Month: October 2026

Little House on the . . . Winterthur?

kenritley

If you visit Winterthur in Switzerland, one of Switzerland’s largest cities, you will be impressed and – generally speaking – the locals will be happy to have you.

But . . . that is only if you stay on the beaten path where all the other tourists stay.

If you decide to leave the tourists areas in Winterthur and to explore its deeper locales – you take matters into your own hands. There are areas deep, deep in the “old town” that do not just have Middle Ages buildings – but Middle Ages people! It is rumored that there are entire families that still live like they did hundreds of years ago – speaking a language that never evolved – not using electricity (because they don’t know it exists!) – and believing that the Battle of Winterthur is still raging, with the Habsburgs are fighting the French Revolutionary Army!

Because of the sheer danger I don’t do it very often, but recently I ventured deep, deep into this forbidden area – and I discovered a sight that is too amazing to believe.

It’s on my bucket list to research this little, strangely aligned house that is deep, deep within the Middle Ages “old town” of Winterthur:

Sète – Thoniers Senneurs

kenritley

Also known as “Mediterranean Thun Purse Seinners” – but I admit, I had to do a bit of research to learn about this:

From what I have read, very very interesting. The main ship goes out to look for a school of tuna. The other boat or boats are used to encircle the school with a huge net that can be closed on the bottom, thereby capturing the fish. I asked my Asian friend Chatji Peeti for a nice picture, and he is what he drew:

I have to ask myself the question: how many people live in the south of France and yet not know how these things work – and certainly, how many tourists visit here and don’t take the time to research the things they see?

Tuna are not something I normally see in Swiss grocery stores, so I had to look this one up as well: Atlantic bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, or “thon rouge” in French. They can be up to 2m in length and 200kg in weight – so that is a pretty big fish. Interestingly, I learned they travel great distances across the Atlantic, but they return every spring and summer to the Mediterranean to spawn. Hence the fishing season from 19. May to 01. July. And here’s the kicker: a French license to go fish these beauties will set you back a whopping 0 EUR! That’s because the only people who are allowed to fish this year are those that have fished last year – it’s a very tightly controlled group. Unless one of these groups stops fishing, there’s essentially no way for anyone new to start.