Is summer officially over?  

My American friends told me about their weekend plans, going away, getting out of New York City, hanging out on the beach, savoring the day off on Monday for Labor Day weekend.  Not to mention enjoying their last few days wearing white linen pants!  As for my French friends, talk is all about la rentrée (the return), a much talked about time of year when schools reopen, children don their backpacks once again, and adults go back to work as well – or at least shed their summer attitude in the office.  The month of August is pretty much obligatory vacation time in France, as many businesses close, shops put up signs that they too are on summer vacation and the streets lose their hustle and bustle.  Everything then goes back to normal on September 1st.  

I am not quite ready to turn the page on summer.  The sun is still shining here in Zürich and the lake looks like confetti, dotted with a rainbow of sailboats, kayaks, windsurfers, catamarans, swimmers, rowers, swans, fishermen and rafts filled with sunbathers.  Oh, and don’t forget your Mercedes pedal boats of course (see below), some of which even come with a children’s slide attached.  It’s a regular water zoo out there.  Yet somehow, no collisions ever occur, even with large cruise ships charging through.  Rather impressive in fact.

Here’s a look at this summer in photos, the months past, but still summer days ahead…

The beginning of the summer was all about the Euro, as Zürich played host for this European soccer tournament.  The flags of Switzerland and the canton of Zürich were seen in ever corner of the city, along with a third flag for the Euro.  The center of the city even transformed itself into a regular soccer stadium of colossal proportions.  

Things calmed down a bit after the soccer fans were gone, but not for long.  Zürich’s annual Street Parade brought back the masses.  Apparently one million visitors worldwide come for this annual 24-hour techno extravaganza, which to me was a perfect mix of Halloween and New York City’s gay parade, plus Berlin’s famous Techno Parade.  The streets were absolutely packed with people, dancing to the music that was blasting from trucks decorated as floats and converted into dance floors.  People on their boats, docked just off the promenade, dancing as well or simply enjoying the ambience.

This photo to me is a perfect display of the Street Parade in Zürich.  You have here two girls with fun colored wigs, the parade being an excuse for any costume, outfit, makeup, getup – really, anything goes.  You see the two towers of the Grossmünster Cathedral dominating the skyline, the river dotted with boats and people everywhere.  But what really makes this the parade in Zürich and no other city… is the wurst (sausage) and brot (bread roll) in hand of course.

Tags: Photography, Summer, Switzerland, Zürich