Here's a funny photo from Zurich. I like it because people say that the Swiss German dialect is never written, just spoken. However, often - especially at street fairs and festivals - Swiss German is written, but usually you can figure out what they mean. Here's a good example, it's clearly a stand selling something to do with apples, in this case apple cakes: Öpfelchüechli (High German Apfelküchen).
By the way, the 'li' at the end of Öpfelchüechli is a diminutive ... it means small as in small cakes. German speaking people also use the letters 'chen' at the end of a word to mean small.
I visited the city of Colmar in Alsace recently. The city has a wonderful medieval quarter with canals, churches, convoluted streets and a rich history. Unfortunately they seem to be learning the wrong lessons from US city planning, here's a photo of a cineplex right on the edge of the old city center. At least they put a wide plaza in front and they probably will fill at least some of the space with cafes (there's a chain restaurant going in on the left side, the right side was still vacant when I took this photo). So, everything's not always better in Europe!
If you have not seen the excerpt from the new book "Where Have All the Leaders Gone?" by Lee Iacocca with Catherine Whitney, click the link. It's an inspired piece of analysis and encouragement for action. Great reading.
It might be surprising to learn that Zurich, and Switzerland in general, throws great parties; they don't have that reputation. But it's true.
Zurich throws several huge parties every year. They close many of the downtown streets, re-route the public transport system and set-up stages for entertainment. Yesterday was the annual Sechseläuten, in the summer there will be the Street Parade, there are fireworks at New Years and every several years they throw a really huge ZurichFest.
Anyway, the party organization is what most impresses me, as a city (and party) planner. Zurich leases out refreshment stand spaces (with temporary electric power feeds!). Public transport is organized to bring people to the event and often admission tickets include free transit. Best of all, after the party the streets are spotless. (The Street Parade has over a million people and probably they drink ten million beers/sodas etc. The outdoor party ends at midnight and by 6 am the streets are perfectly clean - no trace of the 12-hour+ party!)
In contrast it seemed like every big party in downtown San Francisco was completely unplanned. Too little public transit, garbage sitting around for days, ... Of course Zurich is better organized in these things throughout the year so it's no surprise that it works better for public events. Better city party planning is something we need to learn in the USA - it's one of the things that makes city life more enjoyable. Interestingly, San Francisco probably spends as much on its parties as Zurich on a net cost basis since Zurich parties generate income from refreshment stand leases.
I just started a flickr group called Lions of Zurich. Lions are the animal mascot of Zurich and there are lots of them carved in buildings, on signs and in strange places. The one on the right is in front of one of the city office buildings. The idea for this group is to find lots of lions in lots of places and post them on the website. It will be fun to try to find out where they are in real life. Go to the website and join the group and upload some photos.
It's Sechseläuten season in Zurich again. Today was the children's parade. Here is a picture of the last float: the Böögg! Tomorrow they will light the huge bonfire and he will be blown up! More on Sechseläuten on my website.
It's always fun to see how the Swiss spell their German dialects. Here's a stand selling apple cake (Apfelkuechen in German).
