Ticino-Switzerland : April 15 - SECHESLAUTEN! in Zurich!

On Monday April 15, there was the annual Sechesläuten celebration in Zurich. The parade was beginning at 3pm. Rick and I wanted to have breakfast in a cafe, but there was nothing open in the morning. All of Zurich is closed for this festival (although by afternoon there were many food stands and all restaurants were open).
So since the skies were clear again, we decided to take the bus up to the Die Waid restaurant again! It was so nice and warm out. We sat out on the terrace in the sun, looking at the beautiful view of the Alps and had some coffee and croissants.

There are also nice hiking paths through the woods behind the restaurant, and also in this area are some gardens. Throughout Switzerland people have little plots of gardens with little garden houses. They are very cute, and almost like little vacation spots! We took a walk in a nearby garden area to enjoy.

We still had time to explore before the Sechesläuten festivities began, so we took the bus up another mountainside by the Zurich Zoo. It gave us another view down on the city and of the Alps. I love Zurich because it is so easy to get around by public transportation! Actually, the two couples we met the evening before live there and don't own cars - they don't need to!

Back in Zurich, we found a good spot to watch the parade. It features members of the many guilds in the Zurich area, which date back to Medieval times. The parade follows a route throughout the city and finally ends in a large area by the lake (Bellevue). In the center of this open area there is a big pile of wood/sticks, with a snowman on top, the Böög. At 6pm the bonfire is started. It eventually reaches up to the snowman, where firecrackers start popping. Eventually the snowman's head blows off. This is their official end to winter, and a fast burn and head off indicates a good summer to come. Unfortunately it took 35 minutes for his head to blow off - the longest since 1988. It doesn't look like a good summer in Zurich, but at about 75 degrees and sunny, it was a great day for the Sechesläuten!

A beautiful spot for breakfast

Little Swiss garden plots

More Swiss garden plots

From up by the garden plots - darn smoke stack!

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View from up another mountainside near the Zurich Zoo

Before the parade

In Swiss costume!

Waiting for the parade to begin

Secheslauten Parade

Now, here is the funny thing.... Earlier in the day when we took the bus up the mountainside by the Zurich Zoo, I looked out the bus window when we were almost there and I said "Rick! Look! Camels!" I figured they were on their way down to the city to walk in the parade - they brought them from the Zoo!