Page 51 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Switzerland

Burning of the Böögg
INSIDER TIP A tradition since the 16th century, Zürich’s
Licence to Chill Did You Know? Sechseläuten festival (p156) takes place on
Sip martinis shaken to the third Monday in April and heralds the Did You Know?
Bond’s specifications at The Bond production beginning of spring. Its centrepiece is the The word “Böögg” is
nearly 3,000 m (9850 ft) team financed the burning of the Böögg, a snowman effigy probably related to
at the awe-inspiring completion of Piz Gloria packed with fire crackers, put atop a bonfire the English word
revolving restau rant in exchange for and set alight at 6pm on the dot. Supposedly, “bogeyman”.
Piz Gloria (p96), designed filming rights. the quicker the Böögg’s head explodes, the
nicer the summer will be. It’s a hit-and-miss
by Konrad Wolf. method of weather forecasting, but the poor
The Alps and 007 Böögg did predict the very hot summer of
2003 when his head exploded after just
James Bond’s high-altitude 5 minutes and 42 seconds. In comparison,
antics have brought viewers DISCOVER Switzerland Your Way the longest recorded time was in 2016,
into the Alps three times. The when the head took 43 minutes and 34
breathtaking jump over the seconds to explode. Afterwards, festival-
Contra Dam in GoldenEye goers hang around to enjoy barbecuing
(1995) and high-speed chase sausages in the bonfire’s embers.
up to the Furka Pass in
Goldfinger (1964) will get
your heart racing. It’s villain The Sechseläuten festival in
Zürich, with the flaming
Blofeld’s panoramic mountain
BOOKS AND FILM lair on Schilthorn, and a hair- Böögg as the centrepiece
raising black run through an
alpine blizzard that for ever
tied Bond to the glamour
of the Swiss Aps. SWITZERLAND
The terrace at Piz Gloria, WITH A TWIST
with glorious mountain
views across the Alps
Slick museums and world-class attractions abound in Switzerland, yet
the country’s more unusual experiences are not to be missed. Some are
The grizzly hidden in plain sight, while others require you to delve deeper into the
iron statue of heart of the country to discover the quirkier side of the Swiss.
Frankenstein’s
monster in
Geneva Velogemel
Invented in 1911 by a local
businessman and wood-
carver with mobility
problems, the velogemel is
Mary
Shelley a wooden snow-bike unique
and Geneva to the mountain village of
Grindelwald. The vehicle
The haunted (and allows users to push off using
hunted) scientist their feet and steer with two
Victor Frankenstein was handlebars. It’s still made in
born when Gothic writer Mary Grindelwald, and can be hired
Shelley was challenged to write a ghost story for use on the area’s sledge
during a dark and stormy night while staying runs. Put your skills to the
on Lake Geneva in 1816. The result was the test in the annual Velogemel
instant horror classic Frankenstein, which has World Champion ships in
been commemorated all across the western February, or use it to get
tip of Switzerland. Visit the Plainpalais area of from A to B like a local.
Geneva to see the statue of Frankenstein’s
monster; the grounds of private Villa Diodati,
where Shelley was first struck with the idea;
and the Martin Bodmer Foundation (www. Snow sent flying through
fondationbodmer.ch), which has an archive the air by the blades of a
of material related to the book’s creation. traditional velogemel
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