Züri Fäscht 2007

www.zuerichfaescht.ch

This carnival, held only once in four years in Zurich, is like THE occasion to let loose, cos the whole city turns into a playground; rides of various sorts, food stalls aplenty and lots more to buy! This year is only the 3rd year after the previous one, though, cos next year they'll be having the Euro Cup, so I'm lucky!! :)

So, all the rides and stalls were opened from 5pm on 6th till 10pm on 8th July. No vehicles were allowed in the city centre, and the streets were PACKED! I counted: i couldn't take 5 steps in a straight line, cos someone was sure to come in the way, and I'll have to siam. Read in the papers that there were altogether more than 2 million visitors over the weekend! Woot!

So... initially, on Friday afternoon, as the stalls started opening...

haha I tried Raclette, a typical swiss cheese, that they melt and scrape on potatoes/bread, and serve together with gurkins or pickled onions. yumm..

The rides lit up at night.. The city literally DIDN'T sleep over the weekend..
Of course, I took the rides.. I liked the Freefall the most, but only because it gave a breathtaking view from right on top :)

The main highlight of the festival is of course, the fireworks. They were on display both on Friday and Saturday night, in accompaniment to classic and pop music respectively.
On Friday night, we arrived a bit too late, and were squashed between much taller Europeans, so we learnt our lesson, and camped right by Zurich lake 5 hours before the fireworks to ensure we'll get a good view the next day. Indeed, the half-hour display was so... enchanting. And romantic too!

But getting home after that was another task. We had to walk a distance to where the trams were allowed, and i'm sure canned sardines felt at least a bit better than i did.

8th July was Fumi's birthday, to whom I gave a tin of cookies I baked myself on the same day. We were invited to her party, where we had delicious japanese food, fruit salad, and of course, the cake :)

Supposed to catch the 11am train to Munster, Germany, today. But was only notified last night that my german host mother is too sick: she can't even walk. So I cancelled this trip, and luckily managed to get back a partial refund at the Hauptbahnhof. Hope she gets better soon! (Countdown: 16 more days in Zurich!) :) AND :(