Myself, Catherine, and Michelle at the infamous Waspi Corner of the toboggan track.
A few weeks before I departed my native Tallahassee, FL last summer to begin a roundabout trip to Scotland, I received a phone call from my good friend Ted Bibby. He insisted that I join him at a pool party because he had found an FSU alumnus who would also be going to Edinburgh in the fall. I accepted Ted's invitation and was surprised to find he for once had his facts straight; indeed, Michelle and I would both be in Edinburgh for the next year.
Once here, we discovered we had more or less lived parallel lives in Tallahassee. We seemed to know the same people but never crossed paths. One of the friends we share is Catherine who is currently spending 3 months in the Swiss alps (LTL). I had been longing for the ultraviolet light the lower latitudes and higher altitudes offered, so along with the promise of good company, it was an easy decision to take a vacation.
We flew to London and then to Zurich before hopping a train to Chur (pronounced coor), a small alpine city that serves as hub to all the ski hills in the northeastern Swiss Alps. What was most remarkable about the trip from Edinburgh to Chur was that I managed to lose two cell phones independent of each other-- first leaving mine along with my house keys in a taxi, then leaving Michelle's, that I was momentarily asked to hold, on the plane. To my delight, the taxi driver answered a phone call from one of my friends and dropped them off at her house. The pilot wasn't so kind. (Michelle: Truly sorry about that).
A handful of the following photos are courtesy of Michelle
We found some donkeys in the village where Catherine lives. They had beautiful ears and reminded us of our friend Pepe, who claims to have a donkey named Pancho.
Catherine takes care of these children, which appears to be no easy task.
After a day of rest, Catherine took us snowshoeing.
There was this sweet snow train that plays techno music:
Thats German for "Choo Choo" we believe.
For your convenience I have zoomed in on the thermometer hanging from the locomotive.
Not much mercury showing there.
One of us had some trouble getting started...
But but before long we were moving at quite a clip!
Our visit conveniently coincided with Fastnacht, the Swiss-German festival that occurs before the start of lent. It is one of the best street festivals I have been to, mostly because there were so many people in costume. And they were elaborate costumes. The three of us dressed as Americans.
Here is just a sample: Frenchman with a bottle of wine and a baguette, some sort of nuns there in the foreground, a mexican maybe in the back?, and German woodsman.
My favorite were these German mountaineers-- complete with raccoon eyes from their goggles. They reminded me of that Cliffhanger game on the Price is Right.
And there were marching bands. Lots of them, all in costume.
On another day, Catherine took us to do some tobogganing. Now there aren't many things that I will say the Swiss (or any other country) do better than America. America knows how to roll. But the Swiss know how to toboggan.
Don't those two look disappointed to be there?
It is great to be a kid.
They are into this parachute skiing. This is how it works: You ski off the top of the mountain with a parachute on, then you miss all the terrain that makes skiing so much fun, then you land at the bottom. I don't really understand.
Before leaving, we all headed down to Zurich on the train together. The three of us stayed the night in Zurich and wandered around quite a bit looking in store windows at chocolate and cheese.
I dress in gray as a reminder of the Scottish weather.
We found a Japanese person to take a photo of us. They know how to work cameras and appear to know a thing or two about composition.
Aside from chocolate and money, Switzerland lacks a distinctive culture. Where we were everything was German influenced. So we decided to eat sushi. It was one of those conveyor belt sushi places where various dishes come around in front of you and you grab whatever you want. Then they count up your color-coded plates and they charge you a shocking amount. There are also interactive screens where you can select a chat character (including one called Mao, and another called Horny) to send messages to the screens of other customers. In the spirit of St Valentine, we tried to send flirtatious messages to strangers but failed.
German bar where we met a gregarious old man and ordered a bowl of sauerkraut.
I ate one of these.
"Kraneberger". We learned how to say "Tap Water" in German. That was after we learned mineral water is about 4 US dollars.
Dear Switzerland, So long as you keep your windows and my belly full of chocolate, I will hold my tongue while in your country regarding your complicit role in World War II. Regards, American Brian Williams
Zurich tram interchange.
It was difficult to return to the UK. Britain really isn't deserving of the title 'Great'. Next trip is still to be determined but could not arrive soon enough.
