Mountains R Us

Yesterday we went on a trip to Davos along with our Swiss friend Judith. She asked Connie to join us, a friend who knows the mountains and was our terrific guide for the day. (Davos is the host to world leaders at the annual World Economic Forum--what a setting to discuss economics! How can they get any work done in the midst of these magnificent mountains?)

Still plenty of snow here, but spring is on the way

The 2-hour train trip took us to the town of Davos which is primarily a ski/summer resort area. From the train station we walked along a quiet road to see a Jewish cemetery, something we certainly didn't expect in such a remote area.

The Jewish cemetery in the middle of a forest

We then stopped to munch on sandwiches provided by Connie.

Miles, Connie and Judith at lunch

Click on this picture so you can see the avalanche barricades way up the mountain

We continued our walk over to the funicular that would take us up a very steep climb to a mountain hotel.

The funicular track with a view of the town below. We thought (for a second) about climbing up, but wimpy me vetoed the idea.

View from restaurant at the top of the funicular

At the top was the beautiful 100-year old Berghotel Schatzalp.

Hotel lobby

What better place to have our requisite coffee and cake but on the hotel veranda.

On the veranda waiting for our coffee

This patch of land from the veranda is aptly named Snow Beach

And this is what we gazed at (past Snow Beach) from our seats. Talk about a room with a view!

Another FANTASTIC day!

Getting Warmer...

Yes, finally, the weather is getting warmer. As I said before, people have been apologizing like crazy for the cold March. We may be in for some cold days yet, but we are loving the "mild" weather of about 12-13 degrees C.

We hosted our first visitors to Zurich, Pat and Pekka Sinervo from Toronto and had a terrific week together. While Pekka was off and about on various work-related trips to Brussels and Geneva, Pat and I took in the sites of Zurich and participated in 3 ZIWA (int'l women's group) activities: a lunch/lecture on Greece sponsored by the Greek women from ZIWA, a coffee chat in a hotel cafe and a train trip to Baden and guided tour of the Langmatt Museum. Just wonderful!

We spent Pat and Pekka's last day here touring nearby Zug, a quaint town about 30 minutes from Zurich. There's an Old Town and a wonderful picture-perfect lake to stroll around.

Pat, me and Pekka in the Zug Old Town


Painted Zug building


Zug Old Town from across the lake


What a serene view...

After a picnic lunch by the lake, we continued on to Lucerne, about 20 minutes from Zug. What a terrific city! Besides the beautiful lake, magnificent mountains and Old Town, there are 2 covered bridges and a medieval wall high on the hill complete with 3 towers. We attempted to climb the towers, but they are closed in the winter. This is a city worth going back to and exploring in more depth.

The 14th C. Chapel Bridge with a mountain backdrop


Medieval fortifications and towers


View from the wall


Jesuit Church


Lucerne from across the lake


Mountains near Lake Lucerne

Winter Wonderland

Life has taken on a slower pace for me here in Zurich. My day-to-day routine is pretty standard: gym, museums, food shop, having people for dinner, library, walks around town, etc. The weather has been snowy and cold (this week it snowed twice and reached a low of -7 degrees C. Today is warmer and most of the snow has melted. We love the winter, but it does inhibit some outdoor activity. I know we'll branch out more as the weather improves.)

There is no problem with language since most people speak a little English. And they are very helpful and friendly when ever I have questions. The colleagues from ETH have been wonderful and we're enjoying seeing many of them socially.

Outside our apartment--brrr!

View of city street and mountains near our apt.

Massive stone house along the Limat River


St. Peter's Church with the largest clock face in Europe (8.7 m/28 ft diameter)

I'm going to 1 or 2 ZIWA (Zurich Int'l Women's Assoc.) activities per week. This week was a coffee chat in a cafe, a Mahjong game (Chinese style) and a mountain walk. The women are terrific, all ages and all in Zurich various amounts of time. This a great source of new friends and the ZIWA calendar can keep me very busy. We are looking forward to visitors from Toronto arriving today and Daniel, Adam and his girlfriend Dana are coming for Pesach the end of March. Yahoo!

Miles and I took the tram to Zurichburg, a forested area in the hills right above the city. The views are great and you can walk for hours on the forest paths.

The mountains from Zurichburg

We also took the train to Winterthur one day. ( The train system is fantastic and the main train station is about a 7-minute walk from our apt.) This small city 20 minutes from Zurich is well-known for its art museums and pedestrian promenade--lots of pretty buildings, frescoes and statues.

Pedestrian promenade

Winterthur church

Typical architecture in Winterthur

A wooden chest in one of the museums

Lots of Smart cars here--even the Winterthur police love them

Every Wed. there is a Farmer's Market in the Zurich Bahnhoff (train station). Here are a few of my favorite stands:

Pasta King

REALLY good bread


And REALLY good cheese


Tulip season

Off to the Alps!

We arrived in Zurich on Feb. 1 and 5 days later, Miles was off to Florida to visit his dad for a week. Meanwhile, I learned the lay of the land. I joined a gym 5 minutes from the apt. and also joined ZIWA (Zurich Int'l Women's Assoc.). This is a group of 650 women from all over the world who have a calendar full of events and activities all in English. I have already been to a coffee meeting (met about 12 women) and a hike (5) from Zug to Cham (about 1 hour from Zurich). I also joined the public library which has lots of English books and movies. So I am good to go! The week flew by.

Our timing getting to Zurich was perfect: only 2 days after Miles returned from Florida, we were off on a ski "seminar" with the mechanics group from ETH (the technical university where Miles will be teaching a semester course). The ski seminar is held for 1 week every Feb. for faculty and grad students to have fun, get to know each other and work on issues to improve teaching.

We decided to join for only 4 days and took a 3-hour train from Zurich to Schruns, Austria. From there, Gunter, the owner of the family-owned hotel (lovely, small, rustic place), picked us up and took us to the hotel in Partenen in the valley dotted with small villages and lots of ski resorts. We skied 2 days at one called Selvretta Montafon.

View from our hotel balcony

As luck would have it, Partenen was having a parade the day we arrived to celebrate Fasnacht or Mardi Gras/Carnival. There were lots of locals in wonderful costumes, riding floats and throwing candy.

Fasnacht float

Happy Fasnacht revelers

There were about 25 of us from ETH and we ate breakfast and dinner together in the hotel's dining room. Everyone was extremely friendly and welcoming and they all (fortunately) speak excellent English.

View of the mountains from Partenen

And now for the ski news: Miles and I both know how to ski, but the last time was about 13 years ago in Vancouver on our last sabbatical. We rented equipment and saw that the technology has really changed. Hi-tech boots and shorter skis. And of course, LOTS of snowboarders! Believe it or not, the body/mind remembered what to do and we were shussing around the intermediate slopes pretty well. The views were spectacular and we felt like we were on top of the world.

Part of the ETH group ready to ski--see the novice 2nd from left?

On top of the world!

After a few hours, we stopped for lunch (goulash, sausages and beer typical fare). Somehow, after a big lunch, we were pretty worn out and took a few more runs and were finished by about 3pm.

Lunchtime

Day 2 was much the same, only the highlight was to participate in slalom race (a tradition with this group) and get prizes at an awards dinner. Well, I practiced going down the run, but struggled a bit and decided not to do the race. What a wimp. I figured somebody had to be a spectator! But Miles did the race in true form. Awards that night: Milky Way bars.

Another view from the top of the slopes

We are now back in beautiful Zurich, the snow has all melted and the weather is a pleasant 5 degrees C. Believe it or not, Miles will start "working" when classes begin this week.

Gruezi! ("Hello" in Swiss German)

Well, we're alive and well in Zurich!

We were welcomed to Switzerland by seeing the spectacular alps from the plane:

These are actually the Austrian Alps on our way to Zurich

We have a wonderful 3-bedroom fully-furnished apartment centrally located to downtown and about a 2-minute walk to work at ETH (Technical University) for Miles. We couldn't be happier and colleagues at the university have been so helpful and friendly. We're going to have fun here!

Zurich was dusted with snow and it even snowed in our honor the first night. It was so beautiful to watch it snow from inside our cozy place.

Snowy Zurich

Main building of ETH

Miles' office is in the modern greenish building

View from Miles' office

Icy fountain near the Bahnhofstrasse (main shopping street)

Lake Zurich about a 15-minute walk from our apt.

Two days later and most of the snow is gone, except in the hills around Zurich. All the locals are apologizing for the cold and snow, but I keep assuring them that we love it (of course we're only here for 1 season. In fact, they said Zurich doesn't always get snow in the winter and this is a particularly cold year--I think we're lucky!)

We haven't done much except the "settling in" things like getting the kitchen stocked, walking around the downtown and learning the lay of the land. I've made inquiries about joining a gym, an international women's group and contacted a few people I know from Zurich. I don't have a schedule yet, but there's no shortage of things to do.

Miles, meanwhile, is nursing a weak back and trying to get some work done at ETH. He'll be teaching a semester course starting in late Feb. He's off to Florida to visit his dad next week and when he returns, we go on a ski trip in Austria with Miles' dept. from ETH. Depending on his back, he may not be able to ski, but we'll have fun drinking hot cocoa and sitting around the fire in the lodge. Who cares??? We'll be in AUSTRIA!

Although we don't speak German (actually, they speak Swiss German which is evidently different than High German), we have no problem (so far) with English. Maybe my limited French will come in handy, too.