(CH)ICAGO ABROAD: SECHSELAUTEN AND CONVENTIONAL GENEVA

Killer Hats! Next to UBS and Credit Suisse World Headquarters

So, it's been a while, but I think I left off at my visit to the Frey Chocolate factory. And speaking of the Chocolate Factory, I received some interesting feedback from a few people. I got some of the usual comments, "Great blog, I love chocolate too" and then I got some, "That was dull". My favorite came from the wife, "...I can't believe you remembered all the details of making chocolate" which basically is like a parent telling a kid that played 10 seconds in a basketball game when your team is up or down by twenty points, "You had a great game son!" Maybe I was trying to take a more serious stance or showing my blog range like Derek Jeter from 1999 and not the 2010/11 Derek Jeter.

In other news, you might have missed it, but the wife and I celebrated an anniversary of sorts here in Zurich. We've lived in Zurich for 6 months. We're officially on the backend of our year long journey, so I guess it's downhill from here and we better start enjoying this thing before it's over.

Sunny with a side of smiles.

Sechselauten is the festival in Zurich that celebrates quite a few things. It celebrates the end of winter, welcoming of Spring, the promise of Summer and acknowledges the rich history of Zurich's Guilds. The Guild's are basically old school trade associations like Merchants, Farmers, and Craftsmen. The Guilds went out of fashion around the time of the French Revolution, something about protectionism and stifling innovation, yet many people still belong to Guilds and Sechselauten is their moment to shine. A parade starts at around 3pm and all the Guilds, wearing their traditional Swiss guild outfits, march through and around downtown Zurich. Quite a few beers and three hours later, a giant Snowman, they call a Boog, is loaded with fireworks and set on fire. The quicker the Snowman burns, the nicer the summer will be. Very scientific indeed! I thought it was crazy to have a festival on a Monday afternoon but the Swiss roll how the swiss roll and who am I to tell them how to roll. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Quick story. So the wife and I are accustomed to American style parades; yelling, screaming, more yelling and blockades everywhere...let's just say the Swiss do things a little different. Firstly the parade watchers were all very quiet. Very little yelling and very little screaming. They also had assigned seating along the parade route. Assigned seating!?!?! This is not a joke. Also, historically, only men belonged to the large Guilds but this year was the first year that women were allowed to march and ride horses. My wife and I kept wondering why there were so many florists along the parade route and it turns out, traditionally, women purchase flowers and wait along the parade route and run through the parade and give flowers to the men the men marching or parading or whatever one calls that person. The men give them the standard "Swiss three cheeks" kiss. I couldn't imagine someone running up on me while I was marching in the Bud Billiken Parade or the Chicago St. Patrick's Day parade. There would be some serious problems!

Street Performers

Random person dancing

The Street Performers

And now Geneva. In the spirit of traveling or hosting friends and family every other weekend, we decided to make the 4 hour trek to Geneva, the French portion of Switzerland. All we knew going into our trip was that Geneva held some conventions that there were quite a few international banking operations which means quite a few expats. The city definitely had more French influences than the traditional Swiss influences we have grown accustomed to, but all in all, it was still very much French. The wife and I decided that we were happy we went but we probably wouldn't venture to Geneva again. My favorite comment from my wife after searching for the Grand Theatre for 35 minutes uphill both ways, "So this is the Grand Theatre, it's not so grand is it?" I couldn't help it but I laughed, off on on, for the next hour or so.