On Monday, Zurich celebrated Sechselauten, which is (in short) a celebration of the warmer weather arriving. The kids both had a day off from school, so we had a fun day out with Ami and Bapa.
We started out with a bike ride - Jack was doing better and better on his bike, and Kate alternated between riding hers and then jumping in the stroller to relax. After a brief stop at Starbucks for lunch, we boarded a boat and took a lakeside cruise around Zurich. It was a really beautiful day, and the boat was fairly empty - so it was a relaxing way to see Zurich from a different perspective.
Afterwards, we docked near the Sechselauten festival, and treated the kids to carnival treats - Kate opted for "bright pink" ice cream, and Jack had his first taste of cotton candy.
We then decided to watch the beginning of the parade from there - and happened to find incredible spots to watch it all. On Sechselauten, all of the different guilds from the nearby cantons come out to march - the entire parade lasts 3 hours, and as my dad aptly put it, "The reason that today is a holiday is that everyone needs to march in the parade."
The costumes and decorations were fabulous - and Jack and Kate especially liked catching the candy thrown at them. At one point, someone was passing out something that looked like bread rolls, so Bapa said, "over here!" and motioned to Jack and Kate. Boy were they surprised when the man gave them cold, unwrapped sausages instead... they tried a bite, but decided it was safer to stick to the candy.
After the parade, we went home via the lake, and stopped at the carousel for the kids to ride.
We then visited the China Gardens park for one last playdate with Ami and Bapa. We had a great dinner in that night, and got a good night's sleep to get ready for school the next day - Jack's first day back in almost 3 weeks!
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