Swiss Fraternity

After my flight and Joe flights were horribly delayed coming to Zurich, Gavin Lightner’s flight was of course delayed as well…you can never rely on American airlines. My friend Gavin got in August 19^th and after getting some dinner we planned our evening around Zurich nightlife again. That night, we were invited to an old Swiss fraternity. We didn’t know what to expect, all we knew was they were interested in meeting some American fraternity guys, so naturally we were curious. We walked down a few old cobble streets in Zurich until we arrived at an Italian restaurant. We then walked through the back of the restaurant, up a flight of stairs. Once at the top of the stairs, and Swiss fraternity guy came out of a room and told us a few rules of the fraternity. We then were welcomed into a gorgeous wooden and decorated room where around 50 guys of all ages sat at a long table with mugs of beer. It seemed pretty classic. Immediately we were challenged to a welcoming drinking game and then were showed all the decorations in the room. There were many pictures, small items, and then of course strange ornaments like a stuffed Alligator, a climbing axe from the first European to climb Mount Everest, and a mummy that was stolen from a Egypt a hundred years ago. The fraternity has been around since the early 1800’s and has some of the brightest individuals in Zurich as alumni. The fraternity prides itself on its choir and its fencing team. That night they sang us songs, put on some traditional fencing clothes, and treated us to drinks. We ended up going to a club later that night, but meeting those guys and seeing their fraternity was by far the highlight of the evening.