In which I experience Sechseläuten piecemeal, over seven years

Sometimes, it pays to be patient, and persistent.

Sechseläuten is an annual spring celebration in Zürich, centering around the burning of an explosives-filled effigy of a snowman, known as the Böögg, which takes place as the clocks in town chime 6:00 pm (hence the name, which means something like "six chimes").

I first exprienced Sächseläuten in 2001--we arrrived at the Sechseläutenplatz just in time to see it burning. But for the past couple of years, I've joined the festivities a bit later, around 7:00 pm. By then, the huge bonfire under the Böögg is somewhat reduced to glowing embers, just perfect for filling a portable grill and roasting some sausages . There's usually several shovels within the crowd (sometimes with extra-long handles), nearly always kindly lent to other eager grillers, in addition to a brave soul or two cleverly equipped with fireman clothes (it's still extremely hot by the fire) who bravely

But I'd never seen the parade of the guilds. The memebers of these guilds dress up in funny old-fashioned clothes and parade around town, sometimes throwing candy, bread, and flowers to the crowd, sometimes even serving a glass of wine or beer to the lucky spectator. According to E and N, the food stalls around make it great fun to "eat your way through Sechseläuten." Since it's a half-day holiday, and could be my last year in Switzerland, I decided to take advantage of my last chance to experience the culinary delights of this strange day.

I couldn't have picked a worse year to come. It rained like hell and I nearly froze to death. I might also be, these cute and clever Swiss traditions have become so every-day for me that they're no longer as interesting as they once were. Although I did enjoy some garlic bread and egg rolls, and managed to nab some flowers from one of the guilds. I did manage to snap a quick pic of a German baritone-playing colleague of mine who managed to weasel his way into one of the local Guilds. And after I left, I went to T's place to watch the 26-minute burning of the Böögg on TV from the comfort of her living room--in my opinion, the best place to see it.