There's no getting around it: it's carnival time here in Germany and since Thursday festivities in the Rheinland and a few other western regions are in full swing - and that means with costumes, loads of songs and silliness and of course copious amounts of drink! It's a funny thing with carnival actually because while the more staid Prussian north and eastern parts of the country tend to criticise the Rheinlanders for their unbridled mirth - what the critics tend to forget is that no matter how outlandish and silly the rituals get - people really have FUN. THAT is the essence of carnival in Cologne where I think our reporter Matthias Stamm had to agree.