The Swiss let loose in August!

Over the past 9 months I have come to the conclusion that for the most part the Swiss are a pretty conservative, keep-to-themselves culture. It is difficult to get to know them on a personal level, and they barely say hello, excuse me or show any other sign of common courtesy out in public. Not to mention some apartment buildings even have regulations on "quiet hours," and they are a society that believes firmly on no work (not even pulling weeds) on Sundays.

Crowds of people for Street Parade... not a typical day in Switzerland!

So to say they "let loose" during the month of August might almost be an understatement. Part of this I guess is due to the fact that schools only let out for about 5 to 6 weeks during the summer here, half of which falls in the month of August (don't feel too bad, kids get plenty of time off throughout the rest of the year for ski holidays and such) and as a result many parents take several weeks off of work (some are forced to as many daycares also shut down for this same time period!). Although many of these people go to the mountains or out of the country during this time, the people left in Zurich find many activities to keep themselves entertained and a bit more social then they are the rest of the year.

The month kicked off with the Swiss National Holiday on August 1. This is just like our 4th of July celebration, except with a twist. While we think of parades and BBQs, the Swiss find themselves enjoying a farmer's brunch on this holiday. We of course decided to partake with several of Steve's co-workers and made our way to a "city farm" in a suburb of Zurich and had brunch with 400 other people. Unfortunately we forgot to take any good photos, but we will get some next year as it was a lot of fun, good food and a definite must as next year Emma will be ready to test out the little petting zoo this family made available to children with some of their farm animals. It was fun to eat fresh eggs, potatoes, cheeses and jams outside in an partially covered barn. And at $30 per person for unlimited food this was an absolute steal by Swiss standards (normal brunches here run at least $50 - $80 per person). We enjoyed the rest of the beautiful weather that day at the lake with friends and perhaps next year Emma will be ready to take in the fireworks as well!

On our way to the parade (yes, open containers are legal here
every day of the year)

Although the Swiss National Day was a pleasant surprise of the Swiss culture, by far the more shocking surprise of the month was the Street Parade, which is an annual tradition that takes place on the 2nd Saturday in August. I guarantee you that this tradition is not so broadly embraced by the entire Swiss population. I am not sure how to entirely describe it... according to Wikipedia it is the most widely attended technoparade in Europe and is said to be a demonstration of freedom, love, and tolerance with reportedly a million people in attendance. The parade did not start until around 3 pm, but parties started all over the city earlier in the morning and lasted into the wee hours the following morning. Once again, like Fasnacht (Swiss Mardi Gras) it was a reason for many people to dress up in completely random costumes. We enjoyed the time pre-parade with some friends that lived near the parade route and made our way out to the route a few hours before it started so we could see all the crazy spectators. However, it quickly became apparent that once the parade started it was time for us to head home. Not exactly the place for children (let alone newborns) each parade float features a different band and dancers on the floats, and the music is played so loudly that many people wear earplugs! It was about the furthest thing possible from the typically conservative, quiet Swiss lifestyle. Yet one thing Swiss still remained true, as it is still technically a political demonstration it is completely peaceful and safe. While other European cities had similar demonstrations in the past such as Berlin, many of these turned violent and dangerous. Not the case in Zurich where people continue to be some of the most law abiding citizens in the world.

Emma got a feather to wear for the parade

Unexplained street parade costumes

Finally, on another recent weekend, although not near as big of a deal as the previous two events there was a "swim" held in the Limmat River, which flows through the center of Zurich. I had heard it was quite popular and had sold out. I assumed it was a competitive swim for roughly a half mile down the river. And perhaps it was competitive for a small group of people, but as we observed while we watched part of it that the majority of people simply "float" down the river. And not just that but they do so with rafts and duck inner tubes. Perhaps my favorite part of the day other than seeing hundreds of people bobbing down the river with their duckies was seeing them jammed onto the trams and buses with them going home after the swim!

People and a few duckies floating down the river

Aside from taking part in these Swiss traditions the past few weeks we have done a few other fun things as well. Emma played hostess to her first house guests, our friends Kristin & Jon, who made a quick stop in Zurich at the end of the European vacation. In less than 48 hours we managed to fit in a tour of Zurich, a beautiful hike overlooking the city, and encouraging them to eat and drink as much traditional Swiss food as possible!

Quick stop along our hike

Kristin & Jon eating meat on a hot stone... a fun Zurich dining experience where you cook your own meat - the bibs are to keep you from getting burned from the sizzling meat!

Last week Emma got in another overnight away from home, as we went to visit dad while he was working out of town in the beautiful Swiss resort village of Engelberg in the heart of the Alps. Overall the two hour train ride with just mom and Emma went pretty well, and it was well worth the night spent visiting dad, especially when mom was even able to get in a beautiful run along the base of the mountains. Although Steve has yet to go to a non-beautiful spot when he goes out of town for work, this one by far tops the list and if the view from his hotel room was this amazing all the time it would be hard to stop us from going every week for a quick visit.

View from Steve's hotel room in Engelberg!

And finally this past weekend we checked one more hike off our list. Unlike the others I didn't think this one was quite deserving of its own blog post. It was along the Rhine river in the northwest corner of the country and just a few miles from both the French and German borders. The second half was nice as it wandered along a tiny path down the river, but the first half was less than spectacular as it made it's way through part of the city of Basel and some more industrial areas. I am not quite sure how it qualified as one of the 32 top hikes in Switzerland, but we're guessing it did as it was meant to showcase a different region of the country. Or perhaps with all this amazing beauty we are just becoming a bit of hiking snobs...

  

The best part of our hike along the Rhine - going with friends Laura & Dana!

August was certainly a fun month for all of us, but we can't wait to see what September holds especially as it includes our first out of the country trip with Emma!