I’ll admit I was somewhat down on arrival in Zurich. It didn’t help that my first hotel had a charming Swiss “country” motif. The lobby furniture was covered in cowhide designs. One wall in my room had a mural of a gopher looking under the dress of peasant girl raking hay, and in the bathroom there were little cows on the shower curtain and tiles. You even needed to get a “cow chip” from the front desk to use as a breakfast voucher. I didn’t, thank you, and for the first time was happy to see Starbucks in a European city.
I got back from Interlaken, on April 19th, which was Sechsileuten. Most people in Zurich get a half a day off to go to the festival. It’s a great day out with a parade, food, and drink; all with wonderfully pagan overtones. The official festivities begin with the parade around 15:00, but even before that many of the bands are wandering around the city playing.
The festival is centered on the old trade guilds and it’s members dress in medieval costume and parade around. There is plenty passing out of candy and flowers from both the participants and the spectators. The whole day culminates with the burning of Böög.
Picture a 40-foot, upside down cone made of sticks, with a fake snowman on top. That snowman is Böög. Now imagine setting that cone on fire at 6 o’clock, on the 6th stroke of the big clock. Then picture it as the various guilds take turns, madly riding horses around the blaze and the whole thing encircled by a huge crowd. Then imagine that the snowman’s head is filled with explosives.
The amount of time between the 6th stroke of the clock and the time when Böög’s head explodes is meant to indicate what kind of summer there’ll be. Beats the Hell out our rodent/shadow method. This year it took 20 minutes and 12 seconds* for Böög’s head to come off, indicating a good summer ahead*. That’s lucky because in July will be the Seenachts festival, which only happens once every three years.
The Swiss have a reputation for what I call hostile politeness, but with the exception of the motor vehicle department, so far I’ve had nothing but friendly interactions, including other government bureaucrats. Zurich, the city, is a perpetual construction zone. There’s a bar called the Jules Verne in an old observatory in the middle of the city and from there you see at least 20 cranes, just like 10 years earlier.
I prefer the outdoor tables in the Neiderdorf, the old part of town, which is full of bars and restaurants, and when the sun comes out there’s nothing nicer than sitting outside watching a very well dressed, voluptuous world go by.
Waiting for a friend, I sat at a table in the middle of the Hirshen Platz, which is in the center of the Neiderdorf. An older gentleman came along took one of the vacant chairs at my table and immediately gave me his opinion on various subjects. It was an easy conversation; I wasn’t required to contribute, or listen, as far as I could tell, so I didn’t catch everything he said. He finished his beer, we shook hands like old friends and he left. Somehow we had bonded and I don’t think I said more that three words, including the good-bye.
My plans have again been “oopsed” beyond recognition, but as a friend pointed out “so, what’s the hurry, you have all the time in the world”. True.
* Though there was minor controversy on when the timing actually started, the time was adjusted several seconds. The result was unchanged: good summer.
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