TipTopSwiss 7:366

This building is near the Feuerwehr (fire station) in Winterthur and, according to the sign, is part of the Mehrzweckanlage Teuchelweiher or msw-Winterthur. It's apparently a multipurpose plant - which seems odd and a bit of a waste of such a beautiful building!

Today's useful phrases are
Enschuldigung / Entscholdiged si bitte - excuse me.
Ich verstehe nicht / Ich verstoone's need - I don't understand.

TipTopSwiss 6:366

Today is Heilige Drei Könige otherwise known as Epiphany or Three Kings Day. Loaves like these are made to celebrate. In the sweet bread as well as sultanas and almonds one person will find a plastic figure of a king or a bean. The person who find the king is given the crown and becomes king or queen for the day.

In German you count 1-10 like this:-
Ein
Zwei
Drei
Vier
Fünf
Sechs
Sieben
Acht
Neun
Zehn

But in Swiss German you count :-
Eis
Zwei
Drüü
Vier
Feuf
Sächs
Sibe
Acht
Nüün
Zää

The Swiss like their umlauts - and double vowels!

TipTopSwiss 5:366

Continuing the theme of 'street furniture', today we focus on a stationery/mobile phone shop in Untertor. Papeterie Schoch sells all kinds of items including art supplies, moleskin books and some lovely pens just like the one above the front door.

Papeterie comes from French - Switzerland is multilingual after all! - in German the word for a stationer's shop is eine Schreibwarenhandlung. You might buy d'Föllfädere, s'Blisteft und d'Poscht-Charte or ein Füller a pen, ein Bleistift a pencil and eine Postkarte a postcard.

TipTopSwiss 4:366

'Our end' of Winterthur town centre is called Obertor, and this is the beautiful sign that hangs above the Zentrum Begegnung & Bildung which runs all sorts of courses (must investigate further!)

Obertor means 'Upper gate' and the other end of town is called Untertor which means 'Lower gate'. I've yet to find any actual gates but I'm sure I could find out where they are if I asked around!
Ein Tor is a gate but eine Tür is a door.

TipTopSwiss 3:366

As I read and see reports of storms and gales in the UK, it's a beautiful day in Winterthur. This is the view from my bedroom across the park. My Nan used to judge the quality of the day by whether there was enlighten blue in the sky to make a sailor's trousers. More than enough for that today!

In German you say Es ist sonnig (it's sunny) or Die Sonne scheint (the sun is shining) but you can also say Die Sonne lacht which literally means that the sun is laughing.
Ist das sonnenklar? (Is that as clear as the sun or, as you say in English, crystal clear?)

TipTopSwiss 2:366

A 'tip top' snack around here is heisse Marroni. Sold at stalls in the Marktgasse and outside Winterthur Hauptbahnhof, these chestnuts are roasted in huge black pans then sold in brown paper bags with two compartments - one for the chestnuts and one for the shells. Delicious and very good for you!

Today is Berchtoldstag (or Bächtelis as they call it here) which is ein Feiertag or holiday in certain kantons of Switzerland including Zürich.

TipTopSwiss 1:366

There are many beautiful houses near where I live, with shuttered windows, balustraded balconies and tiled roofs out of fairy tales. This was one that caught my eyes today thanks to the creepers but also due to the canopied 'bottle shelf'. How cool is that!

Bet it came in useful last night for New Year's Eve when Swiss wish each other En guete Rutsch or have a good slide until midnight strikes and then the greeting becomes Es guets Nois.