Bratislava, Slovakia

Thursday


On this morning, Katherine and I checked into Hotel Kyjev, a Communist-era hostel with rather eccentric 60s nostalgia, among other interesting features. For one, they had round mirrors, crappy wood paneling, epically slow elevators, and a taxi in the lobby. Let me take the chance to elaborate on these elevators. Katherine took the opportunity to film the doors opening, as they moved at the kind of pace you would when waking up and taking a slow stretch. One time, when we could not resist our impatience for the elevator to climb to the sixth floor, we decided to take the stairs. All was good and well until, after reaching the first floor, we realized that there WAS NO EXIT. The stairs just kept descending with no visible end. We were too freaked out to see if there was a bomb shelter at the bottom, so we quickly trekked up to the first floor to take the elevator, only to find it open up to the people who were waiting with us on the sixth floor! We laughed about it a bit, and then explained that there was no way to get out of the stairs. Good thing we didn't need an emergency exit!


Our first sight-seeing adventure started with the church of St. Elisabeth, which is also named the "Blue" church. And most appropriately, it seems to be, considering that the entire church is painted in different shades of pastel blue, even on the inside. (see St. Elisabeth and the Miracle of the Roses)

We then took a stroll to Old Town Square (Hlavné Námastie) to see the historical building (Slovenské národné divadlo) and the various famous statues (Hans Christian Anderson, for one). Keep in mind that it was sweltering hot the whole day, and we were walking under the sun in the humidity and suffering a little. Thus, when we reached the Hrad (Bratislava Castle), all we wanted was some shade and breeze to save us from death by UV ray. Thus, we walked up to the castle, took a few pictures, and then sat (or fell asleep in my case) under a shade tree by the entrance. This was quickly interrupted by a gigantic semi truck (which we thought would not be able to make the clearance under the castle gate) and a horde of fat Austrian tourists who tried pitifully to avoid being squashed by the truck.


We decided to find refuge in a less crowded area, so we bought a pineapple popsicle and a grapefruit Fanta from a convenience store (for less than 2 euro!) and parked under a tree in the Grassalkovich gardens (Grasalkovičov palác), where we sat in the soft grass and watched a bird catch slugs. On this lovely adventure, I was intrigued by scattered remains of a dismembered pigeon, which fondly reminded me of Claire and her fascination with these rats with wings. As usual, I snapped a few photos for her enjoyment.


Katherine and I headed back to Old Town. On our way, we heard some music coming from the Primaciálny palác, so we stepped inside. Katherine was a bit wary, wondering if it was a private party or if we had to buy tickets. I noticed that no one was exchanging money, nor did anyone have a special ticket to get a plate a free food and a glass of wine, so I told her we should stand in line. She also worried that they would start talking to us in Slovak and we wouldn't be able to respond - we saw the police come to shoo away the homeless guys, and we didn't want a similar thing to happen to us, the tourist impostors. Luckily, we just smiled and walked down the table, picking up fresh cheeses and bread with olive oil, piling up our plates. We enjoyed watching traditional Slovak dancers sing to accordion music. It was wonderful!

After a relaxing afternoon under the shade, we went to the opera house to buy tickets to Lucrezia Borgia, the current production (see synopsis).

At last, we had dinner at Gazdovský Dvor, where I had halušky (like gnocchi) with cabbage, and Katherine had it with sheep's cheese. We ordered what they considered to be a carrot salad, but it turned out to be a bowl of shaved carrots with lemon and orange slices on the side. What amazed us was the price - we both had a main dish, a salad, a beer, and coffee, and the total was 17 euro!

Friday

Friday morning, we took the rickety bus to Hrad Devín (Devin Castle). All the while, we tried to figure out how to request a stop. The bus would violently jerk to a halt at various stops, open its doors quickly, honk, and then slam them just as fast. It took awhile for someone to request to get off; that was when we noticed that she pushed a button on the ceiling! In addition to being scared for our lives because of the bumpy ride, the middle-of-nowhere forest surroundings, and the lack of visible English, we were not comforted to know that the only way to get off of the moving bus was to jump up and push a button on the ceiling. We decided that there was no hope for Katherine, as she could only reach it when the bus was stopped. Good thing we were the last stop.

We arrived a little early, so we took a walk around the nature reserve, which was nice until we were viciously attacked by mosquitoes. We watched the hydrofoils cross the Donaj and the Morava rivers and noticed how the water color changed significantly at their intersection. At 10:00, the museum opened, and we bought student tickets (only 1.3 €). It was interesting, because you can tell how hard Bratislava tries to be an attractive tourist destination. The castle grounds were pretty cool, but they were rather scarce, considering Napoleon blew up the place in the 1800s. We were also suspicious about how much of the ruins were actually ruins and which were rebuilt.


Upon our return, illy (a Starbucks-type chain) was passing out free iced coffee (which was the point where we decided that Slovakians just liked passing out free stuff every day), which was refreshing after our hot bus trip. We ventured on to see the Pállfy palace museum, where they had a neat exhibit on Italian haute couture - dresses made for JLo and Naomi Campbell and a bunch of supermodels. We also went back to the Primate's Palace to see the hall of mirrors and tapestry museum, which was free for students. Finally, we stopped by the Pharmacy Museum at the Red Crayfish, which gained us access to the Museum of Arms and the tower that overlooked the city.

We stopped at a little café near the Hrad for a Greek salad and a Coke, and then back to the hostel to shower before the opera. Although the opera house was pretty and the tickets were cheap (5 € for balcony seats), the production didn't begin to compare with Vienna. I don't remember much of the opera, because it was in Italian and the subtitles were in Slovak, but I did notice the pit orchestra. There was one violinist in particular who was wearing a strapless black dress (which is NEVER done in a professional orchestra, mind you) and had this obnoxious red scarf over her chin rest. What bothered me most was that she came in late at every rest, barely moved her bow, and didn't turn the pages in time for her stand partner, even though it was her job. I have never seen a professional musician who faked the entire performance. And then I said to myself, "The guidebook said that the Bratislava opera was world class??" This is where my skepticism got the best of me. Katherine and I decided that she managed to get in based on good looks and made up stories about her fling with the conductor during intermission.


For dinner, we wandered in Old Town among the drunk stag partiers and the loud American tourists and managed to snag the last table at Pressburg before a couple behind us took it. There, we encountered way too many English speakers, which made us worried about how touristy the restaurant was. Needless to say, the Americans left, and our food arrived. To our enjoyment, the meal was fantastic. I had garlic soup, which is cream-based and traditionally comes in a bread bowl. Katherine had pumpkin cream soup, which was also delicious. I ordered a traditional cucumber salad, and we both had Topvar (Slovak beer on tap). It was a great meal for the price and the atmosphere, and we went back to the hostel with full stomachs and smiles.

What I learned

1. Garlic soup is amazing

2. Bratislavians like free stuff

3. Four inch heels are common, sensible walking shoes

4. Bring mosquito repellent

5. The UFO bridge only looks like a UFO when you see it in person

6. It is okay to apply deodorant while on the job at the post office. Don't expect better service.

7. If you buy animal postcards at a dumpy shopping mall, expect for the cashier to get excited and force you to take a bunch of free ones from a gigantic box. Also expect her to try to practice her English and tell you she lived in London for two years.

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!

Rome: Day 4

On Sunday, we did our last touristy things - Foro Romano, Arco di Tito, Colosseo, Campidoglio, and Piazza Venezia, passed the annual Rome Marathon (a funny idea to be running 23 miles around Roman ruins with your dog alongside). We ate our last gelato, bought a supermarket's worth of pasta, pesto, and olives for our ride back home. And now it's over. Probably the best trip this year with the best travel companions imaginable.

Rome: Day 3

On Saturday, Julia showed us the church and student community center where she used to live and study. We had a nice picnic (away from the rain), took a nap in the comfy chairs, and played with the Euro version of Lincoln logs. We then explored the staircases of the theology library.
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We visited the Villa Borghese museum, which was filled with extravagant marble and the famous Bernini sculptures (Appollo e Daphne and David, to name a few).
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After a wet walk through the park, we took a pause at a café to dry off and have an afternoon cappucino. It amazes me how many waiters rattled on in Italian, expecting me to answer. Thanks to my French, I have an ounce of advantage in uderstanding the language when compared to the 100% anglophone. That is not to say, however, that my spoken Italian isn't just as broken and smattered with sign language as any other non-speaker. It takes quite a bit of effort to even guess at the pronunciation of a word. Oh well, I now know what I need to work on.
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Saturday night, we dined at a wonderful little restaurant where I ate the best pizza of my life (mozzarella, zucchini blossoms, and anchovies), roquet and tomato salad with olive oil and lemon juice, and tiramisu with strong espresso and the richest mrscapone that has ever touched my palate. Yum is all I can say.
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Afterwards, we explored la Notte dei Musei (Museum Night), where we saw fluo colums, complete with pink soldiers on horseback and museum lines that stretched down the stairs and wrapped around the block. Because we were thoroughly tired and our shoes had transformed into squishy water vessels, we left the long lines, rejected free, unlimited museum access, and headed to the hostel in pursuit of much needed sleep.

Rome: Day 2

Mission of the Day : Caravaggio Tour.
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I think it’s safe to say that, although Migros does offer a compatible quality with its line of Budget products, I will never again buy their batteries. After one single day of picture-taking, the camera was kaput. Crying in disbelief, I re-oriented the batteries and turned the camera on and off multiple times, only to find the annoying « battery empty » screen. Fortunately, we managed to find some over-priced Duracells in a tacky souvenir shop near the French church.
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I should also add my observation of amazement at the amount of free culture Rome has to offer. For example, we were able to see a good deal of Caravaggio’s most famous works witout paying a dime; and even so, the lines weren’t too epic and the paintings were situated in beautiful churches in quaint neighborhoods around Rome. Definitely no complaints there.
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The complaints immediately follow, however. Why would there be room to complain, you say? Especially in a city full of breath-taking architecture, artwork, and scenery? Well, the bus system is frankly the biggest pain in the ass imaginable. See yourself arriving at the bus stop – everything goes well the first time. The first bus arrives in 15 minutes – no problem. The transfer, however, is another question entirely. Bus 118, in particular, is sure to give problems. Bus 628, the other bus on the route, arrived THREE times before our bus arrived an hour later. After 55 minutes, we decided to forget our plans to visit the catacombs, only to find the bus barrelling down the road to our stop. We were not going to throw away that valuable time spent playing hopscotch and singing camp songs only to miss this transfer, so we sprinted to catch the 118 before it was too late.
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After a few minutes on the bus, it was evident the impossiblility of walking to our desired destination. My dear friend Katherine had previously encountered the death street with her mom a few weeks prior. The street was narrow and devoid of sidewalks or any sort of pedestrian passage, which is rather frightening when you have cars honking and passing each other from every direction and swerving abruptly to avoid imminent collisions. Our bus ride was a bumpy, crowded, stiflin 40 or 50 minutes of heaven. Grateful to finally reach fresh air (notably next to a group of strategically-placed dumpsters), we stopped at the Catacombe di San Sebastiano. And no, we didn’t see skeletons, only really small stone caskets. There were two American girls in short shorts and black t-shirts (on a rather chilly spring day, no less) that decided to follow our French-speaking tour and take pictures even though a) they obviously did not speak any sort of foreign language and b) they chose to ignore the tour guide when she reprimanded them in French, Italian, and finally English in regard to their prohibited photography. It was just as well, because when the group finally ascended from the depths of the catacomb at the end of the tour, the girls slinked back "unnoticed" to probably wreak havoc on the dead. I'm pretty sure I was the only one who took note. It would be cool if they got arrested. Alas, we unfortunately had to leave before the girls resurfaced and met their fate with the authorities.
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And then came the rain. And it rained. And rained. And...yeah. For two days. Nonstop. For those of you who think it is always beautiful in Rome, maybe you only saw the city in postcards. No matter, because we took our trusty old Bus 118 and waited another hour in the downpour. And this time, one of our group members did almost die on the street because of the lack of sidewalks and the speedy traffic. Little seven-year-old Sophia's Coke Zero was completely dead, but she thankfully got out with all of her fingers and toes intact, if only incredibly shocked and upset. This is when I decided how grateful I was for the frequent pedestrian sidewalks and conscientious drivers. I will never live in Rome.
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Julia then took us to the pre-school where she sent Sophia during her residence in Rome - Celio Azzurro - and the family welcomed our drenched group with a steaming platter of pasta with spicy tomato sauce, apples, fresh mozzarella, parmaggiano, peccorino, raw green beans, and red wine. We shared some beautiful stories despite the language barrier and spent a wonderful evening with our generous hosts.
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The husband, wife, and two sons served us piping hot espresso and explained a bit about their philosophies - teaching 50 3-6 year olds how to respect one another, be grateful for the one who cooked their meal (whether it be male or female), share household responsibilities between genders, grow their own vegetables (everyone eats salad at this school, thanks to their effort in raising their own garden), and, most importantly, to respect people of all cultures and religions. They are taught how to argue in a polite way and how to manage disputes the way that adults are supposed to. The love of this family for each other and their students really touched me, and it is encouraging to know people who still have good morals and share them with young people.
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In general, I have been very impressed with the Romans I have met on this trip, maybe because Julia simply knows a lot of good people. Earlier in the day, we also met a man who writes for Confronti, a daily journal that focuses on immigrant rights, confrontation of political and religious extremisim, and daily prejudices in the city of Rome. He told us the story of the difficulties in finding residency - being originally from Morocco himself - and gaining work permits as an immigrant.

Rome: Day 1

Upon our arrival in Rome, we first went to our hostel - the YWCA UCDG - to get rid of our bags and prepare for our first afternoon. We were surprised to find a market that spanned the block of via Cesare Balbo. People selling fresh fruits, knockoff Gucci handbags, lacy bras, and silver costume jewelry covered the street and piles of shoeboxes and garbage bags spilled over the sidewalks. Our first stop was to see the Fontana di Trevi, where we took our first photos of the coin toss and the tacky souvenir stands in front of the enormous fountain.
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Our first gelato was at an old family-owned place called Giolitti. In the entryway, there were little chocolate cookies and gellied fruits. The line stretched from the cash register to the ice cream counter, where people were calling out their orders as if at a fish market: "visciola, cocco e stracciatella!" My daring combo turned out quite delicious, with bits of fresh cherry and crackly chocolate swirled together with flakes of coconut and cream.
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We took a stroll through the Jewish ghetto after stopping at Campo dei Fiori and Piazza Navona, where a man escaped from a straightjacket and chains and I danced to a musician's lovely guitar music.
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History of Giordano Bruno
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Out of sheer convenience, Viv and Emma let me kow that they would be in Rome until Friday, when they were taking their trip to Tuscany. Viv’s campus happened to be in the Jewish ghetto (where we were visiting that evening). We managed to get in contact through a series of very expensive sms. We met up at the Bruno Monument and rejoined the group to have our first pizza, where I took full advantage of the anchovies.

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The reunion was nice albeit short. It was comforting, as always, to be reminded how close I am to loved ones despite being in Europe. I am also looking forward to when Viv comes to visit Lausanne after her stay in Rome.

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When dinner was over, a few of us went to a café for drinks - the first time I tried a limoncello, which, I must say, could use a little less sugar. We shared a few laughs, Swiss jokes, and a fair share of « C’est pas évident » and « Serais étonné, » which continued to cause disruptive laughter for the rest of the trip.

Istanbul

Pictures from Turkey are up! However, I have yet to put up captions and such. This time, I will just post a picture blog. It figures that I am crazy busy at the end of vacation. I suppose I should do homework...
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This week I may go to the Cully Jazz Festival with Marie, Yvonne, Gil, Leticia, Claire, and Sharon. It's free at night, and it's the perfect venue because they open the wine caves and have food (probably in some form of molten cheese), local wine, good music, and fun.
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Then, in a few weeks I am going to the Caravan Palace concert with Yvonne. Abby might be visiting during that week as well.
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Lots to look forward to this month!

Basel with Sharon

Sharon and I decided that it would be important to plan the next day trip in a big Swiss city. A friend asked me previously if I had thought about going on the XChange UNIL trip to Basel, and I thought that sounded like fun. However, instead of signing up with XChange, Sharon and I planned our own tour of the city. This gave us the opportunity to plan our museum list and historical tour, without worrying about whether or not we would get to see everything on our list.



We visited the Kunstmuseum, the Puppenhaus Museum, and the Tinguely Museum, all of which provided a great cultural background of the city and some fun interaction with art and history.



Not only was it a beautiful day with blue skies and sunshine, but we managed to take a rather extensive tour of the historical part of the city and engage in some regular weekend fun. We found the Saturday food market at the Marchplatz, where Sharon and I shared a DELICIOUS pretzel (her first ever) and a garage sale at Petersplatz, where people were dressed up and selling a whole variety of old junk. We also walked over all three of the major bridges over the Rhine (one of the largest rivers in Europe).



Another thing we found out: the Swiss really do love their cheese - enough to fill an entire refrigerated wall and a corner with several refrigerated units. We bought some amazing cheese for our trip back on the train!

Day Trip to Milano

Today I went with Giovanni, Natasha, and Justyna to Milano for a day trip. It was a 3-hour train ride, but the time went by quickly because we had many opportunities to talk about what we would see while we were there and how we would attack the large list of tourist venues. Our first order of business was to find a good place to eat, so we stopped in a family-owned store with freshly made Italian dishes. (see photos)
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During the day, we saw St. Ambrose church, the Cathedral, a bunch of crypts and mosaics, and the Castle museum. We also headed to the Pinacoteca to see the Caravaggio, which, unfortunately, was temporarily on exhibit in Rome.
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After we saw the Pinacoteca, we stopped for an iced tea in the student café next door. We had this wonderful foccacia rolled with olives as well. As we were sitting at the table, this woman approached us and asked us what our definition of life was in one word. She told us that the art student across from us said "beauty," but she wasn't convinced that this was a good answer. Natasha said "movement," I said "friendship," and Justyna said "love." It was funny because we kept having to have Giovanni translate for us - we told her we were from Switzerland, so she tried to speak German. We tried to explain that, no, we were from the French part, and then she apologized that she didn't know French, only German and English. Then she continued to talk to us in Italian. She added a rather amusing element to the end of our visit, as well as a thoughtful perspective on discussion. In any case, we left her to the other clients in the café so that we could catch our train back to Lausanne.
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We took the metro to the Central train station, where Giovanni bought wrap-around earmuffs from a street vendor and hailed the end of his suffering in the Lausanne cold. He had been waiting for 8 years to find these earmuffs at a good price, and he finally found some! For 3€, no less.

Claire's Arrival

On Monday, I gave my mom a tour of Lausanne, including a trip to the St. Francois church, le Barbare for lunch and a hot chocolate, and the children’s clock near the Hotel de Ville.



Claire arrived Tuesday morning, the same day of mom’s departure, so we took the train to the Geneva airport, picked up Claire, and sent mom on her flight back to Des Moines. We spent the day touring the city with Claire’s Tandem partner, Thierry. We met up with my new Belgian roommate, Sharon, at Flon and went to le Barbare once again for a hot chocolate; seriously, this hot chocolate never gets old. Now, Claire is all settled in her room in Bourdonnette, and we are now off to meet some friends at le Satellite!

Lyon, Day II

On Sunday, we took the tram to the Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation and took a breakfast stop at a little pastry shop on the corner. The museum was all about famous people in the French Resistance during WWII, especially influential women who risked social criticism and death threats to help Jews and restore many of the lost cultural items of the country. One woman in particular re-captured much of the artwork taken by Hitler; she moved to Germany to become a spy and kept in contact with many museum cultivators who were constantly recuperating missing artifacts.

For lunch, we went to Pizza Pai, a “buffet” type restaurant that had great pizza and an amusing ambiance similar to American restaurants. The goal was to whet our indulgence for Americanized international food, or maybe it was simply that we didn't want to pay that much for lunch. I was constantly surprised that in all of the restaurants in Lyon, they had water sitting on the table when you got there or it was automatically brought out when you arrived. I wish they gave free water in Switzerland….

We spent the last few hours in the city at the fine arts museum – which had a temporary Picasso and Matisse exhibit – and the museum of miniatures and movie props. The fine arts museum was swarming with locals wanting to see the famous Fauvist and Cubist paintings. We managed to access the entrance from the inside through a courtyard, where we just missed a line that stretched from the door to the end of the block. Instead of having to wait in line to pay for our tickets, we again flashed our city cards and they gave us our free tickets. The exhibit was very crowded, and I was constantly worried about women with their oversized purses because they always seemed to stand dangerously close to the paintings. I’m surprised they weren’t more closely monitored, considering their significance in art history.



There was an enormous fountain outside the museum that was beautiful and majestic. This was the Bartholdi Fountain built in the late 1800s, depicting a woman who controls the four rivers of France (symbolized by the four horses).



We took our last hour to tour the museum of miniatures, where they had costumes, masks, and stand-ins from famous shows and movies like Star Wars, Men in Black II, V for Vendetta, Terminator, The X-Files, and Planet of the Apes. Some of the props were pretty gruesome with blood and guts and rotting monkeys and such. It was really interesting, however, how they created such realistic props for horror movies. We also saw some amazing origami and incredibly small paper cutting and sculptures.

We took the 6pm TGV back to Geneva and had another late dinner at about 10pm.

Lyon, Day I

The next morning, we took the InterRegio to Geneva and then the TGV to Lyon, France. We arrived with relatively little sense of direction, only basing our orientation on Rick Steve’s suggestions. Since there were about 10 exits out of the Lyon Port-Dieu train station, we struggled to find the direction of our hotel, despite the fact that it was the Radisson, the tallest building in the city. I stopped to ask an official about directions, and then we walked 15 minutes with our bags to the hotel. It was odd, there. When we arrived, the concierge was on the ground floor, but he said that the check-in was upstairs. Thus, we took the elevator, only to find buttons for the ground floor and the 32nd floor. After a brief bout of confusion, we decided to press button “32” to see if this was the right place. Evidently, they don’t use the first 31 floors. Who knew? There was a separate elevator on the 32nd floor to get to the rooms. What a bizarre use of the building….

After having settled our things in the room and laughing at the small cup of mini-bar M&Ms that cost 7 euro, we asked the concierge about good dinner spots and how to buy our day passes. The city of Lyon offers a great tourist opportunity where you can buy a day pass that allows unlimited museum and public transportation access. You can take the tram, metro, bus, or electric car anywhere in the city, and you don’t have to wait in long museum lines. They just hand you your “free” ticket and you walk right in. Easy as pie.



Speaking of pie, we were quite hungry for lunch when we arrived in the city centre – Bellecour. We took the advice of an avid food blogger and tried le Giraudet, an all-natural bistro that sold the famous Lyonnais “quenelles” in a cup and some delicious soups – mom chose a chestnut soup with bitter cocoa powder, and I ordered carrot with curry and coconut milk. I also had a salad with roasted tomatoes, parmesan, and fried quenelles. Our lunch order included one of their hand-made desserts, so I indulged in a chocolate pistachio cake, and mom got fromage blanc with mango coulis (like yogurt with fruit purée on top). We were so pleased with our choice that we bought bottles of both soups to take home.




In addition to museums and transportation, the pass included a free walking tour and discounts on shopping and special tourist activities. We took advantage of the tour and saw the St. Jean cathedral with the moving rooster clock, Vieux Lyon with the museums and Middle Age housing complexes, and streets devoted to the sale of different foods. To explain, since people were largely illiterate during the Middle Ages, they named streets after the good that was sold there; for example, “Cow Street” was where butchers sold all of their beef. They also had a fish street, pig street, cheese street, etc. Since the people couldn’t read, they also put statues of the animals or the foods above the street names to indicate the good sold. Not a bad idea.



We ditched the tour a few minutes early to visit the puppet museum (le musée des marionettes), which had different puppets from all over the world. They showed famous clips from old television broadcasts and performances. They were all unique and expertly crafted with hand-sewn costumes. The end of our museum visit left us hungry for dinner, so we took a stroll in the bouchonnerie quarter. The history behind the name of the famous Lyonnais restaurants is that “bouchonner” means to brush horses, and the workers, after a hard day, needed a place to eat simple food for a low price. Thus, this type of restaurant was named after the profession of its clients, and they remain relatively inexpensive and absolutely wonderful. We went to St. Josef, a recommendation of my French roommate, Marie. I had grilled salmon and my mom had sole with some kind of sauce. For dessert, I had a pear pudding with strawberry coulis, and she had apple tart. After our dinner, we walked around and saw Hippo (a restaurant that reminded us of a funny experience in Paris) and bought French soap from a department store. (I know, the peak of shopping excitement).

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.

Bern Christmas Markets

This time, I decided to take advantage of the Xchange opportunities with UNIL, the University of Lausanne. They were offering to give us a tour of the city of Bern and take us to the Christmas markets. Although Bern itself is not that large, the city was still bustling with activity, as many Swiss residents were hopping from sale to sale to do their holiday shopping.

Bern is the city of 100 fountains (or some number close to that), bears, and arched buildings. My favorite fountain has to be the one of the ogre eating the children - Kindlifresserbrunnen. It depicts Kronos, the Greek god who ate his children to prevent them from taking his throne - I guess it was also supposed to remind children to be good to their parents. I saw a film about the history of Bern, but I didn't understand it fully - there were lots of flashy sounds and colors and effects, which were more interesting than the narration about Napoleon. After taking a tour of the old downtown, our group ventured toward the bear pit. Unfortunately, we didn't actually get to see the bears because one was still recovering from being tranquilized. Recently, a man jumped over the wall into the bear pit, and the bear severely attacked him. Luckily the man survived, but both he and the bear are in weak stages of recovery.

In addition to visiting the bear pit, we also had the chance to climb the Bern Cathedral tower that overlooked the city and had a breath-taking view of the Alps, snow and all. I am hoping to soon be able to go hiking in the snow with my snowshoes!

The buildings in Bern employ overhangs held up by arched structures that protect vendors from the seasonal elements and offer a nice wind breaker for pedestrians as well. After a few steps, you would see vendors selling traditional German breads made into the shape of men (with little raisin eyes) or people selling mugs of mulled wine and roasted chestnuts. I have found that chestnuts are rather enjoyable, and I wish that they existed in Iowa! It would be nice to have a mug of mulled wine and a paper sack of warm chestnuts while strolling through the Iowa tundra. The Christmas markets, Waisenhausplatz and Munsterplatz, were full of handmade knick-knacks and delicious holiday foods.

Here, a man is cutting caramels. This stand sold Swiss spice cake with symbols of the Bernois bear and Swiss flags. How traditional.

Santa flag and the Bern flag behind. The Christmas tree really makes me miss home and holiday times with my family!

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.

St. Maurice Abbey and Thermal Baths

Today, I went on an excursion with five girls and the priest from l’Aumonerie to visit St. Maurice, the oldest abbey in the world. It was built in the early 500s, and there are still remnants of the original framework of the building. Giovanni, the priest, gave us a private tour of the monastery, showing us the sleeping quarters, the tunnel with the water source that flows under your feet, the old crypts and frescas, and some prized treasures – chests of gold, silver, and gems, intricate bronze crosses, statues, and figurines. The rooms were rich with history and character, and he gave us a wonderfully detailed description of the significance of each religious symbol that graced the monastery. For instance, you often see two doves drinking from the same source of water and a serpent that wraps around the perimeter of the birds but cannot access the source. This signifies a closeness with God and is used many times in religious artwork from the Middle Ages. The Tree of Life also plays an important role in religious relics, as it is even incorporated in some drawings of the crucifix. The square crucifix with the clover-shaped ends is characteristic of the Tree of Life. You can see this style of artwork in chandeliers, columns, paintings, and mosaics.
After having eaten lunch in the monastery, we took a lovely walk along the Rhone and profited from the beautiful autumn colors and the vast mountain. We finally reached the thermal baths after our hike, which are therapeutic outdoor pools that receive water from a natural underground source. Since the water is from a natural source, it is full of minerals that are excellent for the skin and aid in removing the everyday toxins that our bodies absorb from daily pollution. The source provides water at about 65-70 oC (149 - 158 oF), and the bathing facility must cool off the water before it is cool enough for human skin (the water was at least 80 oF when we were swimming). It is quite a sight during night time, because it was about 40 oF outside and you could see the steam rising from the pools into the night sky. They had water jets in the pool where you could lay down and the bubbles would massage your whole body. There were also Jacuzzi areas, jets of water for the back, the head, the feet, the legs, etc. They also had a giant cascade of water (like a mushroom) where you could go under and surround yourself with the sound of the waterfall. The favorite activity was the whirlpool, where a current of water would push you in a circle along a wall, and we played many games here – holding onto the railing and resisting the current, traversing the pool with our feet on the walls and our backs to the center, jumping over each other, doing flips, and jumping up and down as the current carried us round and round. It was the most fantastic sensation to be immersed in the warm water and then to jump high into the cold air.
In addition to the outdoor facilities, they had wonderful saunas and relaxation rooms. The first one we visited was a Turkish hamam, which is a wet sauna filled with the smell of essential oils – it is heated to about 60 oC (140 oF)with so much humidity that you cannot see the person sitting next to you. It is basically like sitting in a cup of chamomile or jasmine tea. You walk in and can barely breathe, and there is a small fountain in the center where you can drink cold water. You then sit on the bench and let the oils penetrate your senses and your skin; I have to say that this provided the perfect atmosphere for meditation and reflection. It is the combination of a tropical rainforest and the continuous burning of incense. The scent of the oils takes over your olfactory senses and forces you to really concentrate on taking full breaths. Ten minutes in the hamam, and you feel rejuvenated and detoxified.
Afterwards, we went into two different saunas – the first was heated to 85 oC (185 oF), which was very very hot, and they had different oils permeating the room. The next sauna was 30 degrees cooler, but still pretty hot. (If you spend too much time in these saunas, you start to cook like a pizza.) Because it is important not to overheat the body, they have showers and a pool where you plunge into cold water (about 10 oC - 50 oF - or so). They also have what is called a “nuit polaire,” where you put on these plastic sandals and walk into a room dripping with ice and snow. You can throw snowballs and drink fresh, cold water. The facility also provides relaxation rooms with different types of lighting; one room uses only white light with a gradual change to red, yellow, green, and blue, depending on the timer. There is also relaxing music and an explanation of the colors and how they affect the body. After that, there is a blacklight room where you lay on beach cots and listen to more relaxing music. Overall, the cost is about 20-25 CHF for 3 hours of massages, swimming, therapeutic lighting, and saunas with essential oils. I think I am ready to take my exam on Monday after having completely eliminated my stress. What an excellent end to the day.

6th Mountain Cheese Olympics

Because the Swiss love their cheese, I thought it would be pretty important to see what all the fuss was about. Thus, I decided to organize an excursion to Saignelégier, Bellelay, and Tramelan, three cities in the Jura, for the 6th Mountain Cheese Olympics. There were 630 different types of cheese, and the event was free, offering cheese tasting, games, traditional Swiss music, tours of cheese factories, seminars, and other activities.
First of all, I think it is awesome that Switzerland offers a student transportation card that allows you to travel after 7pm for free. We thus took the 2 hour train to les Reusilles, a small village near Tramelan, to stay at a small bed and breakfast called “Chez Marie.” After taking several wrong turns and reaching the end of the village, we finally found the path to the bed and breakfast – a completely dark pedestrian path that led us through farms, and eventually, her small farm. The woman who owned the bed and breakfast lived in the house and had one room open for guests. She was the most delightful woman I have ever met – warm, welcoming, and full of useful information about Swiss tourism and activities. She was not at the house when we arrived at about 10:30, but because this was small-town Switzerland, she left the door open for our entry. She arrived at about 11:15 and shared with us some stories about previous visitors and her history in the village.

In our room, she left a bowl of delicious plums and apples and a visitor’s book to fill with our comments and drawings. We read previous entries, and everyone raved about her hospitality; some drew gorgeous pictures of the Swiss countryside and cute cartoons and whatnot. You could tell that this was a rather unique place to stay – the room was filled with books and games and travel information, and there was a small reading area outside our door that overlooked the kitchen. The chairs were covered in hand-made pillows and blankets, and there were children’s stuffed animals, posters, and artwork all over. The owner was also a marble painter, so she had books, cards, and other pieces on display and for sale. Her eye for beauty and her warm heart were very well represented in this little cottage, as we instantly felt at home and comfortable. It was a shame that we could only stay for one night, because I would have loved to stay to talk with her for the day and learn about her origins and watch her paint in her studio.
In the morning, she prepared for us a breakfast with homemade apricot and prune jam, marmalade with lemon zest, yogurt with raspberries, bread with walnuts, muesli with oatmeal, honey, cheese, and jasmine tea. We passed a relaxing morning enjoying the delicious meal and watching the sheep graze in her backyard; we sat with her and talked about the cheese festival (she also planned on attending), and she told us about her favorite ski slopes – known only by locals and offering a beautiful view of the mountains – and an event that happens in the spring near Basel. Evidently, they close the river off to boats so that people can swim along the river from several small towns to Basel. After you arrive on the beach, there are outdoor showers where you can rinse off and change into dry clothes, which you put in a plastic sack and tie around your waist. It definitely sounds like an interesting mode of transportation, and I plan to pursue this as an excursion for the spring.
We took the shuttle bus to the covered cheese market after breakfast, and, inside the large tent, there were little wooden booths for each cheese maker. They offered free samples of their cheeses and sometimes had elixirs and juices to taste as well. I really enjoyed the fresh-pressed apple juice, which tasted like all the wonderful elements of an apple pie, apple cider, and applesauce. It was rich and bold in flavor. Delicious. As for my favorite cheeses, I purchased four different kinds, all originating from Switzerland. Two kinds were from a German region (Grand Cru and der Rasse), one from the Jura (bio cheese with wild garlic), and one from a French region (cow’s cheese that was similar to brie but much creamier). There was also a stand that had the best yogurt I have ever tasted; it was made from sheep’s milk, and there were different flavors, such as vanilla, mocha, chocolate, raspberry, and natural. It was thick, creamy, rich, and full of intense flavor. It was probably packed with fat, but I was in heaven.
There were also opportunities to win free cheese in the children’s circus tent. They had games that you could play – a spin-the-wheel game, where I won a cut of fresh mozzarella, and some other activities – a fake cow where you could practice your milking skills, various cages of farm animals, and a demonstration of making mozzarella. The two men showed us how the leftover liquid, called “le petit lait” (or little milk), drained from the cheese. They let us taste this milk, which was warm and flavorful. They also showed us the cutting process and explained how to stir and heat the cheese.
We returned to the covered market after the circus games to enjoy some jazz alphorn and accordion music. There were many talented musical groups that played throughout the day, and it was interesting to compare the contemporary with the traditional. My favorite group was made up of two sisters who played accordion; they were the most talented accordion players I have ever seen. Their fingers moved with such grace, and they played with intricacy and precision. In short, they were admirable musicians, and I hope that someday I am good enough to jam like that!

In Bellelay, the second village, we visited the Abbey, where the Tete de Moine cheese originated. They were preparing for the gala event, so the main room was filled with dining tables and fancy table settings – three wine glasses per person and the whole assortment of silverware. This was definitely not a jeans and t-shirt event. It would have been nice to see the all the attendees dressed up in gowns and tuxes. Bellelay also offered tours of the horse stables and their medieval museum, where there were demonstrations of Tete de Moine cheese-making, explanations of shoe-making and evolution during the Middle Ages, and ancient wood-carving. The monks were selling homemade pea soup that was full of vegetables and immediately warmed a cold stomach. (They didn’t just have delicious cheese!)

Finally, a round of applause for Switzerland for putting on quite a show! Thanks for filling our bellies and putting smiles on our faces.