

April 18, 2016





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  1. I loved Sechselaeuten! We attended the parade and watched Boogg burn several times. One time, we befriended an older Swiss man who pointed out Christoph Blocher of the SVP who happened to be marching in the parade.

    1. I'm thinking before kids it would have been awesome! We went to Nice for a quick getaway the first year we were there, and I was pregnant. Every year after that we had Coco. ;)

  2. I live in the Netherlands and we like King's Day (formerly Queen's Day), as we live in a family filled area so it is like an old-fashioned fair and we go home by early afternoon and don't find it too rowdy/noisy, but I know it varies widely what the vibe is like so we definitely lucked out locally.

    On the other hand, I am a total Grinch about NYE. I hate it. For those who don't know: instead of a city-organized firework show, people just let off fireworks in the streets by their houses the whole country over. By the boatload. The first couple years here (pre-kids for the first one) we enjoyed the novelty of it but now I just want to sleep (and have my kids sleep)! I also really resented feeling stuck at home all day on the 31st up until last year. Kids have been known to throw fireworks at people out walking (it happened to a friend who was out with her baby and dog!) and it just didn't feel safe. The constant noise from 10am-2am is very stressful to me, not fun. This past year they changed the rules (in Amsterdam at least) and fireworks couldnt be let off until 6pm. Of course a few impatient people couldn't wait so there were bangs throughout the day but it wasn't so bad and it felt OK to go out for a walk (though we saw kids throwing fireworks at each other! How is giving kids explosives a good idea?!).

    Experiencing another country's traditions and celebrations (even if they aren't something you enjoy) is one of the great things about living abroad. Even though I hate the noise on NYE, it will become one of stories told about our time living here and those kinds of memories can be a lot of fun. After all, who doesnt have the most fun telling holiday stories where things didn't go as planned, right?

    1. King's Day sounds just perfect. I am with you on NYE. I am so happy to be in Washington state where fireworks are absolutely outlawed. No fireworks for anyone, anywhere! In Zurich, we'd see the same thing on NYE or August 1st, the National Day. Children + explosives = bad. ;)

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