After this past Tuesday evening, I feel the integration into Swiss life has officially begun. The night began with a new Swiss “friend” and drinks at the Storchen Bar. We had met the previous weekend at a club called Zic Zac and decided to meet up for a few drinks Tuesday night. When Tuesday finally showed up, to be quite honest I was a bit concerned given 1) I couldn’t really remember what he looked like (since I don’t trust my eye sight at 2am on a Friday without my glasses) and 2) well, I vaguely remember his English not being too strong.
Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised when I re-met him Tuesday night! (Dad don’t worry I am still coming home after my rotation). We ended up having great conversations and despite the cultural differences, (i.e. the Swiss tend to be incredibly, painfully polite) we had a few good laughs.
I ended the evening with the new Swiss, like any lady would, early (8:30) and headed off to meet my friends for my first Swiss Fondue!! I showed up a little late, but just in time to see the pot of boiling, oozing cheese set down on the table. So amazing!! I am a believer...now I just have to visit the Alps.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Chip Chip Cheerio (aka my trip to London)
What a great weekend!!! To be perfectly clear, and prevent any misunderstandings, I planned this trip with only one intention. Drinking with my best guy-friend from college, Greg, who has been living in London for a little under a year. Before arriving, I specifically told Greg “no touristy things, just you and me catching up, drinking a few pints and maybe getting some Indian food.” So, based on those expectations, the weekend was an absolute success. I still don’t know where I was in London, what London is famous for or anything at all about the city. Here is what I do know after a weekend there.
Greg lives some place called Kinsten Town which is close to Camden Town (all of which are apparently in North London) Camden Town has a great bar called The Worlds End and below it a dance club called Underworld, which plays 80s rock and pop songs on Friday nights. The dance club attire allows for men to wear neon fluorescent spandex pants with matching pink shirts. Screaming/singing at the top of your lungs along to Bon Jovi is encouraged.
Greg’s flatmate Katie’s brother is dating a girl named Alice whose birthday we celebrated on Saturday night with a beautiful British Garden party. Alice’s brother, George, who is dating another American, is best friends with Katie’s ex-boyfriend. Katie promised to draw a diagram to help illustrate all of the connections. The party was located in some suburb of London about 45 away in a beautiful estate with a massive garden.
If you need a dress for your first official British Garden party, the best and cheapest place to go is TopShop. I have no idea where it is located, although I believe it is between two circuses (Picadilly and one other one). TopShop is amazing and I could easily spend an afternoon (and 500GBP) there. But I don’t recommend going hung over, after a night of singing at the top of your lungs to Bon Jovi.
Contrary to all popular fashion magazines in the US it is acceptable for an American girl to wear leggings under a dress to a garden party. I tested this theory first hand after breaking down and buying my first pair of leggings since 5th grade.
When leaving the suburbs and trying to get back into London on a Saturday night, don’t always believe the information online. The last train in facts leaves at 1am (not 1:12) and the next one isn’t until 6am. In case you miss the train, a cab ride is 65GBP.
And finally, London does in fact offer the best Indian food. The verdict on fish and chips will be undecided until my next trip.
Greg lives some place called Kinsten Town which is close to Camden Town (all of which are apparently in North London) Camden Town has a great bar called The Worlds End and below it a dance club called Underworld, which plays 80s rock and pop songs on Friday nights. The dance club attire allows for men to wear neon fluorescent spandex pants with matching pink shirts. Screaming/singing at the top of your lungs along to Bon Jovi is encouraged.
Greg’s flatmate Katie’s brother is dating a girl named Alice whose birthday we celebrated on Saturday night with a beautiful British Garden party. Alice’s brother, George, who is dating another American, is best friends with Katie’s ex-boyfriend. Katie promised to draw a diagram to help illustrate all of the connections. The party was located in some suburb of London about 45 away in a beautiful estate with a massive garden.
If you need a dress for your first official British Garden party, the best and cheapest place to go is TopShop. I have no idea where it is located, although I believe it is between two circuses (Picadilly and one other one). TopShop is amazing and I could easily spend an afternoon (and 500GBP) there. But I don’t recommend going hung over, after a night of singing at the top of your lungs to Bon Jovi.
Contrary to all popular fashion magazines in the US it is acceptable for an American girl to wear leggings under a dress to a garden party. I tested this theory first hand after breaking down and buying my first pair of leggings since 5th grade.
When leaving the suburbs and trying to get back into London on a Saturday night, don’t always believe the information online. The last train in facts leaves at 1am (not 1:12) and the next one isn’t until 6am. In case you miss the train, a cab ride is 65GBP.
And finally, London does in fact offer the best Indian food. The verdict on fish and chips will be undecided until my next trip.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The Rhine Falls
A quicky, but worth mentioning…
On Sunday, after a completely worthless Saturday in bed, Luke (a new friend) and I went to Schaffhausen (a small medieval town on the border of Germany) to watch his friend compete in a fencing tournament and see what trouble we could get into. The tourney was held in a courtyard on top of the Menot Castle, allegedly Schaffhausen’s trademark. The morning was needless to say, surreal.
After a long Swiss lunch in town, we decided to check out the Rhine Falls since we had nothing better to do plus they were only a 10 minute drive away. The Rhine Falls are the largest waterfalls in Europe. While impressive, I am still convinced they could be taking in an intertube (think the upper Sacramento River, but a little bit bigger). Apparently the size is determined not necessarily by height but also width and Europe doesn’t have that many waterfalls. Thanks to two bridges we were able to walk from one side of the falls, over the top and to the other side where there were platforms so close to the spray you can almost touch the falls themselves. After the 50 minute walk back to where we parked, we treated ourselves to ice cream like a true Swissie would. (I can definitely get used to this lifestyle…eat, hike, ice cream).
Unfortunately, my camera has officially died (after 5 years of abuse, travel and bars) so I have no pictures to show you. But please enjoy these that I downloaded from the website.
On Sunday, after a completely worthless Saturday in bed, Luke (a new friend) and I went to Schaffhausen (a small medieval town on the border of Germany) to watch his friend compete in a fencing tournament and see what trouble we could get into. The tourney was held in a courtyard on top of the Menot Castle, allegedly Schaffhausen’s trademark. The morning was needless to say, surreal.
After a long Swiss lunch in town, we decided to check out the Rhine Falls since we had nothing better to do plus they were only a 10 minute drive away. The Rhine Falls are the largest waterfalls in Europe. While impressive, I am still convinced they could be taking in an intertube (think the upper Sacramento River, but a little bit bigger). Apparently the size is determined not necessarily by height but also width and Europe doesn’t have that many waterfalls. Thanks to two bridges we were able to walk from one side of the falls, over the top and to the other side where there were platforms so close to the spray you can almost touch the falls themselves. After the 50 minute walk back to where we parked, we treated ourselves to ice cream like a true Swissie would. (I can definitely get used to this lifestyle…eat, hike, ice cream).
Unfortunately, my camera has officially died (after 5 years of abuse, travel and bars) so I have no pictures to show you. But please enjoy these that I downloaded from the website.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
BadenFahrt
It was decided on Friday that we needed to get out of town for the weekend and check out something different. A group of us (Jason, Braden, and Braden’s wife Anna) decided on Baden, a small town located in the hills just Northeast of Zurich. We specifically chose the town because of Badenfahrt, a festival held by the town every 10 years and was ending on Sunday.
After the 15 minute train ride, Anna and I were unsure what direction to head from the train station to find the festival. So, being unsure, I went to the train station information booth and asked which way to the fair. The response I got was a look of disgust and a polite but forced “the festival is the whole town”. I clearly had no idea what I was in store.
And the guy held true to his word, the festival consumed the entire town. There were booths set up on every street selling foods from all over the world, beer tents with different themes and since it was early Sunday morning, make-shift church sermons were being held on the stages that would later hold bands and other live acts.
After grabbing some lunch we headed over to the parade route to get a good spot to watch the parade, which celebrated the diversity and different cultures of the world. We were quickly approached by a young woman requesting CHF 10 for a pin, the required fee to attend the festival. Thinking it was a scam we told her we were leaving and instead walked further down the parade route.
Apparently it wasn’t a scam, and soon everyone was wearing the pin (obviously nothing is free in Switzerland). So to avoid the pin lady and her friends, we headed to an outdoor bar with a great view of the parade. We ended up watching only half of the TWO-HOUR long parade, walked through the carnival and hopped on the train back home.
After the 15 minute train ride, Anna and I were unsure what direction to head from the train station to find the festival. So, being unsure, I went to the train station information booth and asked which way to the fair. The response I got was a look of disgust and a polite but forced “the festival is the whole town”. I clearly had no idea what I was in store.
And the guy held true to his word, the festival consumed the entire town. There were booths set up on every street selling foods from all over the world, beer tents with different themes and since it was early Sunday morning, make-shift church sermons were being held on the stages that would later hold bands and other live acts.
After grabbing some lunch we headed over to the parade route to get a good spot to watch the parade, which celebrated the diversity and different cultures of the world. We were quickly approached by a young woman requesting CHF 10 for a pin, the required fee to attend the festival. Thinking it was a scam we told her we were leaving and instead walked further down the parade route.
Apparently it wasn’t a scam, and soon everyone was wearing the pin (obviously nothing is free in Switzerland). So to avoid the pin lady and her friends, we headed to an outdoor bar with a great view of the parade. We ended up watching only half of the TWO-HOUR long parade, walked through the carnival and hopped on the train back home.
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