I just learned that the German Altweiber or Weiberfastnacht (or the term in the headline as it's used in my regional dialect) in English means "Thursday before Shrove Tuesday". Complicated! Well, basically it means getting drunk at high noon.

My "favourite" Altweiber event was 15 years ago, when I was still living in a student hostel in Bonn. Unfortunately, my rental contract was running out and I urgently tried to find someone at student services to apply for an extension of that contract. This happened at "Thursday before Shrove Tuesday" and my deadline was the next day. So I ran from office to office and I just met these ridiculously costumed women who felt unable to help me.

In the end, I moved to my girlfriend. We got married and are still living happily together :-)