The skiing weekend was very fun although the score was definitely mountain 1, sundai 0. What is the deal with skiing? Why couldn't I stop? Anyway - the mountains were gorgeous as always and we had really good food and fun times and enjoyed a new Swiss town - Chur. It reminded me a bit of Berne actually - older than Basel and I believe the oldest city in Switzerland.
We returned from skiing on Sunday afternoon, perfectly timed so that we could go check out the Cheinbaase parade in Leistal. "What the heck is that?" you may ask. Well - the first that I had heard of this was on Friday afternoon when I was volunteering at the English speaking community center. I picked a copy of "Swiss News" (it is actually written in English) and read this story about some crazy event in a town close to Basel where the people in the town carry huge brooms of fire through the town. My inner pyro couldn't wait to check this out. Turns out that someone had told Rob about it the same day at work. So we made sure that we were back for that. We jumped on a train and went a few short stops to Liestal (the capital of Basel Land which is like the county to Basel City).
It wasn't too long before the show began. All the lights in the town went out. A couple little bands came down through the parade route. Then the fire show began. Sure enough, men carrying huge brooms made of numerous pine branches (branches probably 3-5 inches in diameter or so) came rolling through the town. Some were running - those things must have been heavy and HOT. It was so crowded that I could only see the tops of the brooms scurry by. We were very close to the start of the parade where the men come through an arched wall. Apparently as they continue along the parade route, the loads lighten as the branches burn away. Thus the extreme crowds where we were. The highlight of the parade was definitely the fire wagons though. There were several times intermittent among the walking men when men came through dragging huge burning wagons (see photo). I have never seen anything like this in my life and cannot imagine it taking place anywhere other than Switzerland where everything is so regulated. The fire lept up as much as 3 stories high within small crowded streets. And the fire was so hot when these wagons passed that all the spectators had to turn away and put their backs toward the moving wall of fire. I was in awe that spectacle was actually taking place and in further awe the following day when I read in the news that no one was hurt. Of course not - this is Switzerland after all.
After the fireparade, we came back to Basel and dozed for a few hours in preparation for the Morgenstraich - the kick off of Basel's Fasnacht celebration. I had heard so much about this and was so excited to see it. That parade started at 4am. So around 2:30, Rob, the ham and I dragged ourselves out of bed and walked down to the main square of the town. It was raining a little bit when we got there but we all had warm clothes. The rain turned out to be good for us - we were able to get a spot at the front of the platz so we had a perfect view of the parade.
The clock chimed 4am and all the lights in the town went out. Then all the music started - only piccolos and drums and the only lights in the town were these small decorated lanterns on the marchers' grotesque masques and the large decorated lanterns that were the key piece in each group. It was really neat. The groups started in various parts of the city and came through narrow streets to join the procession. The parade was really unique in that the groups had various starting points and no set ending points. They could roam in and out of the processions and could continue into the night. We left around 5:30 am - pretty exhausted after a day of skiing, and watching the various parades, but the groups (gugges) were continuing to play all around the city - not in a set line but in small groups but still staying together. We decided it was time to head home and tuck in to prepare for the next three days of Basler Fasnacht.
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