It's Autumn

So what did we do today? It started with a morning's work in the office. I am still on half days according to the doctor and probably will be for some time. I start work at around 07.15 in the morning until 11.30. Then it's shopping and I cook lunch. After a little midday sleep (it is terrible as you get older, just can't keep awake after lunch) the afternoon is mine.

Mr. Swiss, my other half or whatever had to go into town this afternoon. He has a bit of a problem with his neck and is at the moment visiting a lady therapist. I told him he could drop me off on the way at the local Autumn Fair. It takes place once a year in Solothurn and all the local shops and companies can exhibit their goods. I am not so keen on large collections of people, but decided Thursday afternoon is fairly quiet. I took a walk around the exhibition and met a few people I knew and then went to the grounds outside, which is the real reason why I was there.

Arn't they beautiful. If you don't know what they are then I can tell you they are Alpacas, a sort of South American mini-lama. I only know that their fur is very expensive, but I had never seen one before. The lady who brought them to the exhibition made quite an impression in Solothurn as she walked with them through the town to the exhibition place just outside.

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I found them to be so sweet and wonderful I took quite a few photos of them. I had never seen them before in "real life". I think I would have liked to take one home with me. They were all wearing a muzzle and I think like most llama similar animals they like to spit quite a bit.

There were also some ducks there

The pigs seemed to be a bit sleepy and spent most of the time relaxing. The animals are actually there for the children, but today there were not many children there as it was a normal school afternoon.

Of course being in Switzerland the cows had to make their appearance, but there were only calves there.

And here a couple of goats for good measure.

I eventually decided it was time to go home. As it was only just down the road I decided to walk the fifteen minutes as my local train had already gone. If anyone would like to see all the photos I took you can find them either in

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Autumn Fair Solothurn - Harley Davidson

I cannot even ride an ordinary two wheel bycycle. I could never keep my balance on it, although I had no problem with three wheelers. On my last trip to the local Autumn Fair it was Sunday and they had a special Harley-Davidson day. I thought I might catch a glimpse of some Hell's Angels (yes we have them in Switzerland as well), but nothing like it, just normal Harley Davison fans with their bikes. One of my collegues at work came to mind. He is a Harley fan and I have often sent mails in english to the States for him ordering some sort of spare part or so. This year in Summer he realised his dream and went with his son to the States, where he spent his holiday travelling down the old Route 66 on his Harley.

If there are any Harley fans out there, they would probably be able to tell a bit more about the bikes shown on the photos than I can. The big one at the top particularly impressed me. The owners of the bikes were standing next to their machines and one of the local radio reporters was broadcasting live from the show, interviewing the bikers.

I usually have a lot to say, but this time it is a quiet blog. Just look at the photos and enjoy. On my walk home down the main road, the bikers were going home, so one after the other zoomed along making a very impressive noise. I think Swiss roads are probably quite useful for Harley riders. Lots of curves and mountains in between.

Autumn Fair Solothurn - Animals and children

To continue - I revisited the fair on Sunday afternoon for a couple of hours. I actually wanted to buy a cat comb/brush that they were selling on the Hills pet food booth. Our long haired black fat cat Nera is very sensistive about being combed, especially on the tummy. We have tried everything up to now (even a full aneasthetic at the vets as her fur was slowly resembling an insectarium) so why not invest twenty-eight swiss francs in a comb for her. Did it work - well sort of, but she didn't actually say oh yes I love it, can you do it again.

In any case whilst I was at the fair I decided to see what had been done for the kids. They have a small zoo each year with some farm animals, called a "stroking zoo" so the kids can get near to the animals and have fun. I wasn't exactly so sure if the animals were having fun. These dogs seemed to have given up entertaining and made the most of a straw bed.

Actually the first animals I saw were the white geese - at least I think that was what they were. They are a bit stupid I noticed. When one goes left (probably the leader of the pack) the rest just follow him. They were kept in a nice big green part and seemed to be enjoying theirselves. Now and again they did a group cackle just to let you know they were there.

I then walked around the corner and found some cows. They weren't exactly available for a stroke and if I had a kid I don't think I would have allowed him to touch one of those cows. However they were having a peaceful lay down and let me take their photo.

Just nearbye there were some sort of goats. Goats are no problem really. There were sharing their enclosure with about 20 children, but it didn't seem to bother them. I quite enjoyed walking around the animals taking photos and the youngsters really seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Naturally no local animal show would be completed without chickens. They were mostly hiding in their coup, but a couple saw me with the camera ready and decided they wanted to appear on my blog. The one on the left is an ordinary farm hen, but the one on the right seems to be something special.

There were a couple of pigs laying around with the goats, although funnily enough I didn't see any children trying to stroke them. Some rabbits were also wandering around looking for something useful to do.

All in all there was a fair selection of animals shown. Although we are a farming area, so you don't really have to walk far to find the next farm with some cows. I quite enjoyed the animal visit myself. Eventually I made my way home, sort of tired but happy. It was the last day of the fair, but it will be at least a week until everything is cleared away. There follows a photo of the tractor, probably bringing some food for the animals, and I also managed to get a photo of the train. This runs especially for the visitors and their children as a sort of fun thing. I was actually planning this to be my last news from the HESO, but on Sunday there was a special exhibition which I was surprised to see, so I will bring short report about that tomorrow.

Autumn Fair Solothurn - the food

Now what would an Autumn Fair be without food. Our town of Solothurn has enough bakers and cake makers together with various cafés so they were all represented at the exhibition. The apparatus above is known as a chocolate fountain. I wasn't sure what the purpose is but it looked and smelt quite attractive. It was on the booth of the town's biggest cafeteria. The owner is well known for making pralines and the famous Solothurner cake - here is a link.

And here are some of his biscuits and cakes. He isn't cheap, but very good.

So, after doing some advertising for Mr. Suter's cake shop and restaurant, I will move on to the next part. I wasn't sure what this was, but I am certain they were nice and crispy. If I had my kids with me when they were younger, I am sure it would have been a bit of "mum can I have some".

Of course, some of our restaurant owners decided to open up a branch at the fair. The restaurants are quite well visited during the day and evening (the fair closes at nine in the evening except for the special happenings like dances and radio programmes).

This is the so-called "spaghetteria" so I don't have to explain what the people eat. Needless to say it is served with a large choice of sauce from bolognese to napoli and alla panna.

This restaurant seemed to be more in the Autumn sort of thing, so I am sure there was something on the plate to do with hunting. Not exactly deer steaks, but perhaps what we call "pfeffer" - various meat and poultry marinated in wine and cooked in a rich wine sauce, served with various fruits and veg. Cooked red cabbage with chestnuts is quite popular.

I saw this small arrangement of things to have with your meal as I was passing through. To finalise the culinarial trip through the exhibition, there was a booth with a large choice of various teas. In Switzerland, we do not usually drink black tea with milk as I knew from my England days, but we seem to make tea out of almost anything that grows. Even nettle tea is known (supposed to be good for nursing mothers). So, here is the tea selection.

Autumn Fair Solothurn

Our Autumn Fair takes place every year at the end of September, for approximately the last 20 years. Some of the shopowners and business people of the town had the idea to get together to create an exhibition of their goods and the idea became a success. To us Solothurn people it is know as HESO (Herbstmesse Solothurn - Autumn Fair Solothurn). The location is just outside the town walls on a large field and in the ramparts of the one time fortress. It is very big as you can see from the plan. It is not only just an exhibition but a place where you can meet old friends, catch up on what is going on in town and just have fun. As I usually avoid large collections of people, I don't often go, but armed with my camera I decided to have a look around. First of all I took a few photos outside.

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon when I went so ideal for being outside as well as inside the exhibition halls. As you can see there are a few stalls selling food for adults as well as kids. Traffic is more or less forbidden when the fair is on so it is safe to walk across the roads.

I then entered the hall. I think every shop and business in Solothurn is represented, from the police force to the local radio station. There is also a studio where various local prominent people are invited to a discussion with each other, and where members of the public can also ask questions. Sometimes it might be a local politician, or it could be the director of a local company and once they invited Mr. Swiss, which is about the only time I ever bothered to go. Our local radio station, Radio 32, usually has a carioke competition going through the whole week of the exhibition with a prize of 2,000 swiss francs. My oldest son usually takes part, being a Stones fan, but has never won anything up to now. Here are some photos of what was going on inside.

I have put descriptions on the photos where I found it might be necessary. As you can see just about everything is represented. It looks a bit empty, but I went early in the afternoon. Towards evening it gets quite packed out. In the evening there is usually a dance going on for the youngsters. The place where they were advertising the cat and dog food was quite interesting. They had a lady there from the local dog parlour and she was cutting the dogs hair and trimming it for free. They also had a show for the senior citizens. I had a walk around and one of the women in charged decided to recruit me for information purposes. I told her I had another three years to go, so was not quite ready yet. However, it is always useful to know what lays ahead.

Of course, there was quite a range in connection with household objects. We all have blinds on the windows in Switzerland, and they are getting more colourful and stronger these days. Toilets were also shown. Long ago they were white and all looked alike. These days they are fully automatic and there is nothing really left to do but just sit there. The toilet seems to do the rest.

There were also some exhibits showing ornamentions for the house, or health foods. I particularly liked the wolf and the tiger. They looked quite realistic, but I don't think I would want one in my living room.

Needless to say I was feeling a bit tired after walking around all afternoon and was glad to get back home again. But there is more to come. I decided to make a separate blog about the food and I then discovered they had an "animal stroking zoo" for the kids, so went back on Sunday afternoon again to buy a special cat comb they were selling and to catch up on the photos of the zoo.