancing in the streets, and, as is the custom here during Carnival, lots of noise.

Then comes Silent Friday, when everything is done as quietly as possible, and no animal products may be consumed on this Friday.

The week leading up to Women's Carnival Day (Weiberfastnacht) then proceeds quite normally, without parties, just as the Rhinelanders are used to.

But then it begins. Many small groups roam the towns and villages, making NOISE.

NOISE is the most important thing about Carnival here.

The groups ride the escalators up and down in the mall all day long, making music and noise.

In Paphos, our new home, the parade took place on Carnival Saturday.

We really hadn't expected what we saw there. We hadn't seen such a fantastic parade in a long time. The last time was many years ago in Malmedy, Belgium.

We arrived very early and walked part of the route. It's completely different from Germany, because there are no opportunities to buy food here.

And certainly no alcohol. What in Germany are beer stands, here are ice cream trucks and stalls selling trumpets, the occasional hat for the tourists, and, most importantly, streamers sprayed from a can.

Everything and everyone that can walk gets sprayed with paint. It's absolutely insane.

The parade was simply beautiful and lasted about four hours, during which we saw countless groups and floats. Afterwards, there's more celebrating in the market square with street music and lots of noise.

Sunday is almost back to normal, with some groups again marching through the mall with music and noise.

However, Rose Monday is really interesting here.

Here, this day is called Clean Monday, and it's just amazing.

Clean Monday means that all Greek restaurants, tavernas, and shops are closed, not because it's an official holiday, but because Greeks dedicate this day to family and friends.

We were planning to do some errands in the old town, but we were quite surprised to see that all the shops and restaurants were closed.

We were actually headed to our Moukhtar, but it was closed too. I'll tell you about our Moukhtar in another post.

So we walked back to our apartment through the completely deserted old town and saw hundreds of kites flying from our balcony. The whole air smelled of charcoal.

We were a bit puzzled, but yes, this is Clean Monday.

Everyone meets up on the beach, flies kites, has barbecues, and spends the whole day having fun with family and friends.

People stay on the beach until late into the evening, eating, drinking, and having fun.

The following day marks the beginning of Lent, the period of fasting that lasts until Easter. During this time, no animal products may be eaten or drunk.

We hope that when we soon embark on our big trip, we will be able to experience many more wonderful Carnival days.