A visit to the Onion Market in Bern

Each fall, there is a big market in Bern right in front of the capitol building and spreading through all the side streets. I had not been to this in years, but this year, there was an American friend here who wanted to see this. The last time I went, it was a cold and messy day, but this trip was going to have beautiful weather, so off we went. Our friend met us in the main station, since he was coming from Zurich. They run special trains to this affair, so it was no surprise that it was covered up with people. This affair usually sells about 50 tons of onions in all fashions. This year, they added about 6 more tons to that figure. There is a real carnival atmosphere on that day. There are onions made into all sorts of wreaths, chains, and doo dads of every sort. There are all sorts of onion and garlic dishes. A vampire would not be happy here.

Of course there is garlic butter bread that is toasted. The small cheese and onion tarts known as Zwiebelkuechen, and lots of spicy Gluhwein. There is no shortage.