7:30 a.m. – our suitcases were packed and set outside of our rooms, and we enjoyed one last breakfast buffet at the Park View restaurant in the hotel.

During the bus ride, our tour guide, Erna Kahenbuhl, provided the group with our daily dose of what she called ‘blah blah blah’ (aka tid bits about Switzerland). Erna’s more notable ‘blahs’ included:

Lastly, Erna shared with the group that she has never stepped foot into the few golden M’s of Switzerland (aka McDonalds), because they serve coffee in paper cups, and you have to eat with your hands. At this, Erna informed us that we would enjoy a pre-arranged lunch in Elgg of Zurigeschnezeltes mit rosti (minced veal with buttered potatoes – the traditional dish of Zurich).

It was one of the most important days for the 3,000 citizens of Elgg; ‘Aschli’ – a Swiss/German celebration of Ash Wednesday commemorating the end of the Catholic celebration of Carnival (note: the Protestant version of Carnival starts next weekend for Elgg). It took the Fellows about 15 minutes to walk from one end of the city to the other. We ended up at the Gasthaus Zum Lowen (guesthouse ‘the lion’).

• Elgg has a castle that is 1,000 years old, and it still belongs to the same family (Werdmuller von Elgg). The youngest child of each family inherits the castle through the generations.
• Each house has a ‘safe room’ in case of war – a hold over from the Cold War.
• Women were granted the right to vote and hold office starting in 1971.
• Elgg has 4 schoolhouses, 5 kindergartens, and 20 teachers. Students go to school nearly year-round from August through July, yet receive a total of 13 weeks off throughout the year. Students must learn German and at least one other foreign language (which has been English in recent years.

At least ½ of Elgg’s townsfolk lined the street for their Aschli parade. The parade consisted of about 30 young boys, dressed in traditional Swiss military uniforms representing various points in Swiss history from the 1200’s through World War I. The boys played drums and flutes – led by their commander on horseback. As the procession reached the Town Square, the 15-year old commander addressed the crowd from a downtown hotel’s balcony. His 15-minute speech outlined his impression of the good and bad experiences Switzerland and the world experienced in the past 100 years. At the end of his speech, he stated ‘long live Ash Wednesday’, from which the crowd exclaimed ‘Hoch! Hoch! Hoch!) – which means ‘long live’ (Aschli). Church bells rang throughout town, and a few firecrackers were lit. A canon then exploded to signify the end of the parade – as well as the start of lunch.

Aschli is a serious celebration for the city of Elgg. Later in the afternoon, the townsfolk were to meet down at the train station, as this day represented the one day of the year that the ‘fast train’ (the train from Zurich) stops at Elgg filled with former Elgg residents now living in Zurich who return home for the celebration. In addition, tents were now erected for the sum of the evening’s upcoming festivities.

After a few last minute chocolate purchases, and a quick glass of Feldschlosschen for a few, the Fellows were back on the bus heading to the airport to begin our journey to London. The weather had now cleared up and we were blessed with more great landscape views of Switzerland as we arrived at Switzerland’s largest (of 4) international airports.