Räbelichtli

We went on a walk on Saturday afternoon.

We were invited to join in a small Räbelichtli in a neighboring town.

Räbeliechtli is a very old Swiss tradition that is celebrated in early November.  It celebrates the end of the harvest (the turnip is the last vegetable to be harvested).  Children celebrate by carving turnips to make lanterns.  Then in some towns, they parade through singing songs and holding their lanterns.  Rabe means turnip and liecht or licht means light.  Usually the parades are organized by schools or kindergartens.

We got our turnip and spent Saturday morning carving it.  I used a paring knife to cut the top off (and the bottom to make it sit still on the table).  Then I used a melon baller to scoop out the inside.  Then the paring knife again to gently cut out shapes in the skin.  We poked holes in it, tied string to it, and hung it from a little stick that Maddie held in the parade.

There were about 30 children that walked around the neighborhood with their turnips lit.  It was really cute.  Some people stood outside as we walked by and one house left a basket of candy.  We did a loop around the neighborhood and then went over to my friend's house.  There was a nice bonfire and we all brought our own sausages to grill and beer or drink.  The kids ran around their yard playing in the sandbox and on the swing set.  It was really fun!  

There were a couple wagons decorated with turnips.

The song goes like this:

"  Räbeliechtli, Räbeliechtli, wo Gaash hii?

I tunkli Nacht, oni Stärneschii,

da driven set Liechtli sii. "

"Räbeliechtli, Räbeliechtli, where are you going?

In the dark night, without stars

must be my candle. "

(information from Wikipedia)

Sausages, crusty baguette, and some mustard

Not a great video, but I tried.

Maddie was chanting "räbelichtli! räbelichtli!" marching around the apartment.

So, although we haven't carved a pumpkin (yet?) this Fall, we have officially celebrated the Swiss way.

xxx
(because here in Switzerland, they give 3 kisses when they greet one another and say goodbye)