Switzerland is famous for its cows with their “famous” (and noisy) bells.
But wandering around in our countryside locations, we can find some other weird forms of life!
Swiss… creatures 2
magic
Swiss… creatures
Switzerland is famous for its cows with the always present bells.
However you might risk to meet also some little stranger… creatures if you are wandering around in the Swiss Cantons!
Black sky
Tonight…
Before the storm: Just one light on in the dark sky
Singing in the rain
Today in Switzerland, Argovia, it was raining.
And it was a weird rain…
Sand!
If I had known, I would have tried to make a sand castle!
Red wine or chemical potion?
Last night we had a nice dinner with a good bottle of red wine, which was in my Company’s this year’s Christmas present.
Very good wine, a blend of Malbec and Cabernet-Sauvignon, from a local Argovian producer.
It was also quite strong. I checked the bottle and I saw the “magical” number: 13.2% vol. alcohol! Thirteen POINT TWO!
Have you ever seen this? I would have expected either 13% or 13.5%. But POINT TWO was an absolute prime for me.
Maybe even the percentage of alcohol in Switzerland is calculated and indicated on the bottle in their own unique Swiss way…
Bring one… pick up one… to forget Covid-19
Last week I was passing by the “Gemeindehaus” (Parish hall) of the village where I live, when I noticed such installation of drawers!
(How many times I already saw it without getting it?)
I went closer and I finally understood: the small drawers are a real free bookstore! Each mini drawer contains a book and its color indicates the book subject. You can choose among various themes: Bestsellers, thrillers, biographies, etc…
This is a great initiative organised by the cultural department of the village. You pick up a book, bringing and leaving there another book of yours!
Covid-times? Ok, the picked up book can be always thoroughly disinfected, can’t it?
After work
After a long working day I was lucky yesterday to be able to relax while walking home.
In 35-40 minutes I could have such a nice way home…
But why, when it’s raining…
… no one is using the umbrella in Switzerland?
Even if the sky is very gray and the clouds are full of rain, the typical Herr Schweiz or Frau Schweiz never take their umbrella before leaving their house.
That’s a mystery. Without protection from the rain, is someone maybe feeling more powerful?
January 6th’s traditions
The Christmas time is traditionally finishing with the celebrations of January 6th.
In some countries this day is even a public and religious holiday.
The Christian church celebrates the arrival of the three kings to see and adore the newborn Jesus.
Coming from Italy and living in Switzerland, I (and especially the kids) can “celebrate” in two different ways, following different popular customs.
The Italian tradition says that in the night of January 6th an old woman, a kind of witch (called in Italian “Befana”) comes and brings sweets to the good children and coal to the bad ones. In order to get these presents, the kids have to hang an empty sock in the living room, which this old woman eventually fills in overnight…
This year the children got a lot of chocolates from “Befana”. And I can finally say that they deserved them!
The Swiss tradition (Unfortunately in our Canton, Argovia, January 6th is not a public holiday) celebrates this day by eating the so-called three king sweet bread.
All the main supermarkets sell it… or you should even bake it at home, if you can. The bread is sold in a package with a golden crown… Inside one of the pieces of this bread a very small figurine (2-3 cm) of one of the three kings is carefully hidden. The person who finds this miniaturised king (if he or she does not break the teeth) can happily wear the golden crown!
This year I was the lucky one! I was almost swallowing the small king, but I fortunately realised that it would have been better to save it from an inglorious and pathless travel into my bowel!
Happy Halloween!
The pumpinks are smiling also in Switzerland in the night of Halloween!
It should be certainly a trick, rather than a treat…
… especially if you think that one of the most American “celebrations” is very popular also in the Confederation, where the USA are not so beloved and it is very rare to find someone not blaming the US for something!
Real Swiss 