GROUNDHOGS DAY? NO THANKS, THE SWISS PREFER AN EXPLODING SNOWMAN!

There is a 600-year old Spring Festival tradition in Switzerland called Sechseläuten.  The celebration is held on the third Saturday of every April.  There is a huge costume parade (I'm talking "100s of marching bands, and thousands of people marching in costumes"-huge) with the main event being a massive symbolic snowman (called a Böögg) with a head made of explosives getting set on fire.  The faster the head explodes, the better the summer, is what they say here in Zurich.  Then, after the snowman burns down into an inferno of a bonfire, the huge throngs of people at the festival move in to roast their beloved Swiss sausages and celebrate.  Lia and I thought it would be fun to see it with the kids.  Our intentions were to check out some sights in downtown Zurich and old town, watch some of the parade, and then head back home before things got crazy.  Well, the day was gorgeous, and so we got a little distracted as we meandered along the Lake...stopping to enjoy some musicians, getting the kids ice cream cones, watching the boats and people lakeside.  That apparently set us back more than we realized, because after touring the cathedral, we started heading back towards home. However, we got completely stuck in a very large and very immobile crowd.  I was trapped with Levi in the stroller, and Lia had Luke and Isaac...she could only inch along, but I was completely stuck because no one would let me move a millimeter with the stroller.  I along with the rest of the crowd was on the verge of panic, as thousands of us were completely immobilized in a dead stand-still.  It was honestly one of the more nerve-racking experiences I've had, and once Lia and I were separated, there was no reconnecting with each other.  I just kept praying that she wouldn't let go of one of my boys!  What an uncharacteristically "unruly" Swiss event.  I am amazed that this country of rules and order hasn't come up with a better way to manage crowd control during the past 600 years.  Another one of life's little mysteries! Thankfully, Lia came through again, and the five of us eventually reunited.  What a scary way to end an otherwise wonderful day.