Rigi

We took our friends on a little excursion over the weekend to see Rigi, and 200o meter 'hill' at the base of the alps just outside of Lucerne. The trip to Rigi was almost as delightful as the view from the top of the mountain.

To get to Rigi we boarded a train in Zurich for the 1 hour trip to Lurcerne. Then we boarded a boat on Lake Lucerne for a 40 minute cruise to the base of Rigi. From there it was another 40 minutes by the RigiBahn cog train up to the top of the mountain.

Once at the top we had a splended view. Last time I was at Rigi mountain with a friend of mine the view was good, but a little hindered by the clouds. This time the visibility was fantastic.

In anticipation of the days events I also put on my special Rigi socks.

The Rigi socks, that is a complete story all to itself. The last time I visited my friend and I were going up the mountain and this woman came through the train car offering everyone socks. I thought this to be strange but I gladly accepted and put the Rigi logoed socks in my backpack for another day.

My friend and I noticed something strange going on across the aisle. On older gentleman on the train was actually taking off his shoes and his socks just so he could put on his new found treasures. We were both quite amused by the entire thing.

Back to the present, I had talked up the free socks quite a bit and I was hopeful that we would all get a free pair. But apparently they have changed their sock policy since I was last there in September of 2005. So to my friend I say, consider yourself lucky, cause no one else is gettin' free socks.

At the top (known as Rigi Kulm) we had a nice lunch, wurst and schnitzel for all. Then we topped it off with a few mugs of Glühwein. A hot mulled wine drink that really hits the spot on a cold autum day.

There were some traces of snow at the top of Rigi so we did also manage to get in our first snowballs of the year. I can't wait for the snow. I expect it should be starting any day now.

The Box

I wrote before we left for our short vacation a short thank you note to my cousins. I really need to revisit this because I didn't do the story justice.

I cam home the day before on business travel and noticed a slip from the post office saying I had a package for pickup that required a signature. I didn't remember ordering anything from the states but I figured I would go the next morning to the post office to pick up the package.

When I got up the next morning, I had a few errands to run so I grabbed my trusty blue IKEA bag and headed out. When I got to the post office I went up to the counter and presented my receipt and the woman went back behind the counter to find my package. She was gone quite a long time.

Out from the back she comes with an enormous box that must have weighed about 25 or 30 pounds. The box just barely fit into my IKEA bag. The three block walk home was quite interesting.

I got home to open the package and found underneath the brown paper wrapping a pampers box. I don't remember pampers wieghing 30 pounds. What goodies could be inside?

Much to my suprise the box contained an entire collection of various foods and goodies that I had mentioned in my blog over the past couple of months. All of the wonderfully American things that I had been missing. There were oreos, mac & cheese, soap, cooking spices, syrup all all sorts of other things that I just don't have enough room to mention.


Now the next task was to find a place to put it all. Luckily we have had one cabinet left in our kitchen were we haven't put anything yet. It was just large enough for us to stock with all of our new found goodies.

What really amazes me is how much 'American' food we have in our pantry even though we have been here over 5 months. With two sets of friends and family recently visiting us, and this big box of goodies I would say our pantry more closely resembles and American kitchen than a swiss one. Which at times isn't such a bad thing.

Again, a special thanks to my cousins for a wonderful care package. We are truely enjoying it!

Football & Raclette

Thanksgiving was a little strange this year. First off, yes I was working.

I did find it a little weird to be thinking about everyone back at home that was probably enjoying a free day and more importantly preparing for the much needed 4 day weekend for friends, family, and shopping.

We had some friends arrive from the US on Wednesday to stay with us for the holiday. So late Thursday afternoon I tried to get things wrapped up a little early to enjoy the evening. We had decided some time ago that we would not try to cook a turkey for Thanksgiving. Not that we didn't want it. They are just very expensive, and generally have to be preordered. Turkeys are not 'in the freezer section' on a regular basis like back home. Also combining the fact that we both had to work on Thursday we didn't want to have to come home from work and have to make a big meal.

Instead, we decided to make raclette. Yes it is not very American, but it is quick, easy, and we thought our guests would enjoy a traditional swiss meal.

After the meal we were able to turn on the Slingbox and watch the Detroit Miami game while trying to recover from our overstuffed bellies. Even though we weren't paying to close attention to the game it was nice to have it on. It definately brought a little americana into our apartment.

The meal and the evening turned out quite well and everyone enjoyed it. I was very happy about that. I got a laugh when we were traveling with our friends today and they asked if we could stop at the Chirstmas market to get some raclette.

The only down side is my aparment still stinks of smelly cheese 3 days later. I've had all the doors and windows open but there is still a hint of cheese stench lingering. I need to figure out how to get rid of that orderiforous emination.

Hofbrauhaus

Rick Steves recommeded that we visit Hofbrauhaus in Munich. I was amused by his description. He noted that locals visit the brew pub to watch the tourists, the tourists go to watch the Um-pa-pa band, and everybody goes to see the poor chap who had too many beers and is bent over the vomitorium.

So what is the vomitorium? Sit back for a tale my readers, and you shall soon know.

When we arrived we were expecting that all beers sold at the Hofbrauhaus would only come in 1 liter glasses. Some of our travel guides suggested that it was a one size fits all kind of pub. Luckily as we entered and looked at some of the tables they did have a few half liter mugs so I was confident we could get a more reasonable sized mug of beer.

We sat down and were immediately greeted by a waiter and handed menus. We order our beers and began to survey the menu. After about 10 minutes of analysing all of the various hunks of meat on the menu I had decided on a plate of grilled sausages. I placed my order and decided this would be a good opportunity for a quick tour.

I excused myself from the table and headed to the bathroom to see the 'vomitorium.' I walked into the bathroom and there it was next to the 20 urinals just like the guidebook had said. A gleaming, shining, chrome plated funnel. It was about 18 inches in diameter, and had an enormous drain. The drain trap on this thing was made of a pipe that had a diameter of about 3 inches. You could puke up a softball and it would have easily gone down the drain. I have to admit it was very impressive.

I headed back to my table to report back on my findings and was immediately confronted by the waiter. He informed me that they no longer had any grilled sausage and I would have to order something else. What!? How could they be out of sausage?! This is like bizzaro world, the German resturant with no wurst, that is the worst.

I quickly scanned the menu and ordered the meatloaf. I thought this was a safe bet.

Boy was I wrong. My plate came out and there in the middle of the plate was something that losely resembled a brick. It was smooth, with a burnt umber color. Almost to a point where is was glistening. I'm sorry I didn't take a picture because I just can't describe this thing. And sure enought it was about the size of a brick.

This did not look like any meatloaf I had seen before. It did not look like ground beef or pork. It did not appear to contain any oatmeal, rice, spice, or vegtable fillers. There was no ketchup on the side. I was really confused.

I poked at the brick a few times and decided to cut into it. What is this, I thought to myself. The inside almost looks like hotdog meat. I take a bite. Holy cow, it is a brick of hot dog! I can't believe this. What did I order!?! This brick was essentially the size of an Oscar Meyer 8 pack and I'm sure it had about the same nutritional value.

In all fairness to the Hofbrauhaus the food that was ordered by my wife and my sister-in-law was quite good. I just got the oddball plate I guess.

Needless to say, I don't think the beer is the reason for the vomitorium.

Something About Maria

In 1964 Hollywood produces traveled to Salzburg Austria to film a movie musical based losely on the Trapp family singers that escaped Nazi occupied Austria only to venture to the US and eventually open a ski lodge in Vermont.

Sound crazy? No its just the basis for The Sound Of Music which debuted in theaters in 1965. I have to personally thank Rick Steves, and Bobs Special Tours (Sound of Music Tour) for enlightening me on all things Sound of music.

Our aptly named tour guide, Rosa-Maria, was a wonderful host for our 4 hour Austrian tour. She was a wealth of Trivial Pursuit quality information about the movie, its characters, film locations, and Austria in general. While the tour itself focused on locations used in the filming of the movie there were plenty of other city sites, and cultural events also on display.

From the movie we saw the the fountain from the 'I Have Confidence' song. We visited the road where the childern where playing in the trees while the captain drove his car by. We saw the steps in the Mirabelle Garden featured in 'Do Re Mi'. We saw the church were the Wedding was held. We visted the mansion that was used as the back of the captians house were the children fell in the water (see the picture). And finally, and most importantly we saw the Gazebo. If you don't know what I am talking about then you either aren't a fan or you aren't forceable made to watch the four hour epic on a yearly basis by your wife.

This was a tour designed for Americans to the fullest extent. I was quite amuzed by the entire thing actually. It was quite fun and even though I am not a real musical fan I would recommend the tour to anyone. It was a great way to see quite a bit of the Austrian countryside in a short time.

Made it Back

What a weekend. So much to do, so little time. We had a great time, although I need a weekend to recover from all of last weeks travels. Zurich to Paris to Zurich to Salzburg to Munich and finally back to Zurich. All in roughly 7 days. Some business and some pleasure, but now I just need to relax.

Ugghhh, but back to work. Life goes on.

Lets see what did we do.

• Sound of Music Tour in Salzburg
• Mozart Dinner in Salzburg
• Tour of Motzarts Home
• Beer and Schnitzel
  
• Churches of Munich
• HofBrauHaus in Munich (large brew hall with Um-Pa-Pa music)
• Weisses Brau (Home of Schneider Wiesse and Wiesse beer in general)
• Crypt of Crazy King Ludwig responsible for the Nueschwanstein Castle

I'm sure I'm forgetting a few but I'm just on lunch break now. Once I get the pictures off of the camera I'll post some more detailed stories. There are sure plenty to tell.

My Back

My Back hurts. The 4 block walk for the post office was every painful.

I owe a huge thank you to Noelle, Brenda & Holly!

I am running to catch a train to Austria so I'll share details when I get back.

Frogs

I am a terrible blogger. I have not posted in so long. I was on business travel this week and I just did not have time to post.

I want to Paris for a few days of meetings. The hours were long, and now I am happy to be home. Strangly enough my trip to Paris and a few very interesting olfactory expereinces.

When I was going from the airport to the city we were stuck in very heavy rush hour traffic. In the stop and go traffic the car seemed to fill with horrible desiel exhaust. Not having a car, this was the first time in months I had been exposed to exhaust, how disgusting. It almost made me want to vommit. I couldn't believe the physical reactions I was having to that horrible smell.

The second experience I had was fresh cut grass. I was walking along a park on the way to the office and I smelled the sweet, damp smell of fresh cut grass. What a wonderful frangrance. I truely miss that smell.

This weekend we are taking a short trip to Salzburg and Munich. Not too long, just 4 days. But it is a much needed trip for me. I can't wait to get out of here and away from work for a few days.

Did I mention they were serving frog legs in the cafeteria at the office. I just had to try them. Luckily I had my camera phone to grab a quick picture. Yes, they do taste a little like chicken.

11 11 11 11

The monster concert has arrived! The swiss are once again parading in the streets for some sort of annual November festival that starts at 11:11 am on November 11th.

As we were walking to the grocery store this morning we saw the hords of people gathering in the small plaza. There were about 10 bands prepared to play. We about about 30 minutes before the start of the concert so we thought we would run the store and catch the show on the way back.

We managed to get back to the plaza just in time. I had a minute or two to run up to the apartment to grab a camera so I could grab some pictures of the wierd festival. My wife tells me it is some sort of festival to get rid of the angst regarding the 'quiet' hours on the weekends. I don't know how much I believe that.

Regardless as we were standing around watching a taking pictures I noticed everyone was drinking wine. Then all of a sudden a guy walks up to the three of us and offers us a glass. I asked him if it was free. He said yes and there we were drinking on the streets of Baden.

In the mean time we took a day trip to Baden and just returned at about 5:00 pm. The bands are still playing! It is absoloutely crazy. I posted some photos here so everyone could understand how bizzare these people are dressed. I really have no idea what this is all about.

To Germany

Our guests have arrived. We will be 'entertaining' constantly now until the Monday after Thanksgiving.

My sister-in-law has joined us for an extended stay just prior to her taking a new job in Atlanta. I'm glad she could come because I can remember how nice it was to have a friend in London a few years back. It makes the travel costs much cheaper when you have a free place to stay.

We are planning to go to Waldshut Germany today to do some shopping. The women are looking for clothes, and I'm just looking to get out of the house. We are also going to try to find some Christmas lights for our tree this year. We realized that all of our Christmas lights are basically useless because of the plugs so we'll have to get a few sets.

It is amazing how early the Christmas decorations go up here. The stores had started to put up there window display around the 1st of November. I think this is large part because there is no major milestone like Thanksgiving to identify the start of the season.

Finally I wanted to add a link to a small video that struck me as funny. A friend from work had it on his blog and I think it is quite accurate in reflecting some of my days around here.

Online Shopping

I don't really like online shopping in Switzerland. I have noticed that Swiss retail websites usually don't have much information about their products. This is amazingly inconvinient. A perfect example is http://www.conforama.ch. This is the website of a furniture store that has some of the ugliest furniture I have ever seen. My original intention of this post was to present some examples of the ugly furniture but I can't find any pictures on their website. So I change my direction.

So instead I will comment on how many Swiss retail store websites contain very little information about the products they sell. Another perfect example is the mediamarkt website. This is a website of one of the biggest electronics retail outlets in the country. I expected that on the site I would be able to search for products, compare prices and features, etc. I expected I could do all of the things I could do on the Best Buy, or Circuit City websites. Instead I can do none of that. I could look at a sale add, or find a store location. Wait, let me think about this, I could download a PDF copy of the latest newspaper ad and print it from home. What was I thinking, that is a huge value to me! This means I don't have to spend 5 bucks to get a newspaper I can't even read to see the price of the latest 52 cm TV. Sweet, what was I thinking.

Moral of the story, customer service and value seem to be irrelavant here.

The Drama

All the drama without the late night. That is the beauty of being 6 time zones away from the east coast witnessing an election.

It was actually quite nice. I woke up this morning and turned on the U.S. edition of CNN curtousy of my Slingbox. When I turned on the tube it was 1:30 AM on the east coast. The pollsters were still going and the race was tight. It was a little strange to watch all these results coming in at this time of the morning.

In particular I remember a short interview with John McCaine. He looked terrible. Bear in mind it was 1:30 in the morning, I'm sure he had a hell of a day, and the poor guy probably just needed to get some sleep. Instead he was facing Wolf Blitzer. I can't blame him for looking a little erratated I guess.

Then when I got home from work it was mid afternoon in DC. I turned on the slingbox again to get an update on the election and what do I get this time? Live coverage of Bush announcing Rumsfelds resignation. For once the 6 hour time difference really paid off. I had hit the news jackpot twice in one day.

The Kiss

Last night we had a outing with some new aquaintences. Six of us gathered for an intimate American chile dinner. There were three Americans including myself and my wife and 3 Swiss.

We had a pleasurable evening of light conversation. Mosting in english with a few forays into german. It was nice to go out with some people that were not aquaintences from work as the conversation was about anything but happenings at the office. How refreshing that was for a change.

The evening ended at about 11:40 pm when we had to head back to the main train station. One of the Swiss couples was also headed to the train station so we shared a tram ride to the main station. When we got to the main station we begain to say our goodbyes when before I realized it I was being introduced to the Swiss goodbye. This is a series of 3 cheek kisses (and don't stop at 2, that is reserved for the italians).

In general is is practiced between two women, or a woman and a man. Men still use the tradition of a sturdy handshake.

I had seen others partaking in this custom but I have not had occasion to practice it. For about the first 2 seconds I was really confused until my brain put together what was going on. I found myself counting in my head, one,... two,... three. Next time I'll know what to expect when a woman comes at my cheeks with puckered lips like a grandmother in the American movies.

Where do these people come from?

I was sitting at the dinner table just finishing up a nice piece of kuerbistort, the closest thing they have here to pumpkin pie when I came across an article about Schall & Rauch.

Schall & Rauch is what appears to be a group of strangley dissimilar middle aged Benny Hill era comedians. Looking at their promotional photo in the culture section of the paper their is a guy holding a tuba wearing a silly looking fake mustache. There is woman dressed in a magnificient gown wailing away on a clarinet. There is a bald guy strummin a violin like a guitar. And finally a drummer with really messed up hair with a funny looking grin on his face.

These people look like a bunch of retired clowns sans makeup. Where do these people come from?

The Zirkus!

I was reading somewhere that Switzerland has no less than 28 officially registered traveling circuses in a country that is one third the size of the state of Illinois. That seems really bizzare to me but I could believe it as every week there seems to be a new set of circus posters for such and such a circus putting up their tent in such and such a plaza somewhere.

With so many circus where do these people go after they 'retire' from the circus? I strongly believe that they wash away the makeup and create these really bizzare traveling comedy groups that seem just as popular. Not that I have ever seen any of the legions of comedy troupes perform but from the promotional photos they look like a bunch of old clowns, literally.