On Sunday we went into Weingarten , which is 2.5 miles (4 km) from Ravensburg, although as is common in the US the cities are pretty much conjoined by development. We were there for the big parade for the finale of Fasnet (also called Fashing and Fastnach I think). It's the typical 'big celebration before Ash Wednesday' that is common in many Christian cultures (e.g. Mardi Gras). This was a huge parade, lasting almost three hours. It was easily the highlight of the trip for me. All the different costumes are amazing (and apparently very expensive, figures in the thousands were bandied around). They parade as groups through the streets. The groups usually have a theme, and almost everyone is wearing an elaborately carved mask. These masks were amazing. Words really can't do it justice so I'm going to post a couple of videos. These guys were a hoot. There was a good group of them. Prominent citizens, presumably. They certainly look important. ...