Countdown to Fall?

Though the sun was shining and the weather ultimately turned out to be quite warm, there was a crisp bite to the air this morning that felt much more like October than August. After a beautiful summer I guess I’m not really in a position to complain if a change of seasons is indeed upon us. However, it’d be great to get another month or so of summer if possible.

Perhaps motivated by the first sign of a potential season change, I decided to head down to the lake today. It turned out that the Lausanne triathlon was being held, so there was a considerable amount of activity lakeside.

To get a little space, I ended up walking along the lake to Pully, which is just east of Lausanne. These are some pictures that I took along the way.

It must have been in the low-80s by the time I got back to Lausanne, so it seems as though summer is still with us. That said, given the number of people out taking advantage of the beautiful day, I definitely got the impression that most may share the opinion that we’re perhaps on borrowed time before the reality of fall sets in.

Lucerne

Today I headed to Lucerne, which is in the central part of Switzerland and about two hours from Lausanne by train. Lucerne lies on the shore of the lake that bears its name and is bisected by the Reuss river, which flows from the lake. The geography surrounding the city is quite scenic, as there are many mountains around the lake that rise rather vertically and make for a nice background.

I spent most of my visit touring the historic Old Town district and walking along the lake and river. The Old Town itself reminded me of the historic districts of some of Switzerland’s other major cities. The streets are lined with unique architecture and buildings dating back 500+ years. A number of the buildings had murals painted on their facades, which I found interesting.

Along the river there are a couple of bridges that are unique to Lucerne. The first, known as the Chapel Bridge, was built in the 14th century and is the oldest wooden bridge in Europe. It served as part of the city’s early fortifications and has a tower near the center of the river that previously served as both a lighthouse and a prison. The second, known as the Spreuerbrucke, was built in the early 1400s and has a roof lined with paintings by Kaspar Meglinger.

My favorite sight was the Museggmauer, the well preserved northern section of Lucerne’s medieval fortifications. It’s in the hills above the city and runs nearly 1,000 yards with nine towers. The size of the structure alone is quite impressive, but the best part is the views from the towers. Though the climb involves steep wooden internal stairs / ladders (which don’t seem to be subject to the same safety codes we’re used to in the U.S.), it is well worth the effort.

Service Compris

For any future visitors, one immediate difference that you’ll notice between the U.S. and Switzerland involves taxes and tipping when you go out for a meal. Unlike with the U.S., tax and tip are included in menu prices here. Thus, if your food and drinks add up to CHF 30, then that’s what you pay. Though the total amount includes the same things in both places (i.e., tax and tip), I have to say that I really like just seeing a price on the menu and paying it.

One might think that this would lead to poor service in Switzerland as the incentive associated with performance-based tips is gone. However, thus far I’ve found this not to be the case fortunately. Supposedly, service industry employees here are paid well from a base salary perspective and thus are motivated to provide a high level of service without the need to earn tips (at least tips beyond those already included in the prices).

During my first week in Switzerland, I definitely wasn’t familiar with the concept of service compris. Thus I effectively became the preferred patron of Lausanne dining establishments given my tipping on top of the tip that was already included in my bills. (As you can imagine, none of the service staff decided to fill me in on this.)

On a related note, tax is included in the price of all purchases that you make in Switzerland. I really like this as it’s nice to just see something and know exactly what you’re going to pay at the register.

Quatre-vingt-quinze

There are many particularities of the French language that make it difficult for the native English speaker (or at least for me). For example, it is not a very phonetic language – i.e., what you see is very different from what you actually say or hear. (As a brief aside, English often has the same issues – think of how you’d pronounce words like “enough,” “would” and “thought” if you were learning them for the first time. That said, I feel like it’s much more of an issue with French.)

The particularity providing the motivation for this missive, however, involves the names that the French language ascribes to the numbers 70 – 99. Unlike English, which follows a similar pattern to that used for the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s, French totally changes gears once one arrives at 70. Here are some examples with the literal translations:

70: soixante-dix (sixty-ten)
75: soixante-quinze (sixty-fifteen)
80: quatre-vingts (four-twenties)
85: quatre-vingt-cinq (four-twenty-five)
90: quatre-vingt-dix (four-twenty-ten)
95: quatre-vingt-quinze (four-twenty-fifteen)

I’m sure there’s some historical basis for this, but at first glance it seems kind of weird. Fortunately you get used to it after a while.

A dog's life (in Switzerland)

Life as a dog in Switzerland seems to be a pretty good gig. The leash laws are nonexistent (or at least not meaningfully enforced), public transportation welcomes K9s, and there's plenty of outdoor places where owners take their dogs and let them, for lack of a better description, simply go nuts.

When I was in Bern, I saw an owner towing his dog from the back of his bike. I'd never seen a setup quite like that before, but I do know one thing -- the dog was loving it. He basically just got to kick back and enjoy the scenery on a beautiful day while his owner did all the grunt work pedaling in the 80F weather.

The following picture is of a St. Bernard up in the mountains above Interlaken. According to the owner, the dog's days typically consist of chewing her favorite stick outside (with unbelievable views of the Bernese alps in the background, mind you) and accosting the many dairy cows that roam the alpine countryside that is her backyard. In dog terms, it seems tough to compete with that...

Time for the man purse?

Unlike with the dollar, the smallest paper denomination for the Swiss Franc is 10 CHF. This leaves coins for 5 CHF, 2 CHF, 1 CHF and 50, 20, 10 and 5 “cents”, and leads to a bit of a predicament for the average (American) male.

The coins accumulate fast (think of how many $1's and $5's you typically have) and there’s nowhere to put them. They don’t work well with wallets and it’s a pain to just dump a lot of coins in your pockets.

It seems as though my Euro counterparts opt for the man purse (or “carryall” for you Seinfeld fans), but I think I’ll have to pass on that solution…

Best of Luck Küsus Poltertag?

I saw a group of guys wearing the following t-shirt the other day and found it pretty comical.

They were taking part in what seemed to be a bachelor party and were probably about six hours deep into their celebrations. Whether you agree or disagree with their sentiments, you have to admit that they’ve done a good job of getting their point across rather simply. There isn't much room for misinterpretation.

I couldn’t help but wonder which one was Küsus Poltertag…

Bern

Today I headed up to Bern (capital of Switzerland), which is about hour from Lausanne by train. The city’s geography is very unique – its center (basically the city’s “Old Town”) sits high atop an effective peninsula that was carved by the u-shaped flow of the river Aare.

As the city developed, it spread out in all directions from the peninsula, but the primary points of interest for visitors are definitely within the Old Town area. (Disclaimer: I can't claim this aerial shot as my own -- complements of Google.)

The Old Town is lined with cobblestone streets and buildings dating back to the 15th century. There are a large number of fountains (all of which have different wooden carvings) as well as a few sizeable clocks that are nearly five hundred years old.

My favorite sights (aside from the views of the river) were the Bundeshaus (the seat of Swiss Federal Assembly) and Münster St. Vinzenz, a gothic cathedral whose construction began in 1421 and wasn’t “completed” until 1893 (they’re still working on it).

The banks of the Aare are very beautiful, with lots of greenery that complements the crystal blue color of the river itself very well. It turns out that a popular summer activity in Bern is jumping into the river from one side of the peninsula and taking the scenic (and lengthy) journey downstream to the opposite side.

With clear skies and temps in the high-seventies, it definitely would have been the perfect way to cool off and see the town at the same time. Unfortunately, I hadn't come prepared but I definitely want to go back before summer is over and try it out.

French Lessons

Today I had my “evaluation” for the French classes that I’ll be starting next month. After nearly three months immersed in the language, I was somewhat confident going in. I’m definitely understanding a lot more these days when watching tv or listening to others on the train and feel like my speaking has improved as well. The evaluation knocked me back into reality, though – it was pretty tough.

I look forward to starting the classes, which will be twice a week during the evenings. I’m not expecting any short-term miracles, but at least they'll force me to spend some additional time on the language in a formal setting.

Blending in

During my travels I try my best to blend in and not stand out as the annoying American tourist. Overall, I think I’m fairly successful – aside from when people try to speak to me in German and I proceed to stare back with eyes glazed like a deer caught in the headlights.

As you can see from the picture, these tourists don’t seem to share my sentiments. I cannot think of a more awkward way to explore a new city than on a Segway scooter. And if the scooters themselves don’t attract enough attention, the fluorescent orange vests definitely do the trick…

The honor system

For the most part, all buses and metros in Switzerland (or at least the ones that I've been on) are based on the honor system. You buy your ticket from an automated machine before you board (or already have a weekly, monthly, etc. prepaid pass) and then hop on without showing it to anyone. This is very different from the strict pay-in-advance policies of the subway in New York City, BART / the buses in San Francisco, and pretty much every other public transportation system in the U.S. that I've ever used.

During my first couple of rides, I actually felt kind of weird after getting on...almost as though I felt compelled to show someone...anyone...my ticket just to prove that I had, in fact, paid my fair share. For whatever reason, I felt that I had to be one of the few poor saps actually buying a ticket while many of the others boarding alongside me were quite literally getting a free ride. It wasn't until a couple of weeks later that I learned what drives the high level of voluntary compliance (beyond greater mankind's staunch moral character, of course): Fines and public humiliation

It turns out that if you're ever caught riding sans billet, you get a CHF 80 fine (about $75) and become a public spectacle in which the undercover transportation official submits you to a humiliating public interrogation / scolding. And make no mistake about it...the "dog ate my homework" (err...ticket) excuse earns you no sympathy points. Either you have the ticket on your person or you don't. No excuses.

And thus the mystery of how the Swiss make money on their honor system-based public transportation network was solved. For those who are gamblers out there, the break even for riding for free but getting caught once is about 40 "successes". Feel free to roll the dice during your visit, but beware...

Interlaken / Wengen

Despite the joint soreness and general fatigue resulting from Friday’s day-trip to Zermatt, I decided to follow it up with an equally ambitious day-trip to the mountains above Interlaken.

Based on some advice from Erin, who had done the same trip a couple of weeks prior during her visit, I decided to take a train from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen and then another up to Wengen, which I ultimately used as my starting point.

When I arrived in Wengen, I spent a little time in the town itself as there were some celebrations going on for the holiday. There was definitely a 4th of July-type feel, with lots of national pride and a very festive atmosphere.

I ended up having lunch with some of the locals in the central plaza. One of the nearby restaurants had prepared a ton of traditional Swiss food and drink for the occasion and it tasted great. There were even some traditional Swiss music performances, which were fun to watch.

After lunch I headed up into the mountains. The countryside above Wengen is beautiful -- very lush with both open meadows and dense forests. There are even a number of very small dairy farms in the area and the cattle are allowed to roam free in the hills.

As a result, every so often you find yourself face-to-face with a massive dairy cow (with horns, yet not a bull). You actually hear a constant ringing throughout the hills as all the cows are fitted with huge bells around their necks so the farmers can keep track of them.

Once you’re above the countryside, the forest continues for a while before opening up to alpine and mountain views. Perhaps most impressive are the views of both the Jungfraujoch (a mountain range with three peaks – the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau – over 13,000 feet) and the Lauterbrunnen valley (the world’s deepest u-shaped glacial valley). As with the hiking above Zermatt, the scenery varies considerably depending on where you are on the hike.

I ended up hiking to Kleine Scheidegg, which is the departure point for trains going to the top of the Jungfraujoch. I didn’t make the additional trek, but I’ve heard that the train ride up is pretty incredible as it goes through steep tunnels blasted through the core of the mountain. After hiking all day I was pretty exhausted and going any further would have required staying the night. The trip to the top of the Jungfraujoch is definitely on my to-do list for next time, though.

Zermatt / Matterhorn

August 1st is Swiss National day, so with Friday off for the holiday weekend I decided to head down to Zermatt, which is in Southwestern Switzerland near the border with Italy.

Zermatt is best known for being a small resort town (skiing in the winter; hiking in the summer) at the base of the Matterhorn. I didn’t have much of a plan for the day and instead just hopped on the three hour train from Lausanne and figured I’d play it by ear.

The town of Zermatt was very nice and indeed had a clear resort-type feel. After walking around for a little while, though, I was ready to get away from the tourist crowd and check out some of the natural beauty in the mountains above. The hiking was pretty incredible – particularly when you get up to the base of the Matterhorn.

The hills not far above Zermatt are nice as well, as they’re populated with small log cabin-type farms and restaurants that look like they’ve been around for centuries.

During the course of the day it felt like I had hiked through a number of different geographies. At the lower levels, there was a distinct forest feel (almost like in the Sierra Nevadas in California), while higher up there was more of an alpine feel with glacier and snow-capped mountain views.

And as you got up to the base of the Matterhorn, the scenery was much more barren with a lot of rock and snow. The views were great throughout, just very different depending where you were. Here's a view of the Zermatt during the return hike.

The train ride as you’re departing Zermatt is also very impressive, as the train hugs the edge of the mountain and at times you overlook nothing but sheer cliffs and a long way down. For those with height issues, it’s probably best not to take a window seat if you ever make the journey. For everyone else, though, definitely grab a seat by the window and enjoy the views.