The Shores of Lake Geneva

Sunday, July 3 2011   

Since the dawn of time, man has always dreamed of flying.  On Lake Geneva, Sunday July 3, we’ve taken one giant leap forward… What are we talking about?  JetLev, a German company, have developed a water-powered jet pack and they brought it to Lake Geneva for a handful of lucky (and wealthy) individuals to partake.  We first learned about it through a Geneva Buyclub (aka Groupon) ad and were blown away by both the concept and the cost (200 CHF for 30 minutes!).  Even though we couldn’t experience it ourselves, we had to go see it in person.

15 minutes in and we only saw the bogus attempts by those that paid the admission fee.  Was this personal flight device for real or was this some scam that the Germans had cooked up?  We were almost ready to give up when the instructor gave it whirl.  The rest is hard to describe - just watch…

It was a pretty good advertisement because we were both ready to suit up right then and there.  Then we reminded ourselves of the price and were both suddenly satisfied with the demo.  :)

Activity #2 of the day was the Montreux Jazz Festival.  If you haven’t heard of this festival, it’s one of the biggest in Europe each year.  The name is actually a little misleading because the festival draws all sorts of bands, not just jazz – probably the biggest name this year was Sting.  We however couldn’t score tickets before they sold out so we decided to just go hang out for the day and enjoy the free shows and atmosphere.

The festival has been going on since 1967.  A fun Montreux and music fact is that the song “Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple depicts an actual event in 1971 (although not during the festival) when a fan shot off a flare gun inside the Montreux Casino that started a massive fire, burning down the entire venue.  Check out the lyrics, it’s kind of interesting. 

Montreux is just on the other end of Lake Geneva – an hour by train and a very scenic ride that we’ve taken many times when connecting to other cities by rail.  It was the perfect day to be outside and Lake Geneva never looked so blue and inviting (too bad we forgot our swim suits!).  We had only visited Montreux once before on our “Look/See trip” before moving to Geneva.  That was in the rainy and cold month of March so it was nice to see the city in a different light. 

The festival itself was OK – it actually just reminded us of a small fair and a glorified flea market because the main walking path was lined with delicious food stands and merchandise booths.  Our free entertainment was surprisingly a little taste of the U.S – the University of Kentucky Jazz Ensemble happened to travel over for the festival and was playing that day.  They were quite talented (the song below was composed in a Steely Dan style – you can hear it).  The setup reminded Dave of playing in Jazz Band in high school (a memory not distant enough… just kidding Mom and Dad).  :)  

We also walked by the life-sized memorial statue of Freddie Mercury.  He had a home in Montreux and recorded at the famous Mountain Studios here. 

We hung out for a few hours, had our fill, and returned home to enjoy a relaxing evening. 

The Summer of Switzerland

Sunday, June 26 2011 

We’ve seen our share of other countries this year but arguably the greatest in Europe is just under our nose!  It would be a crime not to fully explore this beautiful country and that’s what we are setting out to do this summer.

What better way to start this exploration than an amazing alpine hike?  Last summer we made a friend named Andre – hiker, explorer, and all around outdoorsman (he’s the one who let us borrow the hiking book which informed us of the Hornli Hut hike we did last September).  Through each of our busy schedules, it took us nearly a year to connect again, but one day he sent out an email asking if we’d like to join him in a segment of his goal to complete the Via Alpina “green” hiking trail.  Of course, that sounds amazing! 

You’re probably not familiar with Via Alpina (we weren’t either).  From our research, we’ve learned that the Via Alpina is a network of European hiking trails that spans over 3,000 miles, runs through eight countries, and is considered the best hiking in Europe, if not the entire world.  There are five different color-coded trails which outline logical beginning-to-end points across the network of trails, and Andre is set on completing the green trail that practically spans across the length of Switzerland.  We were more than happy to help him check off another one of the 19 stages of the trail. 

Along with Andre and us, Dave’s director from Expedia, also named David, (who is also a friend of Andre’s) was able to join us as well.  The four of us got an early start from Geneva on Sunday morning, taking the 7am train east toward Gstaad, the start of the trail.  You can always tell when it’s going to be a clear day based on the visibility of the lower Alps across the east shore of lake Geneva.  As we relaxed on the train, seeing nothing but blue skies, we knew we were in for a good day.

We arrived in Gstaad and got our bearings straight (more accurately, Andre got his bearings straight, we followed), and got ready to set out.  One of the best things about hiking in Switzerland is that they make it so easy (aside from the strenuous walking part).  As you can see in the yellow sign below, every trail is well-marked (we were taking the "1" trail) and towns are clocked out with estimated ETAs (the times are clocked by volunteer senior citizens… which makes for a pretty humbling experience when you finish slower than the suggested time).  Additionally you never have to take more than one or two liters capacity of water with you because there are water spouts like the one you see below, every few of miles on the trail (even in remote locations). 

 

Enough logistics – time to hike.  Honestly, the best way to describe what we did is to just show the pictures.  It’s truly like no other hikes we’ve ever experienced – picturesque peaks and valleys that just seem too perfect.  In addition to all the magical scenery, one of the best parts about hiking in Switzerland is the taste of traditional Swiss culture.  The most recognizable form of this is the random cow spottings (actually, because of the bells you usually hear them before you see them).  There isn’t much that can bring a quicker smile to your face than to be seemingly in the middle of nowhere and all of a sudden hear the clambering bells of some Alp cows who are roaming virtually free, thousands of feet above the valleys below.  What a life!

If the scenery and the cows weren’t enough, how about stumbling across an old-fashioned fromagerie (cheese maker)?  This is something we had hoped we would come across while living in Switzerland.  We. Love. Cheese.  In fact, we may or may not have 9 different types of cheese in our fridge right this second (yes, we have a problem).  We won’t pretend to know a lot about the cheese making process, but we don’t think many cheese makers do it like this place anymore, with a giant old-fashioned caldron of fresh milk boiling above a wood fireplace and cows waiting to be milked in the next room.  Luckily for us there was one person who spoke English (and she was super friendly) so we were able to learn all about their cheese-making process.  What an experience to see.  We also were able to do some taste tests and purchased some to take home with us!  How often does one come across an authentic cheese-hut in the mountains?  Such an unexpected treat. 

   

The rest of the hike was more classic Switzerland.  When we were almost to the highest point of the hike we ran across another fromagerie (although this one was more modern and didn’t appear to be in operation that day) with a dog friend for Ang, ice cold water for a quick dip, and a “trophy case” of bells from their cows’ greatest hits hanging on the porch.  

The very peak of the hike brought us to the border between the German-speaking canton Bern, and French-speaking canton Vaud.  We stuck with English on both sides.  :)

Almost eight hours after the beginning of our journey we reached L’Etivaz, the end of the segment, and Andre worked his navigational magic to get us on the next train home.  

In the end, here are the stats of the hike: 2,700 feet in elevation gain (and loss) over the course of 10 miles.  We officially completed 5% of the Via Alpina green trail, just a taste of what we hope to continue this summer! 

We’re a year in!

June 23^rd marked our 1-year point since moving to Geneva.  We have thoroughly enjoyed our first year living here and can hardly believe how fast the time has flown by!  Now that we’ve had some resemblance of a daily rhythm for a while now, we thought it would be fun to share some of our observations on Geneva living and some things our visitors can look forward to (or not!)…

THINGS WE LOVE

• The beauty of Geneva and of Switzerland as a whole
• Walking / biking through Geneva's old architecture every day

• Foods
• Migros Chocolate Brownie ice cream
• The fresh-baked breads (baguette, croissant, pain du chocolat)
• Kebab shops on every corner
• La Pignata ($10 take-away pizza, which is a steal-of-a-deal in Geneva – and some of the best pizza we’ve ever had!)

• The weekly farmer’s market just outside our apartment; we especially love the olive guy (named "Mortaz") from Egypt and the kind Swiss couple that doesn't speak English but whom we buy our produce from every week that we’re in town
• We are able to walk or bike to anywhere in the city, yet are only 10 minutes from the countryside
• Jet d’Eau in all of it's glory
  

  • ­132 gallons of water per second + leaving the nozzle at a speed of 124 mph + jetted to an altitude of 459 feet + therefore at any given moment, there are 1849 gallons of water in the air = AWESOME

  
  

• Drinkable water fountains, “Eau Potable”, all over the city (the one free thing in Geneva)

• Our tiny apartment
• Bocce ball tournaments across the street from our apartment

  

• The modern technology of Skype (in order to “see” our family) and video streaming (our very favorite TV shows and NFL games)
• Traveling by train vs. airplanes because it’s less stressful, has better views, and you don’t have to be there 2 hours early or wait in security lines!
• Restaurant prices pretty much include everything at the onset (tax & service), so you only give a couple extra bucks as tip if you really liked the service (there’s no surprise 10% tax or 15-20% add on for tip)
• We can now say we have money in a Swiss Bank account (not only that, but it includes a high tech password system which changes numeric passwords every minute...the Swiss are very advanced in the banking department!)  

  

THINGS THAT SURPRISED US

• Grocery stores don't always refrigerate milk and eggs
• 2.5% milk is the lowest milk fat you can find (and it's delicious)
• There are built-in heavy-duty sun and noise blocking shades on most home windows (and they're GREAT when needed)

  

• Tiny wheat fields, yet full-sized combines to harvest them (wouldn’t take more than 30 minutes to harvest a field!)
• Men in fancy dress suits and women in dresses and skirts riding bikes (Ang is now one of them)
• We had to buy a mandatory bike insurance sticker (for $6), which covers us for up to $2 million in damages (try to think of a scenario where you can do $2 million in damages with a bicycle and we might just try it…)
• Switzerland's billing system is extremely simple -- everyone pays his or her bills online through the bank or pays directly at La Poste (Post Office)
• There is a “Central Perk” bar / coffee shop (from the show “Friends”) in our neighborhood



• Bush & Obama faces are painted on half pipes in the skate park 

 

THINGS WE DON'T UNDERSTAND

• FRENCH
• Sometimes they randomly crack a raw egg in the middle of a pizza
• There is a pharmacy on every corner
• A McDonald’s Big Mac costs $7 (the meal is $14)
• Most Europeans we talk to have some level of dislike for the U.S. (ranges from minor to major) but love Obama
• Certain American films and TV shows have slightly different names over here 

Teenage Mutant
HERO Turtles :)



"L.A" Crash

THINGS THAT TOOK A WHILE TO GET USED TO

• Not having a microwave!
• Bringing a $2 coin to the grocery store as a deposit to use a shopping cart
• Working on a different time zone than most of our coworkers (working late over here vs. early in the U.S.)
• No full-sized clothing dryer available to us -- we have to hang dry all of our laundry
• Time format is 24hours and date format is DD/MM/YY
• Many restaurants only serve one kind of beer, so instead of asking what's on tap (right, like we could explain that in French anyway) you simply say “Une bière s'il vous plait” (a beer, please)
• If you don’t ask for your bill in a restaurant, they’ll never offer it to you

THINGS THAT ARE STILL TAKING A BIT LONGER TO GET USED TO

• The Metric system
• Figuring out what to do next when you ask someone "Do you speak English?" and they say "No"
• Not over-shopping, especially groceries (we have to carry everything home that we purchase—most of the time on our bikes—which gets a little interesting sometimes)
• Early closures of stores (7pm) and most everything closed on Sundays
• Restaurants don’t serve complimentary water (you have to buy bottles of water with or without "gas" (carbonation)) and they give you a dirty look if you ask for free tap water

THINGS WE'LL NEVER GET USED TO

• FOOD: No sourdough bread, no Taco Bell, no Tillamook cheese
• Restaurants are EXPENSIVE (often $60+ for 2 entrees and 2 drinks)
• The smoking (it seems like everyone smokes over here)!
• We pay a TV-watching and radio-listening tax that costs as much as our TV subscription does each month (how do they know we even have a radio?)
• Having to translate snail mail by retyping word-for-word into Google translate to make sure we aren’t missing anything important
• Being far away from family and friends

It has been a fantastic year.  Every day we look at each other in bewilderment at the thought of how this adventure landed in our laps.  We feel so incredibly blessed to have had this opportunity to live over here and we thank God daily.