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!!

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.

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.

Lake Geneva Nautical Adventures

June 30, 2012 by lauren

On Twin & Solid’s second day in town, we took a boat trip around Lake Geneva. There are multiple options for boat trips. Since Twin is a flower lover, we selected the medieval village of Yvoire.

Image courtesy of CGN.ch

Geneva boats are operated by the CGN. On their website, you can see the possibilities. Our particular boat left Mt. Blanc at 10:15, stopping in Versoix, Coppet, and Nyon before crossing the lake to the French side and anchoring in Yvoire at noon. Full fare ride to Yvoire costs about 40 CHF, but you can use your half-fare card to get a reduction.

Lake Geneva CGN boat – a few are classical steamboats like this one

Pulling away from Geneva

Approaching Nyon, Switzerland

Docking in Yvoire, France

Enjoying the flowers

Pretty window box

We had authentic French lake cuisine: filets de perche

We caught the 4:20pm boat back to Geneva. It is the only option in the Springtime, and our visit was the last day of the Spring schedule. During the summer, there are more options for coming and going as the tourist traffic picks up.

On the way home, we had stunning views of Mt. Blanc. It is only visible a small percentage of time, so we were lucky to get the view we did:

Mt. Blanc looks surreal in the summer….it never loses its snow

It was a lovely day with the CGN!

The Swiss Watch Blog: Monday Funday in Lausanne and Evian

The Swiss Watch Blog: Route Blanche and the Mt Blanc Tunnel

The Swiss Watch Blog: Yvoire, France

Gratitude Friday: Twenty Faces

June 29, 2012 by lauren

This gratitude Friday goes to our visitors. We have had a lot of people who have made the far trip to come visit us in Europe. Currently, we have our home full with guests. The arrival of this last wave makes for 20 people who have come to see us in Geneva or have met us at a fun destination in Europe, all within one year. It is a lot of fun that we get to show friends & family where we live. So, today, I just wanted to give a shout out of gratitude of seeing familiar faces. We know it is far and it really means a lot to us.

You can reach about the adventures of these twenty brave souls on our category “Visits & Trips with Visitors”

T (before naming started)

Henry Birmingham

Andres

Ferdinand & Isabella

Pascal & Giselle

The Captain & Swiss Miss

Dunkel, Sweet Wine, Mama Mia, Gladiator, & The French Cougar

E-dawg

Couch Surfer

Kung Foolish & Rhubarbara Streisand

Twin & Solid

Bon weekend, everyone!

Discovering Geneva: Jet Lag Prevention

June 28, 2012 by lauren

When Twin and Solid arrived, they were quite weary from the overnight flight. After we got to the apartment at 9am, I made some frittatas for energy. Within the hour, we were off to start exploring. You might think that this is crazy to start touring around if they were tired, but daylight is a great remedy for jet lag. When your body grows tired, the sun tricks it into thinking it should be awake.

I have a strict “no sleeping before 7pm” rule. Also important is diversion and numerous distraction activities.

So, how do you do this in Geneva??

We stared out by climbing Mont Salève in a cable car. This helped because of the sunshine and the unique panorama.

Enjoying the view at The Salève

Next, we moved onto the Flower Clock in Jardin Anglais. This was particularly interesting to the guests because of their love of gardening.

The famous Flower Clock

We strolled along the lake and admired the pianos they had sitting out for the upcoming music festival that was to happen over the weekend. People are encouraged to spontaneously play if they wish. We saw a tourist playing this particular one, and later saw a professional playing Top 40 music near the Molard bus stop.

One of the pianos

We then took a little mouette water boat from Eaux Vives to Paquis and enjoyed an ice cream.

Ice cream break = content travelers

Finally, we went to the Swatch museum. I am afraid being indoors at the Swatch museum might have done them in, as we decided to return back home for a little rest.

We had intended to have a lake picnic, but the weather had another idea. The thunderstorm chased us inside and we had an early dinner home instead before they crashed at 7pm.

Despite my best efforts, there might have been a few premature head nods and sleeping on the TPG. I don’t condone this behavior, so future guests better watch out!!

“resting” on the bus

However, we were nice and let them sleep in the next day. At least our cruelty enforcing the “no sleep” only stands the first day.

The Swiss Watch Blog: The cure for jet lag

Discovering Geneva: The Salève

June 27, 2012 by lauren

Just outside of Geneva, is a cliff called The Salève. It is visible from the town and towers over the city. It’s so close you’d think it was in Switzerland. But, it is actually in France.

3D Map courtesy of Alps Dream

Many women I know have hiked the Salève. It is a strenuous 5 hour hike and 100% of it is steps and steep climbs. I think a lot of the time, this hike ends up on people’s “Geneva Bucket List” of things to do before they move. It’s never been an option for me because of my feet, although ever so tempting!

The Salève is the big cliff overlooking Geneva

Good thing that there are alternative ways up. You can drive through France. We heard from A & A & D that this is only for people who don’t get car sick. They may have learned this the hard way.

You can also take the little cable car up. Since Twin & Solid were visiting, we decided to go to The Salève on the day that they landed from the US for their first ever cable car ride. It was sunny and clear that day, which is an absolute for planning a trip to Mont Salève.

From Geneva, you can take the TPG (Bus #8 direction Veyrier Douane) to the border, and walk across. It is about a 10-15 minute walk and the route is decently marked. You can also see the cable car wires looming in the air, so you have a visual reminder of which direction to walk.

At 1000m, it is a good introductory cable car compared to say, Mt. Blanc.

Enjoying the view

Panorama of Geneva from the top of Mont Salève

They have two restaurants at the top – a small chalet selling inexpensive drinks and sandwiches, as well as a fancier place. In fact, the nicer restaurant wouldn’t let us sit on the edge if we weren’t ordering food. So, we just sat a row inward so we could order a drinks.

Many friends have told me its nice to bring a picnic and enjoy it as you look upon Geneva.

Beyond hiking, Mont Salève is also known for more adventurous sports. We saw a mountain biker coming up in our cable car. We also watched this guy take off into the horizon.

Going, going, going….

….gone!

You can do the entire trip in 2-3 hours from center city Geneva.

Tivoli Gardens

June 24, 2012 by lauren

When we were in Copenhagen, we visited Tivoli Gardens. Tivoli is a classic amusement park, built in 1843. It is the second oldest amusement park in the world, and currently the most visited.

Entering Tivoli

It is quite a fun experience. For me, it was neat to see how the rides and amusements maintained an old timer feel….it felt special. Another cool feature was how the amusements integrated seamlessly into nature. The Danish are very eco-focused which definitely came through in visiting this gem.

Ride modeled after Hans Christian Anderson stories, who was from Copenhagen and lived in the colorful harbor, Nyhavn.

This hot air balloon ferris wheel was one of my favorites. Notice how green the park is.

Classic amphitheater

Enjoying Tivoli Park

Even the food huts were green – loved the flowering roofs

Lots of open green spaces. Not a lot of concrete.

Tivoli brings out your inner kid

Tivoli fountain

A lovely summer day

I used to love rides as a kid, but as an adult, am just as content holding coats/umbrellas/purses. I did this while these guys rode the old timer coaster, Rutschebanen.

Waiting their turn

They said it was more exhilarating than planned so I was glad I just rested. Notice how Gabe is hidden by the little orange man.

So glad we got to see this charming little park.

Copenhagen Cuisine & Nightlife

June 21, 2012 by lauren

If you are wondering how Rhubarbara Streisand and Kung Foolish got their blog names*, look no further than our bar tab at Kung Fu II in NØrrebro.

They were appropriately named because Rhubarbara Streisand happened to be on the continent because of her job as a market manager at Purity Vodka, whose headquarters are near Malmo, Sweeden. If you haven’t heard of it, you should. It’s 34 times distilled and the smoothest liquor that Gabe & I have ever tried.

It’s meant for mixology – the art of science of cocktails. Bartenders use seasonal ingredients, even herbs and spices to deliver a drink that resembles more a work of art than the type of cocktail I was used to seeing. They also come with creative names, such as the ones we selected for our visiting friends blog names.

Rhubarbara’s colleague had recommended Kung Fu 2 to her, as they had this type of mixology. We were a little skeptical as the name sounded like a fast food chinese place. However, what we found couldn’t be further from the naive expectations we had.

Enjoying a drink at Kung Fu 2 / Isakaya bar

The Rhubarbara Streisand drink – amazing!! It was made with homemade rhubarb soda which was in season and accentuated the Purity.

The wasabi gimlet made with Purity. Wow.

After cocktails, we were seated at our table and we selected Omakase service. This basically means that the chef recommends a tasting menu that is brought out slowly. We loved all six small courses, thoroughly enjoying every one.

Kung Foolish & Rhubarbara Streisand

We’d highly recommend Kung Fu 2 and sitting in the bar area. The barmen were incredibly experienced and they really created an enjoyable memory for our first night in Copenhagen.

The second night, we went to Radio. It was listed as the 2nd best restaurant in Copenhagen. Noma is the 1st and impossible to get into because it is actually also the 1st in the world since 2010 (although our friends Lady J & The Man scored a reservation at Noma).

We felt fortunate to get a table at Radio, even though it was 5:30. Early bird special.

Radio, image courtesy of Nile Guide

The food was absolutely incredible. Five courses of inventive Nordic cuisine, including amazing homemade bread, a salad with foam dressing, asparagus starter, fish, meat and a tasty pear dessert. Gabe opted for a sixth, a pork belly, that came prior to dessert, and claimed it to be the best. He is still talking about it. Anyhow, Radio left us full and happy.

After, we walked to Salon 39, recommended by Rhubarbara’s colleague. The barman, Michael, was a friendly chap who entertained us as we sat in the old-world style cocktail bar. We loved watching his creative take on our request for Purity. My favorite drink of the weekend came from this charming place, the Eucalyptus Daiquiri.

Image courtesy of Salon 39

After a round, we moved onto Ruby’s Cocktail Chronicles in the centre city. When we arrived around 10pm, there was already a line. The interior was really neat – it felt like we’d taken a step back into the Roaring 20’s and we enjoyed the scene while we sipped our cocktails.

Ruby’s image courtesy of worlds best bars

After a drink, we moved onto a bar by Kung Foolish’s requests – Charlie’s Bar. He’d heard from two separate people as being the best bar in Copenhagen. We got beers and sat next to a local and soon we were engaged in a 2 hour conversation that lasted until 2am.

Image courtesy of Flick river

It’s always fun to run into locals when enjoyed the nightlife in a city. It really is the best part to learn about the culture and feel of a place. This guy was really interested in why we selected Copenhagen to visit. We explained we’d only heard good things and loved the water, the food and the progressiveness of the city. Our conversation varied from everything to the triathlon he’d just participated in, to healthcare, to public transport, and politics. After an enlightening evening, we said farewell, jumped into a cab and headed home.

So, Copenhagen gets a great review for food & drink. If you head to this Nordic city, expect a happy belly. Living in Geneva, we need to experience this every once in awhile 🙂

*Most everyone on our blog has a “blog name” to protect their privacy. We started calling everyone by their first initial until Henry Birmingham asked if he could suggest a name. Since then, we ~~force~~ ask everyone to come up with a name. If they don’t, we come up with it ourselves. For instance, Kung Foolish’s was going to be Weinerstang after this interestingly named Danish pastry:

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