The Evil Snowman

Today is truly a great day. Not only was I full after just one dinner, I also figured out how to change the language on one TV channel from German to English! Never before have I been so happy to see Law and Order reruns. In celebration, I'm going to tell you all about Sechseläuten and show the outcome of some death and gravity-defying stunt photography that I did just for you.

Monday was a public holiday in the city of Zurich, in celebration of Sechseläuten. Sechsawho, you ask? Well kids, allow me to introduce to you my favorite new holiday. It's a traditional festival that celebrates the end of winter, hence earning the place of my favorite new holiday. Celebrations last over two days. Sunday was a local Parade with the children of the city, followed by a Parade with adults on Monday.

Monday evening, the procession ends at "Sechseläutenplatz" which is in Bellevue, about a 7 minute walk from my apartment. At Bellevue, a huge snowman is built that is burned down. Because this is Switzerland, everything, including the destruction of Evil, has to be scheduled. So the burning begins exactly at 6pm. According to tradition, the burning of the Snowman indicates an end to winter and beginning of summer. According to the folklore, the faster the snowman burns, the earlier summer beings, and the longer it lasts.

Now that you've had your history lesson, let's talk about what actually happened. On Sunday, I inadvertently stumbled upon the children's Parade. I was trying to get the tram to go to the Main Train Station, but none of the trams were running. So I started walking towards Bellevue and came across food stalls on the way. Here's another important life lesson: Where there's a Parade, there's food. My day immediately started looking up. I had already missed my train, so I decided to catch some of the Parade. As I hadn't lined up early enough, I was in the back row and could barely see the trees on the other side of the street. An elderly couple took pity on me and let me go sit on the curb with all the little kids. Here are some pictures I managed to take of the parade:



Most of the kids in the Parade were handing out candy to the other kids on the street. I resisted the urge to extend my arm out and wrestle for some candy with 4 year olds.



See the little girl in the extreme left corner? She turned around and told her parents, "I waved and smiled at one of the boys but he didn't smile back." Story of my life sister, story of my life.

I decided to be a professional photographer and climbed atop a pole, just to take this picture for you:



This one below was taken by me dangling off a tree like a monkey. Such are the death-defying risks I take for you. Some people may claim that this was taken from a balcony just above the street, but what do they know?



Now, you may have noticed a trend here. I have tons of pictures of the parade and the crowd, but none of the Burning Snowman. There is a reason for that. Here's what happened: Monday afternoon, I joined a coworker for an easy 5k hike that turned into a 10K one. We headed back to Zurich way before 6pm. I had full intention of hanging out there until 6pm to celebrate the destruction of the Evil Snowman and all that he represents, to take some pictures, and to head back. That was the plan. But you know what they say...Life happens when you are busy making plans. So, as I was planning out the next few hours of the evening, this happened:



Remember how I said that there were tons of food stalls? Well, I had a sudden urge to stop at every single stall for a quick bite. So I had mango juice, Chocolate Crepes, some rice and curry - all within a span of 30 min.

At the end of it, I had reached a now familiar state of Food Coma, and had no other choice but to go back to the apartment before I caused a medical emergency at the Burning Snowman event. God forbid I delayed the burning by even a few minutes - that would be catastrophic here in Swissland. So head back I did. But fear not, I have been told that the snowman died a quick death, indicating a long and prosperous summer. Which is great, because now I can have my ice cream by the lake. I've heard that calories don't count if you eat standing up, so that's what I hope to do most of this summer. No time like the present to test that theory out, I say!