The Aargau Factor

The Frau and her husband recently went through the passport control at the Zurich airport. She showed her "C" permit proudly. And why not, after all, to receive it, she had gone through bureaucracy and back. 

Then the agent asked her where she lived, so The Frau dutifully answered, trying to act as pleasant as one does when pretending to enjoy the third degree.

"But that's in Canton Aargau," the agent said, with that oh-so-familiar I live in Zurich and we are so much better than you attitude. 

He was not just a passport agent. He was a cool detector and a pride plunderer. One of the many who live within the Canton of Zurich's borders.

The Frau lives below the castle in Baden. How uncool.

Yes, over the last six years, many Zurich-dwellers have reminded The Frau that because she lives in Canton Aargau she is automatically uncool. 

So let's rewind six plus years to that fateful day when The Frau had to answer a very critical relocation question.

"Do you want to live in Zurich or Baden?" was the question. But the question should have been: "Do you want to be cool or a complete loser?"

Can you believe The Frau's response? "I don't know," she said. 

The Frau didn't see a big difference between being cool or a complete loser given that they were only a short 16-minute train ride apart. "Can't we just look in both places?" she asked.

"No," was the reply. "Because different agents are used."

They didn't mention that not only did Zurich and Baden use different agents, but the two cities were actually on different planets. At least according to the Swiss you-live-a-16-minute-direct-train-ride-from-Zurich-that-is-so-far-into-the-Middle-Ages mindset.

In fact, a 16-minute commute turns out to have consequences almost as far reaching as the fried potato ditch separating the German and French-speaking areas.

Fine, world. The Frau is uncool. The Frau is backwards. The Frau is a farmer.

But who cares, sophisticated Zurich people. Call The Frau uncultured and go back to your 10 m2 apartment that costs as much as the Frau's 120 m2 one and smoke a cigarette out the window while watching your neighbor use the toilet. The Frau will be going back to her big fat Baden balcony and enjoying her castle view. Yes, there she'll be, gazing up at her 9th century tower while the kings and queens of Oerlikon enjoy looking out their window at a brick wall with their noses as high in the air as the Alps.

Have you experienced the Aargau Factor?

Is Canton Aargau cool after all?

Many people in Switzerland make fun of Canton Aargau. Admit it, maybe you're guilty too. Apparently Aargau has a reputation for being old-fashioned, white-sock wearing, and dreadfully boring. “Why are you living in Canton Aagrau?” former colleagues in Zurich used to sneer, wrinkling their noses.

To be fair, if I had known about the whole stigma attached to living west of sophisticated Canton Zurich, maybe I wouldn’t have given good old Aargau a chance either. But the thing is, Canton Aargau has castles. I should know. I live right below the one in Baden. And when it’s lit up at night, it tends to make even my snobby Zuricher friends admit that maybe, just maybe, at least one town in the state of Aargau is worthy of an apology.

Zurichers don’t want to admit it, but back in the day, they used to come to Canton Aargau, to my little town of Baden to party. Baden was where the party was. Because Baden was a Catholic town, Zurichers would come to escape their wholesome Protestantness and party in Baden’s spas where they sang, danced, and drank all night long.

Today, castles are to Aargau what Armani suit-wearing lawyers are to Zurich. They’re everywhere. And let’s be honest. Which would you rather have a lot of?

Anyhow, in Aargau there’s Wildegg Castle, Lenzburg Castle, Hallwyl Castle, Aarburg Castle (pictured above), and many more. I highly recommend them all. I just visited the Aarburg Castle yesterday and while I gazed up at it with my feet in the green Aare River, I thought, you know what, Canton Aargau deserves better. After all, it's where I call home.