Hodgepodge Lodge--Bits and pieces of my Swiss adventure

All bundled up in my cold weather gear.

I was going through my archive of photos the other day and found many that I had not included in a previous blog.  They didn't exactly go along with the theme or the story at the time, so now I have all these loose ends of curiosities and observations which I would like to share with you.  

These are my potpourri Switzerland short subjects

Drinkable fresh water everywhere

This water fountain is in the Rauthaus in Basel

One of the things that Switzerland is very proud of is their clean water.  I have heard time and time again that you can drink right out of the wall (tap) because it is so clean and fresh.  And it is.  The only reason anyone buys bottled water here is because they are on the go and it is for convenience sake.  Or, they like water "mit gas" (with gas--carbonation).  A ton of preferred water is the carbonated water.  I am often looked at askance in a restaurant when I order mine without gas.  

I attended a monthly meeting of The Professional Women's Group of Zurich where waiters were circulating and pouring drinks in the meet and greet socializing portion prior.  When I asked for my "mineral wasser no gas," the waiter said, "Boring."  Seriously. 

An additional source of pride which is mentioned in the tourist guide books is that every town, no matter how big or little will have live running fountains that the public is invited to drink from. I have noticed that most of these fountains are quite decorative, besides just being functional.



I ride in a Mercedes Benz every day

I really do.  The manufacturer of the buses is Mercedes Benz.  I have often ridden along silently chuckling about this in my mind.

One day, on a train, as I was waiting for it to depart (I had arrived and was sitting in it approximately 15 minutes early), the driver of the train came into the car I was sitting in and proceeded to open the door to the engine--which was right there in the adjacent car.

I was quite interested to watch as he left the door to the train "cockpit" open.  He had a laptop computer which he carried in and connected it to the mighty power engine to run the train.  It was an interesting minute or two of observation prior to him closing the door and driving the train.

I took a special cable car tour in Basel the other day.  It was a loud clanging affair and the tour guide gave us all headset earphones to wear.  We thought it was so she wouldn't have to talk so loud, but we discovered that the noise of the cable car is so loud that it hurts the ears for an extended time period.  Without them, we never would have been able to hear the tour guide.

Interestingly, the tour was called the Oldtimertram.  It means that it is an antique tram car or a vintage model.  Somehow, that got lost in translation to me.  It made me feel like I was on a senior citizen tour.  And on the tram was another bit of language that suffers through no translation at all....it just looks hilarious as your read it phonetically.  I couldn't stop giggling. (Oldtimer Fahrten=Vintage rides)

 One really amazing thing about the tram tracks for the various trams is that they are right there in the middle of the walkway and pedestrians must walk over and around them all the time.  

Often after getting off a tram one might cross right in front of the tram as a pedestrian.  No one controls this.  Meaning, there are no barriers and extra guard rails to force pedestrians to be safe.  You are expected to act in a responsible manner.  

In Basel, there was a road crew working on the middle of the road with a jackhammer.  Besides the noise being ear-splitting, I could have walked right up and stood next to the worker while he was working.  In Arizona, they have to have a million barricades up and TWO DPS officers doing nothing but sitting all day in their patrol car with the lights flashing to warn everyone to watch out or stay away.  Over kill.  Wasted resources and money spent.


Exciting weather for an Arizona desert rat

One exciting thing that appeared on the first day of autumn was the stands on the street corners and at the train stations where they are selling roasted chestnuts.  "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire..."  The smell is very pleasant and is a sure sign that it is fall and the seasons are about to change.

I bought a warm bag and excitedly took it home to share with my landlord since all the tour books and websites talk about wonderful it is--don't miss the opportunity!  When I brought them to him upon arriving home (for I had purchased them right before coming home from a stand outside the bus station at the airport), he said, "No thanks.  Roasted chestnuts have always tasted to me like dried and boring mashed potatoes.  I don't know why there is all that fuss over them."  

I thought he was a total spoilsport.  I hurriedly peeled one warm and toasty specimen, inhaling the fragrant smell.....only to discover he was right.  Dry, bland mashed potato was what it tasted like to me.  Still the sight and smell of the roasting stands is really cool.  A sure sign of fall.


I took a ride on the Glacier Express again Oct. 23.  The Express shuts down its summer season Oct. 30 so I wanted to ride it one more time to see the changes fall had wrought upon the landscape.  

This time I sat amongst three very nice native Swiss gentlemen who were very kind and friendly.  They were my age or slightly older.  One had ridden the train several times, but the other two, despite living here all their lives, were riding the panoramic Express for the first time.






I have mentioned on Facebook that I am loving the weather here.  Rainy days? Exciting.  I've got an umbrella or a raincoat or a jacket with a hoodie.  Yes, they are wet and everything gets wet and the floor of the bus is wet.  It's still exciting weather.  

For example, it began raining last night at midnight.  It rained all night and all day and now it is approaching 9 p.m. the next night.  Still raining.  I went out in it on an errand. Loved it.

Switzerland had a thrilling early snow this year.  The temperatures dropped really low and the weather report said, "Snow, snow, snow."  It had been snowing up in the mountains for a week or two already, but the lower elevations do not see snow in October very often.  The last time it happened was 2005 and 2008.  So I was really excited when it started snowing on October 27, 2012.  

It snowed all day, but didn't really stick to the ground until the late afternoon.  Then, the snow began to stay.  You could actually see it on the ground as opposed to just falling from the sky.  

Walking to the bus the next morning.

It snowed all evening and all night.  When I got up the next morning to head out to my day's adventure, the walkway was completely covered and all the trees and bushes were covered.  It was really cool.

Off my balcony next day.

The snow was everywhere.  It covered all the green hills and trees and houses.  From the train, the glorious green pastures and hills were transformed into Christmas card snow-covered scenes.  Still absolutely pretty.

From the train, the rolling white hills.

Swiss gardening has always been a growing experience

The Swiss love to garden.  Who wouldn't in a place where everything is green and grows as if by magic?  Still, to their credit, they are avid gardeners.  Almost every home has a garden.  In a nation that finds the majority of inhabitants living in apartment buildings, how do they carry on the tradition of gardening?  Garden allotments.

In every city, there is a place or two or three where dozens of citizens own or rent a little space within a communal gardening area.  These are equivalent to the grow boxes that are commonly found in Arizona.  However, they are much more elaborate.  Owners might come at the end of the day to their garden and unwind with a beer while working with the soil.  But, most likely, there may be a gathering at the garden spot on the weekend.

These garden plots often contain a little hut/shed which the owner has erected at the garden site.  There may be a porch area with table and chairs and there may be a BBQ grill, etc. There are often social gatherings right there at the garden spots. Numerous gardens have a flagpole and when there is someone there, the flag of their native canton (state) or country is definitely flying. On most weekends you can see dozens of flags. I even saw some solar panels on the roofs of the garden huts to provide power to the hut and garden area.

I have one friend who was married to a Swiss (newly divorced) and her one comment was that she was glad to be free of the pressure to carry out the gardening tradition. My other friend from the UK told me that the garden plots are very dear and hard to come by.  They are passed down from parent to child and never leave the family.  It is very difficult to obtain a garden plot.  It is a very popular hobby and social activity as well as a way to bring good food into the home.

The popularity of fresh vegetables and fresh fruits here is tremendous.  This is just one display at a farmer's market on one day.

Are you over-the-top with your toilet paper?

I am sure it has not escaped your notice that in America there is division among the citizens about toilet paper.  Some grow up in households where the roll is over the top and comes right down the front side.  Others grow up in households where the toilet paper comes from the backside of the roll, or the underside (for clarification).  When a person from over and a person from under wed....you know how that works out.  Constant friction.  It's silly, but people do become ingrained about this issue and many a heated word has been exchanged in the "mixed" marriages. 

In CH, the matter has been decided for an entire nation.  As a matter of fact, they probably have no idea this serious papering issue exists. Over here, everyone is over the top rollers.  It's due to the design of a metal plate which is on every single toilet paper holder I have seen across the entire country.  In every hamlet, town, city; public bathroom, private bathroom; home after home, apartment after apartment.

 Around the back under-rolling would simply not work with this device. Additionally, it seems to cause the paper to tear off at four sheets--every time.  The toilet paper has the consistency and is comparable to a paper towel where I come from.  It will be really nice to return to my lovely and soft Charmin.  Even the "Super Sensitive" brands here are still similar to your average Bounty in texture.  However, get water on it and it disintegrates very quickly.  It is very clear to see that the emphasis is on paper that is quickly biodegradable.

Halloween and superstitions

For a Halloween treat, I took myself on a Ghost Walk of Zurich. 

It was a lovely 45-minute walking tour with a humorous and well informed tour guide and actor, Dan Dent. The tour did not disappoint and some of the centuries' old history was fascinating.  Dan's dry humour and one-liners were hilarious and kept the flow interesting and fun.

I would recommend this brief tour to anyone coming to Zurich.  It is a very pleasant evening's entertainment and I especially enjoyed it as a lovely addition to the week leading up to Halloween. (But the tour is great any time of the year.)

I also discovered an odd and slightly eerie thing when I got on an elevator going up to visit a friend at her work.  

There was a 13th floor.  Yep.  You could push a button and stop on the 13th floor.  Office and companies worked on the 13th floor.  

I explained to my friend that 13 was thought of as an unlucky number in the US and no elevators had a 13th floor.  She thought that was really funny.  Come to think of it, it kind of is....

At another festival, the holly branch or a twig of holly was considered to be a very lucky thing or a thing that would be sure to bring you good fortune.  They were selling them (for a donation amount of your choice) to raise money to support the festival expenses.  Men had them tucked into the brim of their hats and women carried a sprig, like a Miss America bouquet of roses.

I thought they were beautiful and loved the tradition they represented.  I bought one immediately.  However, I was not a huge fan of getting sliced by the edge of the holly leaves or my fingers cut on the edge of the scallop of the leaves or the thorns. Over and over.  Pretty, but ouch!




And that brings us to the dairy portion of the stories

While there is a river of chocolate--beautiful, smooth, sensuous chocolate--there is no skim milk in Switzerland.  There is no non-fat milk in CH.  (That I could find.) I am a huge fan of skim milk.  There is nothing that I love more than an ice cold glass of skim milk. I even put ice cubes in it sometimes for that really invigorating ice cold refreshment.  I have not had one for three months.  I dare say that I will make sure to stop at a grocery store on the way home from the Phoenix airport and grab a gallon.

Instead, in CH there is a milk drink.  I don't know what that means.  There are cartons of it sitting on the store shelves.  Not refrigerated.  The date on the carton says it is good for several weeks.  I don't know what that means either or how that is possible.  Still, I have consumed my fair share while here.  I just don't know what it is.  

Making the thin cheese sheets.

And, while the reputation of Switzerland and cheese is one of incomparable excellence, there is one cheese that is not here (at least I could not find it).  There is no cheddar cheese here.  No longhorne cheese, either.  Flavorful cheeses of unlimited variety and excellent quality, yes.  No bright orange, stringy, gooey cheesy flavor I'm used to.  That will be a menu choice once again when I'm on American soil. (NOTE:  I don't come to another country and look for America.  I enjoy the new country.  I merely make these observations since I'm talking about milk and cheese.)

Can you see the Harley cow?

However, they do love their cheeses and present it in many forms.  Sliced, cubed, shredded, for sure.  But they also slice it very very thin, like a thin sheet of see-through paper (you can even see through the cheese too, it's that thin).  Then, they take these cheese sheets and very carefully roll them into cheese rolls.  A lovely appetizer.

 Finally, take a close look at the front of this Harley.  It is decorated to look like a most beloved Swiss cow.



A couple of notable establishments I frequented

 Upon arriving in Zurich, I could not miss out on the Rheinfelder Beirhall dining experience.  They have this giant dish called the Jumbo-Jumbo Cordon Bleu and it's a massive chicken fried steak thing.  Big enough to feed at least 2-3 people.  This restaurant is very popular and you will always find a crowd inside and outside at the many tables on the sidewalk.  Loved it.

I also was a patron of a lovely bakery called Blueberry.  Every time I walked past one, it made me smile.  
 
Wouldn't you smile too if it made you remember a flame-haired little munchkin who is the most adorable child ever (with the most beautiful flame-haired mom too)?
 
You could just drink her up!