Monday, August 6, 2012

100% Swiss

The Swiss National Holiday is on August 1st, and about a week before the holiday all the grocery stores start to put out the Swiss paraphernalia – flags, candles, hard-boiled eggs (yes, I couldn’t resist the cute Swiss-flag decorated hard boiled eggs at the local grocery store), and (drum roll) FIREWORKS.  They’re legal here in Switzerland – oh Bauer boys, you would have loved this!
We were lucky to be invited by my friend Debbie (a friend from nursing school days who has been here over 20 years) to her village festival.  We went to a brunch at a working farm – it was an amazing display of food – cheeses of all kinds, yogurt from the local creamery, charcuterie, pastries, tarts and beer and wine. The brunch was held in a huge, new barn that was scrubbed down to perfection and decorated for the event.  The cows here in Switzerland live in deluxe living conditions!

 Baby calf just days old

 Never too early for a toast!
That evening we returned for the evening meal, speeches from the mayor, singing the Swiss national anthem (apparently so complex that everyone needs a cheat-sheet), an excellent performance from the local brass band (one of the trumpet players happened to be Debbie’s husband), a parade with the children carrying their lanterns to a big field for a bonfire and fireworks.  The fireworks that you can purchase here aren’t just your usual sparklers - some of them had timed fuses for a display that could rival the World Series.  After the individual firework displays were done, we walked back for the “official” display with the bonfire burning behind us (reportedly being watched by the local volunteer fire department).  The official fireworks display was spectacular - sweet since we left the US on the afternoon of July 4th and completely missed our own independence day.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Laurie,
    Wow, I just saw your post on FB and came to check out your blog -- I had no idea you were doing this -- what a fantastic idea! I love the Lausanne area, it's so beautiful. You'll love all the wonderful things that make up life in Switzerland, I'm sure! I used to have a friend who lived in Vevey, I think near Ouchy. Ahhhh, so pretty!
    Did Will graduate? Andy still has another quarter, as he changed from Biology to Intl Relations last year. I'm encouraging him to stay for the year, as the job market is so bad. Sarah is also at Davis, about to start her 3rd year. She's on the swim team and doing Nutrition, so she keeps really busy.
    Well, take care, I'll be reading your blog and wishing I was there too!!
    Margaret Winters

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