How to kill a snowman in 4 easy steps...

So as you have probably gathered from my several groan session regarding snow and how after 7 months it is SO not cool anymore I was rather looking forward to kicking the snowman's proverbial. I just didn't realise that in Zurich they like to do thinks in a rather more spectacular fashion.

At the start of spring they have a snowman burning/exploding fest which is rather bizarre to say the least and yet another reason to bet money on something completely ridiculous. Said snowman is painstakingly built for months beforehand (shrouded in secrecy as he has been abducted once it is said...), but where the traditional would be snow-made this poor soul is made of wood, straw and several kilograms of TNT.

Once he is secure on his platform the whole thing is set alight and everyone waits with baited breath for the head to explode. I kid you not - the swiss has a dark side I was not aware of... The point being that the shorter the time for the head to explode the longer the summer. ok. erm. yes.

But apparently the theory has been proven as not so long ago it took almost a staggering half hour before poor snow man's demise and it was the most depressing summer in many a decade. So let's hope this year's 13 and a bit minutes means it's going to be a scorcher because I can do with some serious defrosting!