Tag: switzerland
Santa’s Dark Side
Why is this kid cowering in fear you ask…? Because Samichlaus is comin’ to town, that’s why. When Saint Nicholas visits schools in Switzerland fear is in the air. It’s not old Saint Nick that has them worried–it’s his helper “Black Pete”. If the kids have been good, Saint Nicholas lets them reach into his bag and take a tangerine, nuts, gingerbread, or some other treat. If they’ve been bad, that’s when Black Pete steps forward. He gathers up the bad children and puts them in a bag (sometimes the very one that Samichlaus had his treats in), then takes them away to work in the forest until next year. One year of hard labour. That’s what naughty kids get. And rumour is, the work has something to do with coal…hence “black” Pete. Naughty children in Switzerland don’t get a lump of coal in their stocking. They have to mine it. The next time your kids are complaining about their Christmas presents, click on this link and show them what they could have got. Merry Christmas...
read moreWhy does the Pope have Swiss guards?
You gotta be tough to dress like this. Why does the Pope have Swiss guards anyway? This question kept nipping away at the back of my mind and was really the instigating force behind me writing The Forest Knights books (ALTDORF & MORGARTEN). I mean look at this guy–he’s dressed like a Smurf. How did they ever become the Pope’s elite bodyguard? The answer you will most often hear is because they are “neutral”, peace-loving. They don’t take sides. Ahh, that’s nice. The friendly, peace-loving mountain people are neutral. They don’t want to hurt anyone. Unless you try to cross their border. …by 1912 the Swiss Army included 281,000 men and could call on an additional 200,000 auxiliary troops…Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany visited Switzerland that year. As the Kaiser observed Swiss army maneuvers, Swiss President Ludwig Forrer told his guest that “we have the resolute intention of protecting our independence against any attack on this [land], our dearest possession, and of upholding our neutrality against anyone who fails to respect it.” In a conversation depicted on a contemporary post-card, the Kaiser queried what the quarter of a million Swiss Army would do if faced with an invasion of...
read more“The Forest Knights” is born
Five years ago my girlfriend said “It’s time to meet my parents.” This was my response: She paused for a very long, uncomfortable moment before responding, “Uh, yeah. I think so.” Now what’s this got to do with “The Forest Knights” you ask? Well, my girlfriend immigrated to Canada about eight years ago from…(yep, you guessed it) Switzerland. And since her parents still live there, we would need to go on a trip. Now I’ve always been a history buff, and when I finally came to terms with the fact I was going to Heidi-Land, I began to read up on the little country. When I found out this is where William Tell came from (not England!) I got especially excited, and began to hum the overture while I made a long list of all the “Tell hotspots” to visit. I met a lot of great people and saw some beautiful country on that trip. and somewhere along the way, the seeds of a novel began festering in my subconscious. At that point, all I knew for sure was it would have nothing to do with chocolate or watches. Army knives were, of course, still a...
read moreWilliam Tell Swiss? Who Knew?
I sure didn’t. Five years ago I thought he was English. I mean all guys good with bows were English right? Who’s the kid you ask? That would be his son Walter. The story goes that after William Tell disrespected the local governor, Hermann Gessler, the evil man stood the young boy up in the town square and made Tell shoot an apple off his head. Later, our hero ambushes Gessler on a dark forest road and shoots him in the chest. Then I think everyone sings. At least that’s the version popularized by Friedrich Schiller in the early 1800’s. Here‘s the full play if you feel like some light...
read moreOnly Swiss people can climb
I’ve been to Switzerland twice and Austria once researching my new novel The Forest Knights, which I hope to self-publish in September 2011. So I’m going to do a series of posts on Switzerland. I took this picture while out hiking. It’s a storage shed for a farmer (maybe for hay or other food for livestock). Notice the legs made of rocks? On the top of each leg is a large, flat stone. I was told this keeps mice out of the storage shed because they can’t handle the overhang. Apparently Swiss mice have never seen Stallone in...
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