I’ve been to two Mardi Gras festivals outside the U.S., one was accidental and another was a spontaneous excursion, albeit a failure.

2007

We drove into downtown Ensenada, Mexico to buy our friend Dutch a Mexican surfboard. I don’t remember the exact details, but without warning the entire city closed down and swarms of locals began parading down the street. I have absolutely no idea where they were going. We somehow found our way out of the city after spending hours waiting it out in a Papas n Beer.

2010

Hayley and I boarded a public bus that was shuttling at least thirty drunk high school kids over the Harbour Bridge to the Mardi Gras parade. People crowded around the street, standing on crates, propping themselves on windowsills or climbing trees and lamp posts to get a view. We didn’t have crates and there were no trees or lamp posts left. After a half hour we tried to escape the crowds, but we got stuck for twenty minutes in a human traffic jam. It was very claustrophobic.

People trying to get a view of the jumbotron that is setup in central Darlinghurst. The street is in the center of the photo, and you can see all the people standing on crates to watch the parade.

Tags: Australia, ensenada, mardi gras, mexico, Sydney