Aletsch Glacier Hike

Here's the link to my hike at Bettmeralp to see Switzerland's longest glacier!


I went with two friends, Bhavani and Pola, and we spent the day hiking through rocks and enjoying the incredible scenery. Just when I thought Switzerland couldn't get anymore beautiful, I came here and was blown away by such an impressive natural monument.

From Wiki:
The Aletsch Glacier (German: Aletschgletscher) or Great Aletsch Glacier (German: Grosser Aletschgletscher) is the largest glacier in the Alps. It has a length of about 23 km and covers more than 120 square kilometres (more than 45 square miles) in the eastern Bernese Alps in the Swiss canton of Valais. The Aletsch Glacier is composed by three smaller glaciers converging at Concordia, where its thickness is estimated to be near 1 km. It then continues towards the Rhone valley before giving birth to the Massa river.

The whole area, including other glaciers is part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch Protected Area, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2001.

Hike through Simplon

I need to put captions on pictures, but here is the album link for my hiking trip with l'Aumonerie this weekend! Enjoy!

CERN + BBQ

Today, Sharon and I headed to the farmer's market for our usual pain aux raisins and pain au chocolat. We found a great stand with cheap and delicious fruits and vegetables - I bought turnips, radishes, and apples and have never tasted better. I love eating in season!
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After lunch, Sharon, Christoph, and I took the train to Zimeysa (near Geneva) to see the Microcosm exhibit at CERN, the world's renowned Large Hadron Collider.



The exhibit was free and pretty interesting; they offered a very detailed and simple explanation of their experiments and how the LHC operates, as well as a bunch of interactive games and experiments for "kids" of all ages. They had some old models in the museum that you could touch and read about their history.



It was especially interesting to see the timeline of technology, since CERN was responsible for creating the World Wide Web (WWW) in 1989. (Sorry, it wasn't actually Al Gore, in case you thought so.:) It wasn't even an American discovery.)



They explained the need of data storage (each year, the LHC provides enough data to fill a stack of CDs 21 km high!!) and how much processing would be required to maintain the device. It really was amazing to learn about how extensive the system was (and the size!).

This was definitely an experience that every physics lover (or science enthusiast, in general) should take part in. Especially since the guy giving presentations to kids took pity on me when I saw there was no more liquid nitrogen ice cream and he made some for free. I never thought I'd see the day of so many free things in Switzerland.



Free ice cream tasting and demonstration.

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Afterwards, we had a barbecue on the lake, where I made some delicious garlic mustard tofu skewers.



Look at those mountains!



Gigantic crows that evidently don't exist in Belgium.



Above: Merguez sausage, hamburger. Below: Tofu skewers and spring rolls (with curry ketchup, a Heinz specialty for Belgians)



Christoph brought some spring rolls to throw on the grill, and I brought the German chocolate cake that I had baked earlier in the day.





We spent the evening sitting by the fire and eating until we could no longer move. It was a pretty wonderful way to spend a Saturday!

Morges Tulip Festival

Pictures are up! Sharon and I went to Morges for the 40th annual tulip festival. Beforehand, we stopped at Café Balzac for a hot chocolate (with banana hints!) and an ice cream sundae - freshly made raspberry sorbet with homemade chocolate sauce, chocolate ice cream, and whipped cream.



As you can see, the tulips were gorgeous, and we managed to take some pretty breathtaking pictures.

Cully Jazz Festival

There was a jazz festival this week in Cully. It was free to the public, so you can imagine how many people were there. It is a small town between Lausanne and Vevey, and they open up the wine caves to host each group. They set up a few chairs and sell food and drinks, and you just walk along the street to find different groups.










Djangologie: Video of our last concert

Grand St. Bernard

(see photos)

This weekend, I went with the Aumonerie to Grand St. Bernard for a weekend of snowshoeing. I felt like I was in a winter survival movie because there was litte visibility and the snow covered our entire line of sight. It was truly an amazing experience to see the mountains and learn about the area's history.



We stayed overnight in a hospice at the top of the mountain, where they provide food and shelter for free for passerby. Their motto is to welcome and nourish, and it was wonderful to arrive to a warm, castle-like building with small food nooks and bowls for hot tea.



We passed the time playing Jungle Speed and cribbage, and we visited the museum that talked about times from the Middle Ages and ancient tools and equipment used to traverse the dangerous mountain area. They also talked about the origin of the St. Bernard and the dog's role in helping sniff out the travel path after a new-fallen snow. This was a wonderful chance to spend sometime outdoors doing winter sports, a common pasttime (or, rather, obsession) for the Swiss. As the months pass, I am constantly amazed at how much culture the Swiss have to share.

Mom's arrival!

Mom arrived today, and we first went to my apartment to unload her stuff. She brought a huge hard-cased suitcase just for things that I requested: snowshoes and poles, crochet hooks and yarn, etc. I was hoping that a lot of the things she brought would be useful for time-occupiers during my three week vacation. We then bought train tickets to Vevey to see Ada. We had lunch with her – salmon and spinach pastry with hollandaise sauce and a salad with winter greens. It was absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, she fractured her leg the week before, so she couldn’t accompany us to the thermal baths in Lavey.

After our lunch, we bid our farewell and took the train to St. Maurice, where we walked for about a half an hour in the snowfall to the baths. When we reached Lavey, we saw the steam rising from the pools and started to get excited about three hours of relaxation in the pools and the saunas. We even discovered something new from my first visit. In the indoor pool, there is underwater music every hour for 15 minutes, and the idea is to relax your body with sound waves. You lie on these flotation pads (or on your back), and you stick your ears underwater to hear dolphin calls or classical music, and it is supposed to have a relaxing effect for body and mind. After our three hours of rejuvenation, we walked back to the train station in the freshly fallen snow. While we were on the trail, two unleashed dogs approached us and started barking manically and mom was worried that they would bite, as she had previously bad experiences. In the end, though, the owners were rather friendly and asked us if we were okay or if the dogs frightened us. Fortunately, we received no dog bites that evening. The rest of the walk was tranquil and refreshing – a nice transition from hot water to cold, fresh air in the snow.

We arrived in Lausanne rather late – about 9pm – and ate a quick dinner of peanut vegetable soup and polenta with marinara sauce that I had made earlier in the week.

Maison d'Ailleurs, Yverdon-les-Bains

Today, I took the train to Yverdon-les-Bains, a 40 minute ride north of Lausanne gare. This was my first solo excursion -evidently no one in my circle of friends is interested in science fiction, which will have to change. This brings me to the point of my story - the Maison d'Ailleurs, or the "House of Elsewhere." It already sounds cool; I know. You wish that you had gone.

The reason why I went to this rather incredible museum - the only one of its kind in the world - is because the intelligent people of the metro decided to post a publicity of the main exhibit in a few of its trains. Immediately after seeing the words "illustrator of Alice and Wonderland," I knew that my destiny was to go to Yverdon-les-Bains and learn about the history of science fiction and, specifically, to marvel at the works of Mervyn Peake.

Never have I seen an artist with such talent in expression and mastery of the human form. He understood how a small change in the face could create beauty or monstrosity, how a simple line in the mouth could transform a smile into a grimace. I cannot get over how detailed his drawings were: the cross-hatching lines must have taken days to complete, and the shading and contrast made everything seem so much more real. I took great delight in reading his tale of "Captain Slaughterboard," as well as his "Rhymes without Reason."

We can sometimes take for granted these beautiful drawings, but if it wasn't for the illustrations in children's books, we would often lose that sense of transformation into another world - full of fantastic adventures, strange creatures, and heroic battles. It can be depressing to think that real illustration is becoming a dying art due to the invention of high-tech computer programs. The next time you read Grimm's fairy tales, take a look at those pen strokes; those artists who took a physical pen to paper deserve recognition for their imaginative vision.

Andrew visits: Yvoire, Nyon, La Chaux-de-Fonds

This weekend, Andrew paid me a visit all the way from Washington, DC!
On Thursday, he arrived at the Lausanne train station exhausted and ready for a nice nap after being in transit for so many long hours. He recounted the extensive journey from London to Geneva, which involved changing of many trains, buses, planes, and other modes of transportation. Unfortunately, I had to go to class quickly after his arrival, but that also gave him a chance to recuperate from his previous adventures in the UK. When I returned, we first went to the museum at La Place de la Riponne, where they had a Darwinist exhibition, among other fine museum artifacts. It cost 4 CHF (almost nothing!) to see the museum of architecture, archeology (including a lock of Napoleon's hair), money (mostly ancient coins), zoology (with jars of mutant cats and stuffed owls), geology (gorgeous, shiny, brilliant crystals and precious stones), paleontology (fossils, bones, and ancient natural structures), and others (which I cannot recall at the moment). We learned a lot about Swiss heritage and native flora and fauna, which served as a nice comparison to those of the United States. After our nice tour of the museum, we took a relaxing pause at Le Barbare, the cafe with the famous hot chocolate. We were in heaven with the rich, pudding-like goodness of the warm chocolate. It really is a heavenly experience. We had some nice conversation in the cafe but then promptly returned to my apartment for a quick bite to eat before meeting some of my exchange friends at le Satellite, the local bar/lounge on the EPFL campus. We spent the evening chatting with people from all over the world, and the bar was very lively with old American pop hits playing over the speakers and people letting go the stresses of the school day.
On Friday, we took a boat from Nyon, Switzerland, to Yvoire, France, a small medieval village that used to be completely protected by stone walls. We were not aware, however, that the season of tourism influenced the frequency of the boat trips, so we arrived only to find that we had 40 minutes until the last boat departed from Yvoire back to Nyon. We were able to see quite a bit of the village and to take nice pictures of the medieval structures, albeit the short amount of time, though, and we also found a persimmon tree, where we pilfered this strange fruit to take home and try. It was quite an effort climbing over the mossy stone wall, but we succeeded in grabbing one! (After letting it ripen over the weekend, we tasted it, but, to our chagrin, it was rather disgusting. Due to its strong tannins, the fruit was very astringent and it sucked all the water out of our mouths. It had the same effect as novocaine.) So, after taking a train to another city to only spending 40 minutes in France, you might ask if this time was wasted. I would have to say that this was not the case. We took great delight in returning to Nyon to spend the afternoon in a lovely nautical museum near the lakeside, only to find that our tickets were also valid (for up to a year!) to the fine art museum as well as the ancient ceramic museum found in the Nyon castle. Because it was late in the afternoon, we did not have time to explore the other museums, but I hope to use the tickets in the future and profit from this wonderful little city! After everything had closed, we walked around the city center and purchased (my first!) roasted chestnuts. To be honest, I don't know why I never tried them before...maybe it is because Iowa seems to be lacking in these delicious treats, but they were quite delectable, and we happened to chance upon them once again on our weekend excursion to la Chaux-de-Fonds.
So, you may be wondering where la Chaux-de-Fonds is found on the map. It is a very small city in the northeastern part of Switzerland in the canton of Neuchâtel. My Tandem partner, Valentin, invited us to stay in his parents' chalet at la Tête-de-Ran (in the canton of Jura) for the weekend. "Jura" refers to the jurassic era, when the tectonic plates caused the region to become very hilly with many peaks and valleys. We took this opportunity to eat molten cheese, hike through Swiss hills (where we saw an expansive view of the city of la Chaux-de-Fonds), and learn a bit more about Swiss culture - idiomatic expressions, dining customs, etc. We also had the chance to explore the Musee d'Horlogerie (watch museum) and les moulins souterrains (underground mills). If you take a peek at the photo album, you will understand more about the watchmaking industry as well as the underground mill process.
On Sunday, Valentin's parents were gracious enough to pay our way for the underground mills and a tour of the city, as well as to prepare a wonderful dinner of pasta with pesto and shredded cheese, lamb chops, and fennel and carrot salad on Sunday evening. We thanked them heartily for such a wonderful stay, and we departed with Valentin and his girlfriend, Vanessa, for our return back to Lausanne. I have to say that it is rare to find such generous hosts, but I often find them here in Switzerland. I think that maybe their beautiful country and their high quality of life makes them appreciate and enjoy the little things enough to share their joy with others. Although I did not initially expect it, I have made friends with Swiss people with relative ease, and, overall, I find them to be kind-hearted and incredibly generous.

I live in this beauty

Lush green vineyards, trickling waterfalls, stone walls, glistening lakeside, snow-capped mountains....and I live here.

You really appreciate the full beauty of a country when you can explore it by bike. This Sunday, a group of 15 of us rode from Lausanne to Montreux and back to visit le Chateau de Chillon, a 70 km (43 mi) trip during a gorgeous sunny day. It just so happens that this was the one of the last beautiful days of the season, and we picked well. It was perfect weather for picnicking, biking, taking photos, and taking a leisurely nap in the sun. I was enjoying the scenery so much that I had to stop and take a picture every few minutes, as each little town offered a different beautiful view. The houses are situated on the hill such that the scene looks like a painting from a fairy tale, and as you ride further along the path, you pick up more of the story.

At the end, the grandeur of the Chateau was enough to make even the most fatigued rider proud of the journey. We had the afternoon to tour the castle and learn about the history of this iconic Swiss structure. Famous for Lord Byron's poem, "The Prisoner of Chillon," each room leads you through the story of life in the 18th Century and of the man who was chained in the dungeon for 6 years. In addition to stories of the famous prisoner, each room recreated a scene in 18th century life - preparation of feasts for hundreds of people, fabrication of furniture, armour design, and defense against intruders. (Check out the album for pictures from each room!)

After having enjoyed our visit at the castle, we headed back to Lausanne, where we saw other groups of bikers relishing the last moments of their Sunday evening. What I appreciate most about this country is that there really is a day devoted to rest, relaxation, and enjoyment of the natural world. Everyone seems to take advantage of the beautiful autumn colors and the crisp, fresh air. I wish to always have one day in the week to be reminded of what it means to enjoy life.

Summer of preparation

Welcome, friends!
The school year has finally come to an end, and I now have a few months before I depart for Lausanne, Switzerland, in the fall. I am hoping that I will gain some insight on how to pack for such a long stay and where to travel.

I am looking into some serious camping, hiking, and backpacking adventures in the future. Be prepared for some picture of the beautiful Swiss outdoors - lush countryside, snow-capped mountains, dense forest, and seasonal flora.

Of course, I will be living in a city, so expect to see some historical and modern architecture as well.

Note: I will be making close observation of the recycling program in the area, hopefully to bring back ideas upon my departure to the United States. I am certainly excited for greener living!