This Place Is Getting Nutty

A few weeks ago, while walking Smidgey, we came upon this tree:

That had these faces on it:

and

He has 2 noses!

Then a week or so later we saw this tree:

All the nuttiness came to a head (see what I did there?) this weekend as Switzerland celebrated Fasnacht. Basically, Fasnacht is Carnival, the lead up to Lent and a reason for the Swiss to let loose. Which is what they have been doing since Thursday. The revelry includes parades, parties and costumed debauchery. I witnessed a group of 10 or so middle aged people (men and women) wearing matching cowboy costumes doing shots on the train at noon.

Joe, Mo, and I got in the spirit of Fasnacht (without the shots!) by attending a huge village parade:

Joe's new 'do', B the bee, and Mo in her squid hat.

Squid-bee hybrid.

The parade was well attended:

And well decorated:

An actual confetti cannon coming out of a giant birthday cake.

But the nuttiness of Switzerland isn't only relegated to Fasnacht.

I've discovered the Swiss like nuts on their playing cards. In fact, one of the suits is Eicheln (acorns):

And a favorite beer brewed in neighboring Luzern is Eichhof which translates to 'oak courtyard'.

I love that they use the squirrel on the label. Squirrel is Eichhörnchen in German.

Notice the repetition of the word EICH? A nutty theme emerges...


Fasnacht
a time to be
off your nut

©2019, Bridget Magee. All Rights Reserved.