In Switzerland and nearby countries, they call New Year's Eve Silvester after Saint Sylvester who was pope from January 31, 314 to December 31, 335 (when he died). We spent Silvester at a friend's house in Winterthur, CH. She had a bonfire and we roasted brauts for dinner. Our contribution to dinner was Apple Brown Betty for dessert. When they asked us why it is called that, all we could respond with is "Why not?". Just before midnight, we walked into town and saw a small gathering of people letting these lights go up into the air.
It was fun to watch, although a little nerve wracking. The cloth or paper "bags" had a fire lit inside, which is what caused them to rise. I wondered what might happen if they came too close to the buildings before they were free high in the air. Fortunately we didn't find out. Once they were up in the air, it was just a very peaceful sight to behold in the stillness of night, right before... The champagne bottles cracked open, the church bells rang rang rang, and people starting let their fireworks go. En guete rutsch!
OOh, this custom was repeated in the new Disney animated feature "Tangled" (based on Rapunzel) which Suzy and I saw last night. It was a very good movie with beautiful scenes of a lantern release like this!
ReplyDeleteCool! I don't know anything about this tradition, it was a really nice surprise for us. Has Suzy seen the post yet??? XO
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