Swiss National Day 2014

Tom and I arrived back from Russia around midnight of July 31 - just in time to celebrate Swiss National Day with the locals. One of the traditional activities is to go to brunch at a farm. We didn't learn this in time for 2013, but this year we had our reservations made before we left for Russia.

This sticker was our ticket and gave us access to the buffet and the farm tour. 








These pictures were taken from the same spot - looking back at the entrance with the big flag and looking into the food area. (As you can see, the weather was overcast and was also a bit cool, but at least it did not rain.)

 

There were no directions - buffet first or egg station first? Take your pick. The egg station also had bacon and rosti (Swiss hash browns). There was plenty of food and it kept coming! This had to be a huge undertaking for the farm and their preparation was impressive. Here you see alphorn players wearing vests in black edelweiss fabric.

egg station with seating area behind

my choices

The eggs were served on top of the rosti. Notice the roll with the cross (or Swiss flag) baked in and the tablecloth with the popular edelweiss print. They also had tarts and cakes, but I didn't take any pictures of them.

thanks google images

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this father and daughter - each dressed in the edelweiss fabric. It comes in pink, blue and black. The father was also wearing a belt with gold cows on it. I've seen those for sale in tourist areas (and they cost about 100 CHF!!). I don't think the tourists buy them, but I have seen plenty of Swiss wearing them.

lots of tables with a surprising number of seats reserved

Of course, there was entertainment. I hope to have the opportunity to try an alphorn while we're here.

The farm was definitely family friendly - lots of fun things for kids. The farmer gave us a tour which I only partially listened to - Swiss German is just too hard to understand. There was also a list of questions to answer from the tour and I think then the child received a prize or was entered in a raffle, not sure.  (Ex: What is the name of the spotted pig?)

parents hold their children to see pigs inside green pen

 

 

cow with "back scratcher"

There were more chickens, but so many eggs were cooked today, they had to come from other farms as well.

pony rides at no extra cost - a rare Swiss bargain

 

There was a small booth with goods for sale. We bought bread, cheese, and some sausages all of which were part of our Swiss National Day dinner. I didn't eat all that sausage at one sitting, but wanted to show we had two different kinds - both good.

Yum - even without an edelweiss tablecloth

After dinner, we walked down to take a spot along the lake for the local fireworks. On our way, we said hello to our sheep neighbors. The weather improved over the course of the day and ended with a beautiful sunset - also visible in the reflection on a car's windows. Cool!

 

fireworks over the party ship on the lake

Back at home, we finished our wine on the balcony while watching fireworks from other areas around the lake. We also lit the sparklers we were given when we left the brunch. 

Even Google knew it was Swiss National Day and put up a special google-doodle. It captures the highlights of the day, for sure.

It was a fun day and we're glad we made it home in time. Running through Heathrow to catch our flight back to Zurich was worth it.