More Summer Fun at Montreux Jazz Fest

July 10, 2012 by lauren

We went to Montreux this weekend for the 46th annual Montreux Jazz Festival. Even though I had taken Twin & Solid while they were here, I still wanted to go back. This marks my fourth time and Gabe’s 3rd time going to the festival.

A round trip train ticket from Geneva costs 25 CHF each for us to go, but it is a fun summer activity.

A very pleasant ride from Geneva – an hour total and 25 CHF with your half fare card and 10% SBB discount for attending the JazzFest (no ticket required).

Everyone thinks we are weird that we don’t buy tickets for the shows. My physio gave me a very quizzical look. But, the free music is lovely. You just simply show up to the park, find a spot and listen to your heart’s content. The shows start about 3:30 on weekdays and 2:00 on the weekend and play back-to-back with 1/2 hour or hour breaks in between.

Taking in the scene, listening to a South African band.

Pants optional. Dogs are allowed. As demonstrated by this gentleman. To his credit, the lake is right there.

If you feel like walking around, there is plenty to see and do. There are a ton of vendors selling handcrafted goods.

Also the food is pretty yummy. Gabe and I justify our expenditure on 25 CHF train tickets + festival food = cheaper than a low end restaurant in Geneva.

Image courtesy of Henry Birmingham from last year. The paella guys were back again this year.

Some people wander to the end of the festival to enjoy the swimming. This is one of my favorite docks.

Lovely dock on Lake Geneva – Montreux.

This year, you could watch the gliders come in and try to land on the orange pad.

Coming in for landing….

Approaching…

Boom!

Freddie Mercury even enjoyed watching them a time or two.

Freddie Mercury tribute statue in Montreux.

The festival runs until this Sunday, July 15th – I’d encourage you to check it out!

Venice, Italy

July 9, 2012 by lauren

I went to Venice for my first time with R, back in 2007. We were only there 24 hours, but definitely was glad we made a stop to see the elegant architecture falling into the canals.

My mom had wanted to go to Venice, so we added it to our list of things to do when they were visiting us. It was Gabe’s first time as well.

I wanted to share some of our favorite photographs from the weekend:

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Captain Gabe

July 8, 2012 by lauren

When BuyClub came out with their motorboat vouchers, we scooped one up. We thought it could be fun to take the parents out while they were here. We knew it would be our only chance to take a boat out on Lake Geneva. It’s apparently pretty hard to rent a boat / get a boat slip and any combination of having to do with driving a boat unless you are made of Swiss money.

So, the little four seater was about our speed. And price range.

We made a reservation for the latest spot of the evening, 6:30-8:30. We planned for Gabe to join us after work.

However, he was having a hard time getting away. We waited until about 7, but didn’t want to let any more time pass since we had a hard stop at 8:30. My idea was that we could hang in the little harbor, pick him up, and swap drivers. I surveyed the two passengers and asked if anyone was comfortable driving a boat. After all, I never had. And…..crickets.

So, I ended up behind the wheel. Let’s just say, it wasn’t pretty. I might have rammed it into the dock before we even took off. The guy who was helping us cast off gave me a horrified look. And we set off into the wild blue yonder of Lake Geneva.

My mother was audibly scared. They can’t swim. Solid checked to make sure there were life jackets on board. We watched the cell phone. And waited.

Finally, we had saw via text that he’d parked and was on his way*.

We sailed back to the dock. I may have forgotten to put the boat in neutral when we got him which may or may not have resulted in another scare by my mother and a new little skipper guy on the dock who was trying to help us.

Once Gabe became captain, it became much easier. My mom chilled out. We opened a bottle of wine. And we cruised…

Twin, happy to see Gabe behind the wheel instead of me

She is laughing now. She was not laughing earlier.

The monks like to ride the boats too. This was a little bigger than ours.

Sun setting during our evening “cruise”

These people were real sailors.

Aye aye Captain Gabe

*We’d advise against driving & parking to do a lake front activity during rush hour. Just take the bus. It’s much easier.

The Little Train That Could….Drink Wine.

July 7, 2012 by lauren

We love the Lavaux region. The wine terraces are magical. Twin had read my blog before their visit and had really wanted to stop in because of our rave reviews.

There are many options for seeing Lavaux. If you have a car, you can drive through leisurely. I do warn you that it is difficult. S may have accidentally driven on a wine road not meant for cars. Gabe found it challenging when we drove from Chexbres down to Rivaz with Couch Surfer.

You can also take a train. I knew of two tasting spots accessible by train. One is Vinorama nearby the Rivaz stop (bottom of the hill). It has a lovely tasting room featuring hundreds of Lavaux wines and also a really well-done video which gives you more information about the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The other is called Le Deck. We haven’t been there but A & A raved about the magnificent terrace. You can reach it by car, or by train via Vevey at the Chexbres-Village stop (top of the hill).

You can also hike the region. The women’s club hosts a magnificent hike every fall during harvest. I did it and enjoyed it, but it was 5 hours from St. Saphorin to Lutry, which is a little challenging for me. You can design your own hikes by researching distance and picking a starting and stopping train station.

Lastly, I had recently heard about the Lavaux Express touristic train. Before E-dawg came, I had listed it as an option since my feet were still recovering and I can’t drive our car, Frau Hilda. However, we ran out of time. I had honestly forgotten about it until I read Swiss Wife’s blog and saw her pictures.

So, Twin, Solid and I decided to try it out. The little train schedule can be found online. It only goes at certain times and actually on differing days it switches between Lutry and Cully. Since we did it on a Wednesday, we left from Lutry, which was adorable in itself.

Port at little town of Lutry

Driving through Lutry’s cute streets on the Lavaux Express

Starting our ascent

The terraces are what Lavaux is known for

Rolling vineyards into Lake Geneva

The Swiss Wife had warned us that the daytime trains didn’t serve wine. There is a 6:30pm weekend one that includes a taste, but we were going during the week. So, we were prepared so that we wouldn’t be disappointed.

However, surprise, surprise….halfway through, the driver pulled off and their was a little hut with a lady offering tastes for 3 CHF. So, we decided to partake.

Twin tasting Lavaux Pinot Noir

Solid exploring the vineyards with his glass of wine

The train was 13 CHF for adults. We considered it a great value in order to get to see the vineyards without a car (and if you aren’t up for hiking super steep terrain).

Related Links:

The Swiss Watch Blog: Lavaux Wine Tasting

The Swiss Watch Blog: Gratitude Friday: My French teacher.

Swiss Wife Style: All Aboard The Lavaux Express

Schwingen In Switzerland: Stopping at Lavaux

Schwingen In Switzerland: St. Saphorin

Schwingen In Switzerland: Lavaux

Gratitude Friday: Musique Gratuites

July 6, 2012 by lauren

This Friday, I want to express my gratitude for all the free summer concerts that take place in Switzerland. The summer is filled with awesome music.

While Twin & Solid were here, they got to experience three neat musical experiences:

FETE DE LA MUSIQUE – Geneva – late June – takes place over Friday, Saturday & Sunday in Old Town and stages throughout the city

We grabbed a table in the park across from the Art & History museum and enjoyed our own bottle of wine listening to International music. We heard two acts and then S & S met up with us. From there, we walked around taking in drums, Indian melodies, and settling at a stage overlooking Parc des Bastions where we met up with A & L.

Listening to Music from all over the world at the Fete de la Musique in Geneva

I really enjoy Fete de la Musique. I don’t know if I would plan to stay in town for it, but if you are around, I’d encourage you to go a day or two.

CULLY CLASSIQUE – week long festival on the banks of Lake Geneva in the adorable town of Cully

This one was a surprise. We picked up a brochure earlier in the day and once we saw an act started at 6:30pm, we impulsively hopped on a train to check it out. A band called “Old Shit” from Switzerland was playing tropical music. Since the band was francophone, it was pretty neat to see the talent the singer had singing in his second language. It was so good that we changed our evening plans and stayed right in our cozy lawn chairs.

A great spot at Cully Classique

What a view at Cully Classique

Dusk falls on the band and Twin & Solid (to the left of the stage)

MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVAL – first two weeks in July, encompassing three weekends.

The Montreux Jazz Fest is Europe’s biggest jazz festival, and attracts a lot of mainstream acts. Alanis Morrisette, Van Morrison, Tony Bennett, Pitbull and Bob Dylan included a few of the shows. However, they have a continual line-up of free music. We checked it out Monday, the day before their flight back to the US. It was raining, but didn’t stop the shows.

Before the storm

Prepared for the weather

We found some cover….

Umbrellas galore. I was thinking of my poor USA friends with 100 degree temps as we shivered in the rain.

And, it’s not over! Montreux Jazz Fest is on for another two more weekends.

Also, in July & August, there is more music during the Musiques en été (Music in the Summer) festival. You can find the line-up here. Our favorite is the Ella Fitzgerald Stage – its free and a short walk or bike ride from our flat.

Bon weekend, everyone!!

Related Links:

The Adventures of Miss Widget and her people: Jouez Je suis a vows (more about the pianos)

The Swiss Watch Blog: Montreux Jazz Festival

The Swiss Watch Blog: Fete de la Musique

The Swiss Watch Blog: Gratitude Friday: The Great Outdoors

Clouds Don’t Ruin The Golden Pass

July 5, 2012 by lauren

When E-dawg was here, it rained a lot. I tried to brainstorm ideas for activities in the clouds and rain and one we considered was a scenic train. However, I wasn’t sure how this would be. On one hand, you don’t have to get wet at all in order to see the magnificent Swiss countryside. On the other hand, would the rain ruin the view & visibility?

I Googled it, but didn’t get much information. Luckily, when we took the Golden Pass, the sun came out for E-dawg and I. Unfortunately, I never found out the answer.

Twin & Solid knew they wanted to take a scenic train, so I recommended we take The Golden Pass back from Lauterbrunnen, since Gabe had to return earlier to Geneva to get back to work. That way, we could take our time going back and stop in towns that looked intriguing. However, the forecast was dreary. Rain was predicted in every town we were to pass through. The scenic trains aren’t cheap, so I posed it as an option to them that we could all ride back with Gabe if they preferred. The downside would be a 5am departure to go back in the car with him vs. a relaxing and leisurely wake-up.

They decided to roll the dice on the weather. And, remarkably, we had a great day. So, for those traveling on Golden Pass, worried about the weather, I’d recommend you just go for it.

Here is a recap of our journey, starting from Lauterbrunnen–>Interlacken Ost–>Spiez–>Zweissimen–>Montreux–>Geneva:

Lauterbrunnen valley. Not promising.

Thunersee….still ominous

Solid admiring the view after Zweisimen

Twin checking out the view before our stop in Château D’Oex

Clouds over Lake Geneva, but still pretty

Wow. The cloud cover showcases varying blues in Lake Geneva. Maybe the clouds were a good thing after all?

The overcast Golden Pass train ended up being one of our guest’s favorite days.

Related Links:

The Swiss Watch Blog: Alpine Views in Zweissimen & Chateau D’Oex

The Swiss Watch Blog: The Golden Pass

The Swiss Watch Blog: A Springtime ride on the Glacier Express

The Swiss Watch Blog: All Aboard the Glacier Express

Schwingen In Switzerland: A Gorge-ous Panoramic Train Ride

An Impromptu 4th of July Picnic at Genève Plage

July 4, 2012 by lauren

Today is the 4th of July. As I have mentioned, sometimes it can be quite strange living somewhere that doesn’t celebrate your typical holidays. Gabe is also out of town on business. Since he doesn’t get US holidays (only Swiss), he had a work trip starting Monday and landing at midnight tonight.

I didn’t want to let the day escape without celebrating. Luckily, some of the other ladies were up for getting together to recognize Independence Day.

M had suggested Genève Plage (Plage = Beach in French). She and some of her mom group friends had gotten season passes as it provided a good kid-friendly meet up place, just about a mile outside of Geneva. I had never been before, so I was excited to try it out and purchased a single entry at 7 CHF.

A view of Genève Plage from the water

So, we found a nice shady spot to spend the afternoon.

Our 4th of July Headquarters

Everyone dressed in fun 4th of July clothes. The moms of us had to get their kid’s clothing on trips to the US long before the actual 4th of July. Something that you take for granted!

All the little ones were dressed so cute

Miss Yoga is from Japan, but we were so glad she joined us for our Independence Day celebration. Check out the yummy food she made, blending Japanese tradition with USA flair.

4th of July bento sushi – white rice, orange crab, black seaweed and little stars!! Cute and yummy!

Caprese bites and deviled eggs with fish eggs

K made cherry pie pockets, so that they’d be easier to serve. She pitted the cherries and made them from scratch since ‘pie filling’ doesn’t exist. They were incredible! I scored an extra to bring home for Gabe when he got home at midnight.

Cherry pie pockets

I made Red, White & Blue cupcakes. Mama Mia had brought us some Red Velvet Duncan Hines cake mix in April, and I imported some cream cheese frosting from the States my last trip. Since they didn’t have blue icing at the store, I just used blueberries.

Red velvet cupcakes for red, white and blue

P having some fun with the cupcake

We also had lots of fresh fruit, snack mix, and nuts to complement the red, white and blue.

After eating, a few of us went swimming. The beaches in the Mediteranean can be quite different to some who have never seen stone beaches. I remember when we went to Greece, it was Gabe’s first time seeing one.

Swiss lake beaches are quite similar. When his family came in March and we went to Hermance, it was also a surprise. Geneva also has stone beaches, as that is what is natural vs. the sand. The pro is that you don’t get sandy. The con is that sometimes it hurts to walk on. Also, ‘rock’ castles don’t turn out so well.

Stone beach of Genève Plage

Genève Plage has a pool and a waterslide. It was really busy that day, so I opted to get my thrills jumping off the high dive into the lake.

I did the middle section…the top one was closed.

The water wasn’t actually that cold this year. Must have been the warm weather we had last week?

As for now, its 8pm Geneva time and I am listening to the rain pour down outside. I’m glad we got our little celebration in before the storm. Hopefully everyone back in the US is enjoying their Independence Day. And a huge shout out of thanks goes out to all our servicemen for all you do to protect our freedom!

The Swiss Watch Blog: Canadienne Buffet: USA Style

The Swiss Watch Blog: A fantastic 4th of July with Henry Birmingham

Swiss Wife Style: Party Recap

The Swiss Watch Blog: Happy Swiss National Day

The Swiss Watch Blog: Valentine’s Day and Other Non-Events

Natural Beauty in the Bernese Oberland

July 3, 2012 by lauren

Bernese Oberland is a region surrounding Switzerland’s capital, Bern. It is a large region, and in my personal opinion, contains some of Switzerland’s most beautiful landscapes. Although, I’ll admit, its hard to find parts of Switzerland that aren’t breathtaking.

As we were driving, we pulled over to find this valley.

Approaching Interlacken on the way from Luzern

One of my new favorite Swiss photos.

Loving the beauty of Bernese Oberland

It was a great warm-up view for us as we continued on through Interlacken, and into the Lauterbrunnen Valley to park our car. From there, we took a little train up to Wengen, where we planned to spend the night at 1400m.

Lauterbrunnen Valley and its waterfall

Wengen, like other car-free towns we stayed in…. Saas-Fee, Zermatt, and Murren, was peaceful without the roar of motors. A ten minute walk had us at Hotel Edelweiss. The little chalet was family run and we couldn’t have felt more welcome. A very pleasant gentleman personally walked us to our rooms to make sure all was okay.

Hotel Edelweiss in Wengen – we’d highly recommend it

After checking in, Mom ran into a lady whose job it was to prepare fresh bouquets for the hotel. She had gathered Edelweiss as well as some florals from her personal garden to prepare the tables for the evening dinner service and the next day’s breakfast. It’s all about the personal touch, isn’t it?

View from our balcony at Hotel Edelweiss

While relaxing on our terrace, Gabe & I did some quick research into what to do in Wengen. We found a few spots that were well recommended and then headed to meet Twin & Solid.

Checking out the view

Our second trip to Bernese Oberland. Last time was in the distant mountain, in Murren.

Twin and Solid on their first Bernese adventure

The first recommendation, Hotel Caprice, didn’t disappoint. We enjoyed beers and wine with this view in the background:

Drinks on the terrace at Hotel Caprice

After a few rounds, we headed to Hotel Bernerhof for some traditional Bernese fare. Gabe and I ordered raclette so that they could get a taste. Twin ordered veal sausage & rosti, another famous mountain dish. Solid went with spaghetti. The waiter was super hard working guy, running the entire place single-handedly. We really enjoyed our meal there.

We are convinced that the folks in Wengen are some of the nicest we’ve met.

Who couldn’t enjoy life with a view like this?

Dusk falls on Jungfrau

The Swiss Watch Blog: Gratitude Friday: Travel (our adventures in Murren with T)

The Swiss Watch Blog: Rostigraben

The Swiss Watch Blog: Famous Swiss Foods – Cheese

Luzern: Switzerland’s Loveliest City

July 2, 2012 by lauren

We hadn’t been to Luzern yet, but have had it on our list the entire time we’ve lived in Switzerland. I almost got to go for Carnival with my girlfriends but when my surgery got moved to an earlier date, it fell through.

However, I knew I’d get a chance to reschedule a visit when Twin was to visit. Because my mom loves flowers, I knew she’d goo-goo- gaga over the lovely flower bridge in Luzern. I was right.

First glimpse of the wooden flower bridge

Checking out the bridge

Historical stories than pan the entire bridge

Exploring the waterfront of Luzern

After walking around awhile, we settled at Rathaus Brauerei

Rathaus Brauerei

Solid & Gabe had local beers and Twin & I had some local red wine. We got seats right on the water so ended up staying for awhile and ordering traditional Swiss German dishes – bratwursts, pretzels, frites, and some filet de perche since we were on the water. After dinner, we took a stroll through old town.

Lovely waterfront

Clock tower

Old town – beautiful squares and buildings

Loved the detail on some of the buildings….quintessential Swiss

My map showed a cool view if we ascended so we kept going.

The old city ramparts

Panoramic view of Luzern from the ramparts

After walking the ramparts, we descended to the other old bridge.

The old bridge

The water flow in the river was so powerful. The poor swans had to work hard not to be swept away!

We learned that Luzern has to control the water flow to keep nearby lakefront towns from flooding. In the Spring, as alpine melt rushes the lake, they must really take heed of the flow. As summer progresses, the control can be tweaked to keep lake levels up.

Checking out the river / dam system that Luzern uses to control Alpine water flow

The next day we set a meet-up time of 1pm, so everyone could have free time. Twin & Solid visited The Lion Monument dedicated to the Swiss mercenaries protecting the French king.

Luzern Lion Monument – Image courtesy of Walkaboutphil.com

Gabe & I opted for a old-fashioned Lake Lucerne cruise to fill our morning.

Boat ride around Luzern’s lakes

Boats on Luzern’s beautiful lakes

Sailboats on the lake

We left for Interlacken very content from our awesome experience in this lovely Swiss city.

The Land of Chocolate and Cheese

July 1, 2012 by lauren

Switzerland is known to be the land of chocolate and cheese. So, when Twin and Solid were in town, we had to partake in both delicacies.

It is possible to do a Chocolate & Cheese train out of Montreux. However, it runs around 99 CHF a person. We figured that we’d be driving through the lovely canton of Fribourg (which is home to both stops on the tour) enroute to Luzern, so why not do it ourselves?

We set off from Geneva around 9am. We made it to Broc, Switzerland in about an hour & a half. Broc is the home of the Cailler Chocolate Factory. You may recall we visited this yummy destination with Couch Surfer when it was raining. However, with my mom being a severe chocoholic, we didn’t need to wait for rain for a visit, it was a #1 priority.

Arrival at Cailler, in the middle of the Alps

I had decided to skip the hour long tour this time, having done it before with Couch Surfer. Gabe, however, wanted to make sure that Twin and Solid were okay so he volunteered ~~jumped at the chance~~ to do it a second time.

Tasting the cocoa bean

Smelling the hazelnuts

I consider it a good thing he went because he could supervise Twin. I thought I might get a call from the factory forbidding us to bring guests anymore due to her love of chocolate. I’m sure she can eat more than her 10 CHF worth that the price of admission costs. They do let you have how much you can consume in the tasting room.

Checking out the Branches being made.

Checking out the selection. I’d advised her to hold out to the end. It’s where the high-end yummy dark chocolates are given out. They liked the coffee flavored dark ones the best.

Overall they enjoyed Cailler. They gave it a thumbs up:

If its not gluttony enough to indulge in chocolate, Switzerland keeps its other fabulous agricultural delicacy close-by….Gruyere cheese. The little hilltop town is just 10 minutes from the Cailler factory.

Doesn’t get much cuter than Gruyeres

The cows welcomed us……

Mooo!!!!! We make yummy cheese!

How adorable is Gruyeres?

Aww….

Something must be in the air in Gruyeres!

We all decided that maybe we should skip the cheese tour. After all, we had indulged enough.

Instead, we decided to explore the castle grounds and the ramparts of Gruyeres, known for its defensive position on the hilltop.

Me climbing the ramparts.

Luckily, we didn’t skip tasting Gruyere cheese altogether. Look at the smile on Solid’s face when he ordered a Croque Madame in nearby Chateau D’Oex a few days later…