Yesterday some of the Bloggy Hausfraus set off for an afternoon trip to Luzern's Annual Children's Fasnacht Parade.For those not familiar with Germanic Culture, Fasnacht (or Fastnacht or Fasching, depending upon the regional dialect) is the German way of saying Mardi Gras (French) or Carnevale (Italian). However you say it, in all languages it is the last big celebration before the Lenten Fasting begins.
When we arrived we followed the masses into the Ald Stadt, where people in costumes packed the narrow streets as the revelers marched by. Although these folks decided to stay above it all...
Even Alorie's 4-month son, Adrian, got into the spirit by dressing as a Chili Pepper. Well, perhaps the rest of us got in the spirit by dressing him. He seemed slightly bewildered about the strange course his day was taking.
And as it was the Children's Parade, the bulk of the spectators were children with parents, grandparents and other family members. Such as this sweet Lady Bug!
Of course, as with any Swiss parade, festival or the like we have attended, the noise was deafening and the pungent stench of raclette cheese filled the air. (Does anyone else think that raclette cheese smells alarmingly like dirty feet?)
After a couple hours of in Luzern, we all decided it was time to head back to Zürich. But a great time was had, as evidenced by the smiles on Alorie, Jill and Nicole. Although by this stage Adrian had decided he'd had enough and had checked out. Even with all the noise, he slept soundly!
And so I leave you with a brief video clip of the parade as it passed by. Here are some rather frightening clowns:
5 comments:
Looks like it was great fun.
Also looked a bit freaky ;0) guess I'm not used to street carnicals
If you're not Fasnachted out yet, Basel's is next week and is a HUGE deal there (supposedly the biggest in Switzerland). But then again, you probably knew that...
Oh my god, those cowns scare the crap out of me!
Yes, it was both "kinda freaky" and "scary." Keep in mind that this particular parade was actually for CHILDREN. The adult parade happened later in the evening.
I deliberately picked a smaller, daytime parade for my first foray into the Fasnacht World because I suspected a small dose would go a long way. And I was correct!
well it is noisy but loved all of the pics, more than the noise.. hehe Looks like it was a fun time!
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