Basler Fasnacht - Morgenstraich

Basel. 4am. Fasnacht begins.

As expected with the ever precise Swiss this annual carnival lasts exactly 72 h and starts at exactly 4 am on the first Monday after Ash Wednesday.

My parents and I gathered with many others in the market square at 3am for a good view of the lantern parade that would be accompanied by piccolo marching bands.

Many of the lanterns possess cultural references and slogans. Since I am not fluent in Swiss German (a phonetic language at best) I had to make do with looking at the pictures. I recognised the lion King one which will be playing at Basel's theatre from March. I even spotted a couple of Scottish referendum designs!

The whole thing was surreal. After a couple of hours of following the lantern clad musicians we went back to my apartment for a traditional post-Morgenstraich breakfast - Mehlsuppe (flour soup) and onion tart made by my roommate.

We staggered through the rest of the day with more parades and music. 2 more days of this!