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Post by auntieannie on Aug 1, 2009 19:05:29 GMT
Today, 1st August 2009 is Switzerland's National Day. Commemorating the creation of the Helvetic Confederation in 1291. It's been a democracy since. Let's hope it will be so for a long long time.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 2, 2009 1:37:51 GMT
Wow ~~ Switzerland has been a democracy for almost 720 years?! Can any other country make that claim?
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Post by lagatta on Aug 2, 2009 2:54:25 GMT
auntieannie, I've heard in local media that this was a fairly recent celebration, but that people are really enjoying it.
What do people do to celebrate? Is it the same for all the cantons/linguistic groups?
I'd wish everyone in Switzerland a Happy Birthday but alas I don't speak Romansh. Well, most Swiss don't either.
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Post by auntieannie on Aug 2, 2009 9:25:57 GMT
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Post by auntieannie on Aug 2, 2009 9:32:57 GMT
And a bit of Alpine Horn - check the guy and his flag on the left. Traditional flag "throwing".
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Post by auntieannie on Aug 2, 2009 9:36:47 GMT
other rural tradition:
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Post by auntieannie on Aug 2, 2009 9:49:27 GMT
much better alpenhorn playing and view of the flag thrower. Fresh from this year and the weather seems to have been gorgeous by the lakeside
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Post by auntieannie on Aug 2, 2009 9:53:00 GMT
In the higher regions of Valais, they seem to throw "old" ladies and children out and make them walk in their finest for the public. ;D
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Post by auntieannie on Aug 2, 2009 10:02:05 GMT
Nowadays, no celebration is complete without its fireworks:
Something that I hope is still widely practised... for the sheer magic of it, is the lighting of fire beacons on the alpine meadows. I remember it was so beautiful looking across the valley and seeing the fires being lit in the distance as night fell, daddy listing out loud where he thought the fires were being lit.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2009 10:12:15 GMT
That's why Switzerland can't join the EU -- pollution regulations!  |
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Post by auntieannie on Aug 2, 2009 10:15:44 GMT
more traditional stuff:
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Post by patricklondon on Aug 2, 2009 11:58:08 GMT
Iceland (930) and the Isle of Man (some time in the eighth century), I think. Though it depends how you define democracy, since most early communal governments had some sort of property or status restriction on who could vote (and almost always excluded women).
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Post by bazfaz on Aug 2, 2009 14:24:08 GMT
On the Swiss national day the stores sell hard boiled eggs painted red with a white cross - the Swiss flag.
The inside is normal.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2009 14:31:09 GMT
most early communal governments had some sort of property or status restriction on who could vote (and almost always excluded women). ...speaking of which, the canton of Appenzell didn't allow women to vote until 1989 (for one half of the canton) or until 1990 (when the federal court decided at last to force the other half to allow women to vote). And the first canton to allow women to vote did not do so until 1960. Of course, France has nothing to crow about in this department, because women did not get to vote until after WW2. |
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Post by lagatta on Aug 3, 2009 1:12:48 GMT
Women couldn't vote here in Québec (in provincial elections) until 1940.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2009 1:35:11 GMT
I genuflect to the Swiss in the garden everyday in gratitude for their fine precision garden tools which I have faithfully used as far back as I can remember and they make tools for the left handed (and to HT because if she hadn't convinced me to have knee surgery, I wouldn't be able to genuflect!) God Bless the Swiss!  |
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Post by spindrift on Aug 3, 2009 8:54:15 GMT
I am equally enthusiastic about Switzerland and the Swiss. I've been going there every year for many years. I'll be flying to Zurich next week!
Kerouac - I've been to an Election with Voting by show of hands in Appenzell. The men dress up in national costume and for this occasion some of them wear a sword. My girlfriend who is English but married to a Swiss has lived in the canton for so long that she is now allowed to vote. I was fascinated by the procedure and loved joining in, eating grilled sausages, drinking the local wine and listening to the Swiss music for hours afterwards.
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Post by happytraveller on Aug 18, 2009 9:46:17 GMT
I genuflect to the Swiss in the garden everyday in gratitude for their fine precision garden tools which I have faithfully used as far back as I can remember and they make tools for the left handed (and to HT because if she hadn't convinced me to have knee surgery, I wouldn't be able to genuflect!) God Bless the Swiss! Awww... Thank you ! |
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Post by hwinpp on Aug 20, 2009 7:06:32 GMT
Iceland (930) and the Isle of Man (some time in the eighth century), I think. Though it depends how you define democracy, since most early communal governments had some sort of property or status restriction on who could vote (and almost always excluded women). I'd agree. Athens as also a democracy, remember? I think a certain area in the Appenzeller canton is in fact notorious (Innerrhoden I think) for only having given women the vote in the late 90s. |
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Post by run4it on Aug 30, 2010 18:00:58 GMT
The funny thing is those swiss hard boiled eggs do not get refrigerated here. Not sure why eggs are different here in Switzerland vs in Canada, but neither hard boiled or raw eggs get refrigerated. The odd one comes with a feather stuck to the egg too.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 30, 2010 18:06:51 GMT
The odd one comes with a feather stuck to the egg too. Jaunty eggs -- those Swiss think of everything! |
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Post by happytraveller on Sept 3, 2010 11:34:56 GMT
The funny thing is those swiss hard boiled eggs do not get refrigerated here. Not sure why eggs are different here in Switzerland vs in Canada, but neither hard boiled or raw eggs get refrigerated. The odd one comes with a feather stuck to the egg too. As far as I know, the colour on the hard boiled eggs is so thick it seals the egg, therefore it's not necessary to keep them in the fridge. Raw eggs don't need to be cooled, however I keep them in the fridge after I've brought them home from the supermarket. |
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Post by komsomol on Sept 3, 2010 11:43:14 GMT
Egg shells seem to be much thinner in some countries. Maybe the type of hen, maybe the food.
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Post by happytraveller on Sept 3, 2010 12:42:20 GMT
Or the amount of lime stone in the water. Most of our water contains heaps of limestones. Makes the egg shells thick and hard.
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