I love Switzerland. It’s full of beautiful architecture, incredible chocolate, cheese, & wine, and breathtaking views. However, it is also home to some of the most hilarious street signs I have ever seen.
Here are some of my favorites:
Egg
Egg is a small village in Zurich with a population of 4, 800. It also has the best name ever. Egg is home to The Church of Egg and the best town website, http://www.egg.ch. Reading over the website makes me laugh when I’m sad because you can see phrases like “The Municipality of Egg” and “Egg Police” all over the website.
Honestly, I love the town of Egg so much. It’s eggceptional.
Bad Egg
Now, we can’t forget about Bad Egg. This is actually the name for the place where you can swim in the lake in the town of Egg, as bad is actually short for “seebad” which directly translates to lake bath. However, I see it as a swimming pool for bad eggs.
Bad egg swimming pool. That’s eggactly where I should go. It’s got my mind scrambled just thinking about it.
Okay, I’ll stop. Maybe.
EggRain
What is Zurich’s obsession with the word Egg? The german word for egg is Ei so it’s not like the Swiss just really love eggs.
This is literally the name of the tunnel that I ride through almost every weekend to get from Zurich to Baden and I laugh every single time. EggRain Tunnel. I tried finding out the meaning behind EggRain but I couldn’t find anything. Whoever constructed this tunnel was just like, “and I shall name it: EGGRAIN!” and everyone was just like yeah, okay.
Like, why? Did it rain eggs here one day? Is it a warning to people that it COULD rain eggs? You know, as just like a precaution in case Mother Nature decides to go all Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs on us and make it rain eggs? I have so many questions.
Ausfahrt
Listen, okay. I know that this is the German word for “exit” and that it’s a proper word that everyone in German speaking countries use and that I shouldn’t laugh but I. Can’t. Help. It.
I’m a child and can’t help but chuckle every time I see this word anywhere. It’s pronounced like “ows-fart” but I always say “ass-fart” in my head. I also always say it aloud to my boyfriend and he constantly rolls his eyes at me.
I’m secretly 12 years old and I’m sorry (except not sorry at all).
The Blue Balls Festival
I actually went to this festival last summer with my friend Jordan in Lucerne. They do it every year.
Yes, this is the actual name of the festival. No, they do not know what it means. It’s supposedly named after an actual, literal blue ball. Not the one you’re thinking of.
It’s actually an incredible festival with good food, cheap beer, and great live music. They also paint the entire city of Lucerne with signs that say “Blue Balls Festival” so after a few beers, it’s amazing.
I didn’t get a t-shirt last year but you best believe I am getting one this year.
Frick
The town of Frick, located in the canton of Aargau, has a long and incredible history. During the Prehistoric era, more specifically the Triassic period, it was home to a plethora of dinosaurs due to it’s dry lowland and depressions that filled with water when it rained. Because of this, Frick is home to the highest population of fossil beds in Switzerland and the only Coelophysodiea fossil in CH was found here.
Once humans inhabited the earth, Frick became a powerful town during the Bronze and Middle Ages and is known for it’s collection of old coins, beautiful churches, fossils, and art.
When I think of this place, I think “Frick, this place has got history” and I could be talking about the name of the town or just trying my best not to say fuck.
You’ll never know.
Bitsch
Such an unfortunate name for a beautiful place. Many photos depict this town, settled in the canton of Valais, with beautiful greenery and rolling hills.
The hills are alive with the sound of bitches. Or, should I say, bitsches.
Moron Mountain
Moron is the name of a mountain located in Bern. It’s highest point is 1,337 meters (4,386 feet) and it apparently has a beautifully designed observation deck.
What I’m really curious about though, is why it’s called Moron. Is it so easy to hike that even a moron could do it? Or maybe it’s so difficult to hike that you’d have to be a moron to try it?
I don’t know, but I really want to.
Lastly, we have Wankdorf located in Bern. It is home of Wankdorf Shopping Center and Wankdorf Stadium. There is also an incredible travel article written about it titled What The Swiss Get Up to When in Wankdorf. Which is just amazing.
This is another one of those words that have no meaning in German. Like Eggrain, someone just consciously picked this name for a town without checking what it meant and everybody just went along with it.
The town must just be filled with wankers.
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Suggested Listening For This Post: They Punctured My Yolk, The Flaming Lips
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I HAVE to go to the Blueball Festival this year! (and get a t-shirt) haha Thanks for the idea 🙂
I just love reading this post. The writing style style is eggceptional indeed :). I like Switzerland a lot because of it’s cleanliness everywhere.