RSS
 

Posts Tagged ‘Travel’

Get Your Kids On The Train Cheap With The Junior Card

08 Feb

A friend of mine at work was telling me about the Junior Card offered by the SBB for children.  The yearly card costs only 30 swiss francs and it allows your child under the age of 16 to travel with their parent or grandparent for free when the adult has a valid ticket.  Talk about a great deal.  I guess I still don’t need the card as kids under 6 always travel free.

Despite the relatively high costs of public transportation for individual tickets in Switzerland there always seem to be good deals for families on the go as long as you are willing to look around for the offers.  The junior card is just another great example of how family friendly Switzerland can be.

 
No Comments

Posted in Travel

 

A 5 Year Reject

19 Jun

 

Today marks the 5 year anniversary of my arrival in Switzerland.  Five years seems like a life time ago.  I can’t believe it.   As with most anniversaries it seems like a good time to do a bit of reflecting.

So lets look at 5 things I didn’t expect to accomplish but did.

  1. Learned to speak enough German to get by.
  2. Learned to play The alphorn.
  3. Visited most of the major cities in Europe.
  4. Learned to enjoy the European concept of vacation, sit in one place and take it all in.
  5. Got an additional promotion or two at work .

Not a bad list when I look at it.

No what about the failures?   I think the single most depressing thing, is that I got rejected for a C residency permit.  It was kind of disappointing but I am not surprised.  I think the main reason I got rejected is just that I wasn’t quite prepared to apply, and for once the Swiss did something pro-active.

At the begining of April I got a note in the mail about reapplying for permits at the end of the month since my permit was expecting.  I went through the standard process for applying and had expected to get my B permit in a couple of weeks.  Then the Swiss did something that threw me for a loop.  The did something proactive and asked that I just apply for a C-permit early.  I wasn’t expecting that at all.

Before you can apply for a C Permit you must reside in the same town on a B-Permit for 5 years. The C permit application also requires more paperwork and at the same time I got the application I had to travel for business.  If you are in the permitting process that can mean you need to apply for travel visas if your permit hasn’t been delivered.  So after asking a Swiss friend to help with the application I submitted the packet of forms and left of a 10 day trip, part business and part vacation.  Of course while we were out the immigration office sent a letter saying they needed something else. I was of course were out of the country and did not respond in the required timeline.  What gets me is they knew we were out of the country because I had just applied for a travel visa the week before explaining I had to travel for work.

Instead of a C Permit, I got a nice rejection letter, telling me I would not get a C Permit, but I could pick up my B Permit at the rathaus.    You can bet I ran over quickly to pick up that permit not to risk another issue.

But that aside it has been a fantastic 5 years.  Looking back I made a good decision to spend some time living and working in Europe.  It has given me a world view that I just didn’t have before.

 
1 Comment

Posted in Moving

 

Returning From the UK

25 May

Bibery in the Cotswalds

Wow, did I really need that vacation.  It seemed like a long, long time since I had a bit of time to relax and do some things for myself.  It was a relatively late planned trip for my wife and I but we had decided to take a trip to Cornwall, the south western corner of England.

Cornwall had long been on my list as a photographic destination to capture some of the famous rocky cliffs and amazing ocean views.  I know I haven’t posted one of those views here, but I need to do a little digital magic to some of the photos before I am ready to share them.

While we were on the way down to Cornwall we also stopped in a few villages in the Cotwalds area where I got my introduction to mushy peas.  I have to thank a couple of colleagues from the office for turning me on to mushy peas.  Its a great side dish to fish and chips and something I will be trying to make at home.

 
1 Comment

Posted in Travel

 

Hot Air Balloon Over The Alps

13 Feb

Balloon Over Chateau D’Oex Switzerland

Today I spent some time going through some more photos from our trip to the Chateau D’Oex balloon festival.  I liked this balloon a lot.  I guess it is a bit stereotypical in its style compared to some of the more elaborate balloons we saw.  But sometimes I think simple is good.

 
No Comments

Posted in Swiss Day Trips, Travel

 

Western Spirit Rides Again

06 Feb

Western Spirit Over The Swiss Alps

Two weeks ago we went to the 2011 Chateau D’Oex International Balloon Festival.  It was the second time we had visited the the balloon festival.  This time around we managed to get a room at a bed and breakfast right in town so we could forgo the morning commute to the launch site.

We arrived late on the Friday night that the festival began and stayed for Saturday and Sunday.  I was a little disappointed that the weather didn’t allow for any flights on Saturday.  I attempted to go skiing on that day which was a bit of a disaster due to lost gloves, mountain fog, and really icy conditions on the slopes near Gstaad, but that is another story.

One of my favorite balloons from the last time we visited the event was Western Spirit, piloted by a couple from the U.S.  I was glad to see that the team had made it back this year as well.  We were so close to having a chance to meet the team as well.

For the ‘mass accenccension’  Which sounds somehow like a church event, we took up a position a few hundred meters above the launch site on a mountain rode.  Western Spirit ended up landing only about a quarter mile from where we were, but alas, there was an impassible gorge between us and the balloon so I guess we’ll have to wait until she rides again.

 
No Comments

Posted in Festivals, Swiss Day Trips, Travel

 

Hiking In Adelboden

21 Dec

Hut on a winter hiking trail near Adelboden Switzerland

I had a chance to use a gift certificate for a hotel stay recently.   The gift was given to me this summer by some friends and I hadn’t had a chance to use it.  My wife and I were waiting for some good weather this fall to use our Smartbox gift certificate but the weather just never cooperated.  Seeing that the certificate was going to expire in February 2011 we decided to take our chances and book a weekend in Adelboden.

It was just the start of the ski season in Adelboden.  Although I didn’t manage to make it to the slopes we had some fantastic weather on Saturday afternoon and did some winter hiking.

We also had a chance to meet with a work colleague and friend that has a small flat in Adelboden.  It was a nice opportunity to see the local side of the town culture.  We meet a few of her friends and visited a few local watering holes.  It was interesting to watch the locals.  From what I understand the locals are really just getting ready to go into hibernation.  From some of my conversations I learned that as the tourist season ramps up the locals don’t go out much.  Places are too crowded and it just isn’t worth the trouble.

What I also learned was that many Swiss in this local resort towns only have jobs for about 8 months a year.  They work for the summer tourist season and then the winter season.  In between the seasons there isn’t much going on so many of the hotels, stores, and resturants close.  What also struck me is that sometimes the locals don’t even know where they will be working during the next tourist season,  jobs are guaranteed and it is common to move around.

If you think about it working only 8 months a year means the locals have to practice an extremely good form of financial planning and discipline. Not that I wouldn’t expect anything less of the Swiss.  The reality is these seasonal works are still paying rent, utilities and buying food even during 4 months of the year when the are not getting any pay check.

The hiking and scenery in Adelboden were fantastic but what was really interesting were all the little things are learned about the local Swiss culture from my friend.  Hopefully I’ll get to go back someday and have another chance to mix and mingle with the locals.

Finally to the guys that gave me the gift certificate, thanks, it was perfect and we had a great weekend.

 
1 Comment

Posted in Swiss Day Trips, Travel

 

Glühwein: Great Cold Weather Drink

10 Dec

A cup of Glühwein at a Christmas Market

It is officially Christmas market season in Europe.  Last weekend we made a trip to Innsbruck, Austria with some friends to make the rounds at the local market.  Mulled wine called glühwein in the local language is always a staple.  The hot wine drink is a great way to warm your hands and your heart as you pass the time outdoors.

At most markets you’ll pay about 2.50 Euros for a hot cup, with an additional 2 Euro deposit on the mug.  Once you finish your drink and return your mug you’ll get your 2 Euro’s back.  For the expat, it seems to be a bit more difficult.  My informal poll indicates that other expats like myself tend to keep the mugs as a souvenir from the trip.  After all for 2 Euro’s you get a great little mug, with the city name and the year on it.  What else could you want.

 
2 Comments

Posted in Festivals, Food

 

Evening In Monaco

20 Nov

Port in Monaco

Last weekend we took a short trip to the French Riviera to visit Nice and Monaco.  This is of course the off-season so the hotels where cheap and restaurant reservations were not required.

Although the weather was not the best we still made the most of the long weekend including a trip to spend the day in Monaco.  While we were there, there happened to be a carnival along the port and it made for some great photographs in the early evening light.

Monaco itself is quite odd compared to its surroundings.  The entire country is only 0.75 square miles.  It is a small island of cleanliness and order in an otherwise extremely ‘French’ region.  Monaco is served by a train station that is linked to the French rail system but as soon as you step off the train you know you are somewhere else.

The streets are pristine.  I don’t think I saw a single cracked piece of concrete or a paver out of place in the pedestrian promenades.  It is otherworldly right up there with Switzerland.

It was also fun to walk along the Monaco Grand Prix race circuit.  The yearly formula 1 race takes place directly on the streets of Monaco.  I’ll save that for another post though.

Monaco was packed with tourists even in the off-season.  There was a big cruise ship at the port which meant the traditional sign waving tour guides were wandering the streets hearding their cruise companions along to all the tourists sites like heards of sheep.

It was a nice place in a strange sort of way.  Worth a visit for a day, but I don’t think you would need more time than that.

 
No Comments

Posted in Photography, Travel

 

Drive Up ATMs

27 Oct

A friend of mine is just back from a vacation in the U.S.  This was his first visit to The States.  While we were having a coffee this morning I asked him what surprised him most.  One response I totally expected, the other was a bit random and caught me off guard.

The expected response was of course ‘HOW BIG EVERYTHING IS!’  Yes, I know I lived there.  I guess stuff is big in the U.S.  It is all relative I suppose.  Things are so big for me, but rather things in Europe are just too small.  Yes the National Mall in Washington D.C. is big, its huge,  how do you think they managed to get a million people gathered on the mall for rallies and protests?  It’s got to be big.

The more unexpected response for me was drive-up ATMs (Bank Machines, or Bankomats for those in Europe).    I to to ponder this response for a bit.  But after thinking about it I realized I had never seen a drive-up ATM here in Europe.

I don’t have a car, so that is probably one reason.  Secondly, I live in the center of town so my regular bankomat is just down the street from my apartment.  Still, its an interesting question.  Are there really no drive-up bank teller machines in Europe?  Could this be?  I haven’t seen one in Switzerland, and the few vacations I’ve taken where I have rented a car I know we didn’t use an drive-up bank teller machine.

Have you seen a drive up ATM in Europe?  Leave a comment.

 
No Comments

Posted in Daily Life

 

Paris Is Not Burning

20 Oct

This morning I had to fly to Paris for a couple of  meetings.  Given the fact that I had heard all sorts of stuff about the strikes, burning vehicles and gas shortages on the international news I was terrified.  Not that any harm would come to me personally but more with the fact that it could be an extremely long and frustrating day.

I was not disappointed when I woke up.  As expected the air traffic control crew at Charles De Gualle was on strike and my plane left the gate 45 minutes late.  While taxining to take off we again had to stop because the captian noted that a truck broke down on the runway and it had to be removed.  What a truck was doing on the runway is beyond me but the day was shaping up to meet my expectations.

As we decended into Charles De Gaulle I expected to see all signs of the apocolypse.  Cars with no gas, lines of people fighting for a single taxi, and people standing 15 deep pushing to get onto 1 of every 4 scheduled trains, the others not running because of the strikes.

Instead what I found was no wait at the taxi queue.  A smooth, quiet, diesel fume free ride into the city, and frankly the fastest door-to-door commute between Baden and Paris I had ever had in the 4 plus years I’ve been making the trip.

Where were all the burning cars, and the riot police, and the 300,000 people blocking the streets.  Heck if I know, I didn’t see any of them.   I asked my co-workers in the Paris office what was going on.  They even told me they had no idea where the media was finding all their inflamatory footage.  Even if there was any bad stuff going on it was very limited and much rather an exception than the rule.

So as we were wrapping up the day, when my colleague from Baden told me he was concerned about his taxi ride back to the airport because some French colleagues told him they heard that there was a mile long backup at the airport and that people were getting out of their taxis and walking the last mile, I had to pause and think.  Is that the media?  Is that the french gossip mill?  What is it.  Because that definately can’t be true.

Sure enough 30 minutes later I got an SMS.  ‘All is clear at the Airport -HJB’

 
2 Comments

Posted in Daily Life, Travel

 
« Older Entries