Category Archives: Visits & Trips with Visitors

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

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Post by Lauren

Last weekend, we went to St. Moritz for the horse races. Since it was my first horse race, I didn’t know what to expect. Also, we had read that the town was a bit fancy. It is known to be the oldest winter resort in the world. In fact, it is said that alpine tourism was invented in 1846 when Johannes Badrutt built his first hotel here.

Prior to Badrutt’s era, St. Moritz was also known for its therapeutic spas in the Middle Ages, dating back to 1466 BC.

It has also been the home to two winter Olympics.

We stopped for a drink in Badrutt’s Palace but the average cocktail selling at 25 CHF, we only enjoyed one round of hob-nobbing with St. Moritz’s finest. We were a little out of our league, but nonetheless, enjoyed the fashion trends that this glitzy winter town offered:

THE DO’S IN ST. MORITZ:

All white & black is a good choice. When in doubt, dress the entire family in aviators.

 

 

You must get points for wearing fur. My best guest is that one fur item equals one point. If you include the tail of the animals, you get bonus points.

 

For that matter, don’t let your dog be caught in anything less than Louis Vuitton or Burberry. How cruel would that be!!!

 

Just remember, no matter how well someone dresses, some things just never change.


The White Turf: Horse Races on a Frozen Lake

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Post by Lauren

This summer, I read an article in a travel magazine about St. Moritz and their annual horse races on the frozen lake. I tore it out thinking it was something Gabe would like to do sometime while we were living here. However, we had our friends The Captain and Swiss Miss visiting during February, right at the time in which the race was held. Thus, we all decided to make it an epic Swiss weekend.

We took the Glaicer Express from Geneva, a nine hour winding train that took us all the way to St. Moritz. We ended up staying in a nearby town, Celerina, because affordable rooms are rare in glitzy St. Moritz. The average hotel in St. Moritz is around 1000 CHF a night. Not kidding.

Races included normal (jockeys on horseback), ski races (jockeys on skis) and sleigh (jockeys on sleigh).

 


Here are a few videos of the horses!

 

Castles of Sion

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Post by Lauren

We had heard from S that Sion was a neat place to stop on the way back from Zermatt. So, since she is always full of great advice, we stopped. We were not disappointed. We ended up climbing to the Chateau Valère. The landscapes with the Alps and the Sion hillsides adorned with castles were quite beautiful.

 

Next time, we’ll climb up to the other castle.

 

Getting Around in Zermatt

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Post by Lauren

Even though we have lived in Europe 8 months now, I still love being exposed to new things. One is the difference in transportation. This was really prevalent during our trip to Zermatt so wanted to share the many ways to “get around”.

In Zermatt, you can get around by sleigh…..

 

If that’s not your cup of tea, a bus is another way.

If you want, you can go on the roads with your bike…..

Or riding a toboggan is an option if you are a little tyke.

You can do some nordic walking with some sticks and your feet.

Or you could just be pushed in your stroller down the middle of the street.

You can ascent to the top of the mountain in a little telecabin

But if you brought a rollerboard in the snow, an easy time is something you ain’t havin’

You can get a cart to push your luggage in the snow,

Or simply use your spare sled when you have lots of stuff on the go.

 

When in doubt, feel free to ski down the avenue.

These guys will fill you up with whiskey if you happen to get askew.

If you want, you can take Grampi’s electric taxi to get to your place.

And you know that the train will always have plenty of space!

Helicopters* will take you far.

But whatever you do, you can’t take a car!


*Helicopter photo courtesy of Freshly squeezed events. You know I didn’t take it because we never saw the Matterhorn

Adventures in Zermatt

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Post by Lauren

We just got back from a fabulous trip to Zermatt. Do you know what Zermatt is famous for? It is renowned for the views of Matterhorn….a pointy mountain carved by the movement of the Ice Ages. For a detailed look of what Matterhorn looks like, see S’s blog here or our friend D’s husbands photography from his adventure there here.

You might now ask….Lauren, why do you not have any photos of the Matterhorn if you spent all weekend in Zermatt? Well, they got so much snow there, that it blocked the visibility. What a bummer for all of us to miss the mountain! Nonetheless, Zermatt was adorable. We had a great time enjoying the snow fall and exploring.

Zermatt does not have any cars. You can only access the town by a little train. We arrived around 7pm and decided to find our hotel Blauherd on foot. It felt like we were walking inside of a snow globe.

After checking in our adorable chalet, we set out for some Zermatt nightlife. We dined at Restaurant Du Pont which is known for their traditional raclette, fondue and rosti dishes. It was quite an experience, made more special by an older gentleman in the restaurant.

At first, we weren’t sure if he’d wondered in off the streets but then he came and presented Gisele and I with a postcard of the restaurant….it was the oldest restaurant in Zermatt and ventured back in the kitchen. We then realized he was the owner!

As an appetizer, a broth came out with a piece of cheese on the plate and a basket of bread. We didn’t quite know what to do until the old dude came over and started making hand movements of how to cut the cheese into the soup and then crumble the bread into it. So, it made a french onion soup. He then came over with a bottle of red wine and proceeded to pour a very large splash into each of our bowls. Simply delicious!

It was followed by a salad and then the main course of sausage and rosti. Rosti is a potato dish that it prevalent in the German part of Switzerland, in the mountains. Halfway when we were taking a break he shook his head, grabbed Gabe’s fork and force fed him more of the meal. We unfortunately didn’t get a photo of that!

 

We had heard from S that there was a cool bar near the beaver statue in the town centre. We looked high and low and finally saw the little critter buried in the snow. Elsie Bar was a treat and we were entertained by a group of Swiss Germans having a fabulous time and joking with the guys that they would like to trade wives for the evening. Some francs may or may not have been offered. Don’t worry, we didn’t swap.

 

Finally, we ended up at Brown Cow Pub, a vibrant apres-ski bar that had a continual loop of extreme sports playing. We hung out there and then walked home around midnight as it continued to snow.

Overnight, we received about a foot of the white stuff. The proprietor at our hotel was continually scraping all night long outside on the front terrace.

We had a nice breakfast at the chalet and then set off to explore Zermatt while hoping for the skies to clear up.

 

No such luck seeing the famous peak in person, but it was still a really enjoyable trip to spend some time in this Swiss alpine town.

 

 

Occupying Switzerland

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Post by Lauren

Nope, not talking about WW2 efforts. Thought the Occupy Wall Street movement was just for the States? Mais, non! We have our very own Occupy Geneva, camped out in Parc des Bastions. The first time I passed this site on the #12 tram, I had no clue what it was until I saw signs about banking in English…then it clicked….its part of the Occupy Movement.

From what I know, most of their protests are against the Swiss banks. Checking out their site, they have a video of using dusters and cleaning cloths to “clean up” the large Swiss banks on Rue de Rhone.

When Pascal, Giselle and I took a walking tour of Geneva, shivering every step of the way, we were concerned that they might all freeze to death out in the park. However, taking a closer look, we noticed that, they have hooked up some type of heat.

 

Occupy Geneva

 

In a city where homeless are kicked and prodded to move along by the police, its kind of interesting that they would tolerate a group camping in this famous park.

Beats me.

However, they have some competition for most clever Occupy. This weekend in Davos, they are going to Occupy WEF in igloos….take a look!

 

Discovering Geneva: Bel-Air

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Post by Lauren

Today’s post is going to cover an area in Geneva known as Bel-Air.

I know I got you all excited by my recently celebrity post, but I hate to inform you that Will Smith does not live in our Bel-Air.

Nope; Will Smith is not in our Bel-Air

Bel-Air is an area in the centre ville that serves as a major hub for the TPG transportation system. It actually even has two stations, regular Bel-Air and Bel-Air Cité.

It was recently made an even larger hub and there are a lot of folks who are angry about how the new system works. For more on this, and why it might not have been smart to build a hub on a bridge, see Schwingen in Switzerland.

Bel-Air hub

However, before this bridge / island was a highly debated tram stop, was actually part of the Geneva fortifications. On the map we introduced on Tuesday’s Old Town post, you can see an island in the middle of the two banks. This is Tour d’île / Bel Air.

This island/bridge is one of the reasons why Geneva was so coveted. This bridge was the only route over the Rhone in olden times. In 58 BC, Julius Caesar actually made the trip to Geneva to destroy the bridge so that the Helvetians couldn’t advance.

Later, in the 13th Century, it had been rebuilt and there was a chateau / castle built to help in the defense against the Duchy of Savoy and protect this crucial passageway to France.

During this time, the island also became a market. Butchers built their shops so the blood could run directly into the Rhone.

During Reformation times, the chateau was converted into a prison.

After surviving multiple fires, the bridge finally burned down in 1677. Only the clock tower (seen in the top photos) survived. My french professor at UNIGE said that the reason it is called Bel Air as when everything burned down, the air smelled a lot better since there was no longer a rotting meat stench. I’m glad as I spend a lot of time there connecting trams these days.

Bel-Air

 

With or without a fresh prince, now you know a little bit more about our Bel-Air.

Discovering Geneva: St. Peter’s Cathedral

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Post by Lauren

It’s always nice to have folks in town because you can see the city through different eyes and also in different seasons. On Monday, Gabe had to work, but Pascal, Giselle and I set out for an afternoon of Geneva exploration.

We started with a walk to Old Town, or la Vieille Ville, in French. I have talked about this part of Geneva before on the blog, but case you are just joining us, it is the old walled city.

When I took a tour as a student of University of Geneva, one American frat guy asked our professor which side of the wall the city was on – the really high hillside, or down below. The teacher held it together. Of course, the town was on the hill. Towns in that day and age had to build high and fortify for their protection. Geneva was an extremely coveted independent state and had a very desirable bridge across the Rhone at a strategic point…actually, the only bridge in the Roman era. When I recapped the Escalade Festival , the post recaps the most famous attempt to take Geneva.

It’s actually pretty neat that underneath the St. Antoine parking structure, you can see the original Roman walls that still exist and are well preserved in the transformation to parking garage. They didn’t know they were there until they started work on this parking structure and now they have a little exhibition underground so you can get an idea of what the city looked like when it was walled and surrounded by moats for protection.

 

 

This city model in the Maison Tavel museum depicts how the city was perched above and how moats/dredges were dug so that enemies were kept out.

 

St. Peter’s Cathedral (St. Pierre’s in French) commands the view in Old Town as the tallest building/steeple. It was originally Roman and from the 8th to 10th centuries, it was one of three different cathedrals to co-exist on the site. Underneath the present cathedral, excavators found remains of 4th Century Christian sanctuaries, portions of mosaic floors from the Roman times and a crypt.

 

St. Peter's Cathedral - present day


However, St. Peter’s is most notably known for being where John Calvin gave his sermons in the mid 16th Century.

Ferdinand Hodler’s painting of Calvin preaching in St. Peter’s

In the 1530’s, Martin Luther had just started in Germany, the printing press had begun to print copies of the Bible, and Geneva had just opted for the Reformation. Calvin, a young French man, was passing through Geneva (he stayed at a hotel in nowadays Place du Molard) on his way to Strasbourg. He hadn’t planned to stay, but later returned to contribute to the foundation of Protestantism.

Geneva then became a refuge for Protestant people to escape persecution in France, Italy and other neighboring countries. More on this and its contribution to Genva society as we know it can be found here in an earlier blog post.

Someone who doesn’t know the teaching of Calvin might characterize St. Peter’s cathedral as the most bland church in all of Europe. However, it was intentionally so. Calvin was very strict in his views that money should not be spent on embellishing the church. So much so that all its altars, statues, paintings and furniture were stripped away during his time. There is still very little decoration, only tiny stained glass windows.

 

Recent trips to cathedrals in Madrid, Siena, Florence and Lyon show that the Spanish, Italian and French have different theories than Calvin on church decoration

 

Despite its very simple interior, there are really amazing views from the top of the cathedral. This were actually taken in the Fall vs. our winter trip as it was a bit cloudy that day.

 

I find it interesting Geneva still serves as a haven for those escaping religious and political persecution. Makes me grateful that I was born in a country in which we didn’t have to fear for either.

In Winter Wonder with Pascal and Giselle

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Post by Lauren

It’s an exciting week in our Swiss household! We have guests Pascal and Giselle, in from Richmond, VA. Geneva has been really behaving, showing its pretty blue sky. We didn’t even know that was possible in the winter here.

So, we feel very grateful that while they are here, they can actually see the mountains instead of the perma-cloud layer that hovers above us usually.

When they arrived, we forced them to stay up and took them around to Carouge Saturday market day and then to Annecy, France so that they could be out in the daylight to help with the effects of jetlag*.

Market day was a little quiet in the winter vs. summer, but still very enjoyable as Carouge always is with its simple Italian architecture and colorful artisans:

 

A quiet day at the Carouge market

 

Next, we went to Annecy, France for lunch. Pascal and Giselle had their first savory crepes. Did you know that a crepe can be a dessert and a meal? Kind of like a wrap…with a pancake. They ordered hamburger ones….check them out below. Even though it was about 20 degrees, there were still a ton of people enjoying the Saturday blue skies and even a crew team practicing in frigid Lake Annecy below snow capped mountains.

The next day, we ventured to Chamonix & Mt. Blanc. We took the Auguille du Midi to the top, the world’s highest vertical ascent cable car. Gabe and I had done this back with Henry Birmingham on July 4th weekend, but boy, what a difference winter makes.

Everything was snow covered and beautiful. We were in awe of the off-piste skiiers.

After the dizzying adventure up Mt. Blanc, we had a nice warm raclette meal in Chamonix, the base village. Very soon, there will be a cheese tutorial on The Swiss Watch Blog so you can learn more about this fabulous Swiss dish. It’s soooo good.

The famous French ski town was bumping at dusk and into the evening, full of skiers and snowboarders returning from the mountain.

You are probably wondering why we keep taking Pascal and Giselle all over France when we live in Switzerland. Actually, because Geneva is surrounded by France, the alpine areas of France are much more accessible to Geneva because of the topography. See my ski map, complete with flags, to check this out.

Don’t worry, we’ll take them around in Switzerland soon. Stay tuned….

*When you visit us, we will also do such mean things as to not allow you to sleep and force you to be in the daylight to reduce your chance of jet lag.

Oh, Amalfi.

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Post by Lauren

I spent a week in Positano a few years ago and really enjoyed my time on the Amalfi Coast.

This time was no different but very special to spend it with family and friends. Very much fun to hear the oohs and aahs cascading down those winding roads and cliffs along the seashore from Sorrento to Positano.

Ravello was still magical.

We also took a boat to Capri. While the blue grotto was closed this trip due to rocky waters, we were able to get quite close to the emerald, white, and coral grottos.