So far we have had a warm, sunny, and dry April. Monday’s Sechseläuten festival, was all about ushering out winter and welcoming the summer here in Zurich. The festival included a parade with floats, bands, gussied up horses, fair maidens, etc. The period costumes were grand. Parade goers were given flowers by their admirers. The main attraction was a explosive stuffed snowman, named Böögg, standing atop a 10 meter high pile a brush with well placed explosives on his body.
At six o'clock (pm) the brush is set a blaze and horsemen begin running around the smokey mass. Overtime the flames climb up the pile while the crowd watches on. This year a dancing flame caught Böögg's pants on fire. And with little warning he began to explode (yes, the horsemen were still running around).
According to tradition, the faster his head explodes, the better the summer will be. The Böögg’s head exploded in just under 11 minutes on Monday – well under the 14-minute average. Amazingly no one was injured. Just how the insurance man likes it.
No comments:
Post a Comment