In October 2011, almost six months ago, i dug up soil and fertilized it and planted tulip buds in two large pots on my balcony. i have been waiting patiently for them to come up to brighten my rather plain barbeque area.
And TODAY… they POPPED up! (i’m sure they poked their little heads out earlier but i only really noticed them today) That’s right, i have i think… ten little shoots! Happy, Happy, Happy 😀
A sign that Spring has come, finally, after what has been quite a freezing Winter. The official calender start to Spring is on 20.03.2012, Tuesday, at least according to my bought-in-Switzerland calender.
Solothurn, the Swiss town we live in, just finished its annual Fasnacht celebrations on Wednesday.
What is Fasnacht? Well, it is simply the Swiss Carnival – the one time in the year in which the Swiss let loose and go a little lot crazy! Like carnival all over the world, it’s a time for costumes and loud music and drinking and parades and just plain good o’ fun. Of course, there is tradition to consider and tradition says that all this isn’t just fun. It has a purpose – to scare away winter. But traditions in Switzerland are very localised so here in Solothurn they may say “scare away winter”, somewhere else, they would say “Welcoming Spring” – potato, po-ta-toe 😉
i simply enjoy how people are so into this Fasnacht affair. They – the serious ones – prepare months in advance, planning costumes and rehearsing songs with their Guggen Music Bands. Then they take to the streets in the wee hours of morning and party for the next few days! However, i do not enjoy crowds so i watch from the comforts of my living room on the telly. Here are some photos (which others have taken) for you to enjoy. Also a video.
Actually, this year i did more than watch it on TV. i made a costume this year! The last costume i made was a number of years ago when we went as spectators to the Children’s Parade in Bern with a friend. i painted a cardboard box blue, added tails and wings and Tobias went as a plane.
This time at school, the 1st and 2nd grade teachers had planned a party for the kids so they were to go in costume. Guess who Tobias wanted to go as… here are a couple of pictures to help you figure it out…
Isn't he just a cutie in those poses?
That’s right – Harry Potter!
We went around town looking for pre-made costumes and found only one shop selling a Harry Potter outfit. But my oh my! The costs! If i had bought the whole set (cloak and glasses and wand), it would have set us back some CHF70/. There was no way i was going to spend so much on something which is most likely only going to be worn a couple of times. But i didn’t have time to make (we were going on ski holiday). So the compromise – we bought the cloak, i made the wand, Daddy popped the lens out of an old pair of glasses and there we have the Harry Potter look completed.
Here’s a close-up of the glasses and the home-made wand (it’s made out of paper and glue and paint – here’s how).
Homemade Harry Potter Glasses and Wand
i was really quite pleased with the whole costume. Tobias was the only Harry Potter at the party – he was chaffed 😉 He also got to actually go to the “real” parade with a friend (Mummy had to stay home and finish her overdue German homework).
We, me & the little guy, take public transport very often. The Swiss Transport network is great, connections are good, buses, trains & boats are 98% of the time right on schedule. We love it!
Today on the way home, i noticed it. i’m sure i have seen it before but the thoughts just never came to the forefront of my mind. The back of the bus syndrome exists here too!!!
Back in Singapore (homeland), this has been the bane of bus-drivers for donkeys of years; people simply refuse to move to the back of the bus. As if the back of the bus was a most terrible place to be. As if being at the back of the bus was some form of punishment. As if the back of the bus was haunted. i even remember a time when the bus company sent staff members to be on duty at bus stops at peak hours to request firmly but politely that people move to the back. Sometimes the bus driver would yell down the aisle for people to move back so that more people could get on.
The Back of the Bus Syndrome
See this photo – i took this tonight on the way home. We were sitting in the very last row of the bus (T loves to sit there cos it’s high up) & right in front of us are 5… that’s right, count it! 5 empty seats (there’s one hidden in the left bottom corner)!! But look – everyone is bunched up at the door. & these people didn’t even get off when we got off. They had to step out of the bus, let us & other alighting passengers off, then get back on the bus again.
i will never understand this. Do you? Do you have The Back of the Bus Syndrome where you live?
trippingdifferently 