The Zurich version of Groundhog Day
Day #1
We flew from Chicago to Zurich airport on Sunday night and landed yesterday morning. I’ve been studying German for months in preparation for this trip, but they speak Swiss German here, and I couldn’t understand a word. We even needed help figuring out how to buy tickets for the train from the airport to the main station, Zurich HB.
Once we managed to get to Zurich HB, we couldn’t see any signs with the word “Tram,” and got bad directions from the help desk (the other possibility is that we didn’t understand correctly). We rode for twenty minutes until we realized we were heading in the wrong direction. On a happy note, riding along the river lined with beautiful old buildings wasn’t so terrible. We finally hopped off, crossed the street, and headed the other way, to our hotel.
We didn’t mind the delay, first because I love trains and trams, second because today was a kind of holiday in Zurich, and third, because of this holiday, people were dressed in fabulous costumes.
It was Sechseläute (Sächsilüüte in the Zurich dialect). Who knew? It’s their spring festival, celebrated on the third Monday in April, and the people were preparing for a big afternoon parade.
As we waited to meet friends at the famous Haus Hiltl buffet (which claims to be the first vegetarian restaurant in the world), we learned that the holiday is a spring festival.
They brought their 4-month-old baby and 3-year-old daughter, who chattered in toddler Swiss German and was busy coloring on a glass wall with crayons (a brilliant restaurant strategy). We asked if they wanted to watch the holiday parade after lunch, but the husband explained that Sächsilüüte is organized by the once powerful trade and craft guilds that always excluded Jews.
During the pandemic years, when it was impossible to gather in community, we participated in a wonderful, weekly online Torah discussion. Elli, a young rabbi who grew up in the U.S. and is the daughter of close friends, often led the discussions. During our lunch, we asked the young couple about the holiday, their community, and life in Zurich.
They told us about the two Jewish schools, the new minyan they participated in, and life with small children. They also explained more about the spring holiday. They said a big parade would culminate in a giant snowman (the Böögg) being set on fire. The faster the snowman’s head (filled with fireworks) explodes, the nicer the summer will be.
I don’t remember the exact details because I was concentrating on the huge number of Hiltl Haus’s buffet options — it was NOT cheap, but the food was yummy.
Switzerland has a complex history regarding Jews, and although there are thriving communities living there today, it has not always been easy. They’ve experienced a lot more antisemitism in recent years (as have Jews around the world), but our friends LOVE living here in Zurich. Oliver’s parents live nearby, they adore the atmosphere, the safety, the kindness, and the fabulous tram system. They love the health system, Swiss maternal support, and the guarantee of an education.
Oliver explained that aside from the kids needing naps, he didn’t need to celebrate a holiday that traditionally excluded a specific group of people based on their religion. That made sense to us.
They went home for naps after lunch, and since we’d flown in on the red-eye, so did we. I conked out for two hours, then studied German (which I probably pronounce with a Yiddish inflection) until we decided to find a place to have dinner. David steered us to Clouds, a fancy restaurant on the top floor of a building, with magnificent views of Zurich’s trains, the lake, and green hills gracing the background.
We hadn’t made reservations, but it was a Monday night, so we sat at a window table and spent 180 Swiss Francs ($218) on a vegan burger with fries, a vegetable pasta dish, and a small Moretti (beer). The food was just okay and worth about $40, but the view was beyond measure.
This essay is also published in The Judean People’s Front at Medium.com. Please visit my website https://gpgottlieb@gmail.com to read about the Whipped & Sipped Mystery Series and check out my interviews for New Books in Literature, a podcast channel on the New Books Network.
So glad you are having this experience, the views, the perspectives, the history--even the food.
It's wonderful that your Jewish heritage allows you to socialize and learn about things us non-Jews would not know about. Your experience reminds me of the Russian comedian who came to the U.S. and decided to learn English by watching TV. He was doing well until he learned it was the Spanish station.