An Afternoon in Zurich

So, the EuroFadoks have been fairly lazy the last couple of weeks and haven't gone on any out-of-town adventures.  We did go to the Basler Museumsnacht last weekend, which was a super fun cultural experience, but other than that we have simply been chillaxing.  That's right, chillaxing. That word is now in the Oxford English dictionary along with bromance and frenemy.

In the absence of any new wanderings, this is a post from the vault.  During our first weeks here in Switzerland, we were not allowed to leave the country while our visas were being processed.  We took this opportunity to take a day trip to Zurich to visit some friends who live there with their young son.  The train ride takes less than an hour from Basel on the typically clean and efficient Swiss rail system.

As always, Austin came along, and doesn't he just look tickled pink to be on the train?

This bulbous blue babe is a modern guardian angel overlooking the interior of the Zurich Bahnhof.

Zurich is a bustling metropolis compared to Basel.  Despite being Switzerland's largest city, it is still very walkable and also has amazing public transportation.  Starting from here, we sauntered through the heart of the city, following one of Rick Steeve's walking tours.

Dogs are allowed at parks in Zurich!  All over Basel, there are 'no dog' signs posted at the entrances to every park and playground.  Every canton has its own laws and regulations and, in Zurich, they remain very dog-friendly.

The Limmat river runs through the center of Zurich.  This is a view of one side, taken from the bank on the other side...in case you thought we took it from the middle of the river, that would be incorrect.  It was taken from the bank, not the middle of the river.  Sheesh.

We climbed up to some nice viewpoints overlooking the city.

This park is located on the site of an old medieval castle.  When Switzerland unified about 500 years ago, they destroyed many of the large castles to prevent any resurgence in  feudal power or monarchy.  No one person would ever hold ultimate power here!  So they tore down the castles and put parks in their place.

This is a restaurant famous for feeding and watering some of the great European writers, such as Goethe.

This extremely narrow stairway leads down to the remnants of a Roman bathhouse.  As you can tell, Austin could not wait to have a hot soak.

Here is what is left of the Roman baths.  Fascinating, we know!!  We could just stare at those chunks of rock all day!

Silly.

After our walking tour of the city, we met up with our friends David and Johanna and their son, Jascha.  We took to the train up the local mountain and did some hiking in the misty forests.  At the top of the mountain was this fun rolley contraption.  You put the equivalent of a lunch tray down on it, have a seat, and off you go!

Veronica is a pro at this game!

Wheeeee!

Austin is enjoying his first taste of European stick.  He looks a little critical, but he is such a stick snob.

We had a great time in Zurich on that trip.  It was fun to hang out and do a little exploring in an entirely different city and still be able to make it back home for bed in less than an hour.  We hope this post finds you well!

Die EuroFadoks

Bern, baby, Bern

A few weeks after we arrived in Basel, we took a trip to the capital of Switzerland, Bern.  We were busy exploring Basel and nearby cities because our visas had not yet been fully processed so we had to stay in the country.  Bern is a little more than an hour from Basel by train.

This fancy building is a part of the university.

Here is the federal parliament building.  The Swiss federal government does not have much authority, but what little power they have is concentrated here.  Local cantonal government determines most of the law and taxes throughout the country.  Where we live, Basel Stadt, is one of the most expensive place to live tax wise.  In this building, you can get lots of information about Swiss government.  It is a very interesting system, indeed.

Underneath this building is a substantial quantity of gold.  The rest of it is in Zurich.  Don't get any ideas though, they do have a very smart alarm system!

Each canton has its own seal, and they are all displayed along this section of the parliament building.

In Bern, as in almost every Swiss city we have visited thus far, there is giant chess available in the local parks.

This game is also available, but we have no idea what it is or how it is played.  If you know, seriously drop us a line and let us know.  Austin already knows how to play but he refuses to show us.

A river runs through Bern separating the old town from the newer portions.

Most Swiss cities provide fresh drinking water from fountains located throughout town.  Bern is famous for it's fountain decorations.  There are 12 famous fountains throughout the city.  This one is super great because it shows a monster eating babies.  For the others, see the Flikr set.

This is a more modern, ugly fountain that the locals apparently hate.

You might already know that Switzerland is known for it's watches and clocks.  Being punctual is a virtue here.  Bern is especially famous for it's many old clock towers.

This 500-year old device tells the time, date, sign of the zodiac, and phase of the moon.  The mechanism on the right dances around and makes silly noises every hour.  MTV was in its infancy in the 1500's so this was how people amused themselves in Bern.  In England during this time, people were amused by public executions.  Just a fact.

The main street leading from the train station through Bern is lined with many shops.  There are also these old doors that lead down into what used to be the cellar.  These cellars were at one time filled with food and wine, but Napoleon changed all of that when he captured Bern.  He and his soldiers ate all the cheese and drank all the wine.  But they loved dogs, so its all good.  Now, these doors lead down to a plethora of different shops and one even has a little indie movie theater.

Some more medieval entertainment, this time on one of the local cathedrals.  People can come and have a look at what it is like during Armageddon and an eternity in hell.  A nice Sunday activity for the whole family!

The larger Swiss cities also have public toilets available for a small fee (50 rappen).  This one, however, was free.  You can relieve yourself at ease knowing that these commodes are self-cleaning and do so regularly.  Everything is built with Swiss design and efficiency.  It really makes pooping in public fun and easy.

Littering is not taken lightly here!  And apparently, English is the best way to convey that.

We tried for several hours to convince this guy that he had too much to live for...but then we got bored and left.  Hope he didn't jump. 

This fountain illustrates much about Swiss governmental philosophy.  Blind Lady Justice stands atop idols signifying kings and emperors, while her scales wait to judge.  The Swiss did away with their monarchy hundreds of years before the rest of Europe and, in fact, destroyed many of the castles and put parks in their place.

Bern's mascot is the bear, and they even have some bears that live there!  These bears have a new, modern enclosure along the river that even allows them to fish at will.  These bear cubs were very playful while we were watching them.  Austin found their scent very interesting indeed, but we convinced him not to go down and cause troubs.

A misty view of Bern from the park near the Parliament.

Look how good Austin is while Jon has a snack! No begging whatsoever!  Good boy!

'Hey guys!  Wait up!  I promise I won't beg anymore!'

All of the buildings in Bern's old town are made of this green sandstone.  Most of them also have clocks on them.  No excuses for being late!

Heh heh. (This word means 'fat' or 'thick' in German)

Oh course we didn't leave him behind!  Who else is going to eat all that expensive dog food?

Our visit to Bern was very educational and fun.  Switzerland is a fascinating place and it's capital is no different!
 
Check out some more photos here:
Bern Baby Bern Photos


Bis zum nächsten Mal,
The EuroFadoks

What a nice New Year in Nice.

For our first European New Year celebration, we decided to meet up with our good friends Andy and Beth in Nice, France, the unofficial capital of the French Riviera.  Beth is also a recent transplant from the States; she moved from Seattle to Newcastle, England in November.  We rented a small apartment right in the thick of the action and spent five wonderful days together, exploring Nice, the surrounding cities and the tiny principality of Monaco.  As always, Austin came along with us, so we had 10 hours of train travel each way!

Almost every day we walked to Old Town Nice and bought fresh foods from the market there.  Fruits, veggies, cured meats, cheeses, and what France is famous for, fresh baked baguettes!  Coming from Switzerland, we were amazed at how inexpensive everything was.



Here is a sampling of our daily deliciousness!




Happy New Year! For New Year's Eve we spent the day exploring Nice, shopping and drinking beer on the beach.  That night, we all got dolled up and hit the town for dinner and celebration.  It turns out we should have made a reservation, as almost of the restaurants were booked.  We did find a decent seafood restaurant where V and Beth each ate a half-lobster.  It was fun to watch them eat that!  After dinner, we headed to the promenade with a bottle of champagne to ring in the New Year.  There were lots of people milling about and most of them were lighting fireworks and shooting them on the beach and some into the crowd.

The next day we had an extremely leisurely walk about town and up Castle Hill.  From the hill, we were afforded many beautiful views of Nice.  Here you can see the Old Town in the foreground and the lovely beach and promenade to the left.  The Old Town was filled with tiny streets chock full of restaurants and shops.  It had quite an Italian feel to it.  We even stumbled upon a wine shop where you could have a liter bottle filled for only two Euros!



So we had heard that France was a dog-friendly place.  This is absolutely correct and more! Shop owners would come out of their shops during our morning walks and greet Austin with a hearty 'Bon jour!' all the while ignoring us.  With this, unfortunately, comes another truth which is that most of the French do not clean up after their pets.  This picture illustrates this point and more.  How did the dog poop on the bench?  Was it a talented small dog or a large dog pretending to use a toilet?  The world may never know.  We spent a significant amount of time avoiding dog piles on our walks.  It is worth it, however, when your little furry friend can come with you anywhere.  Dogs in Nice are also very socialized and friendly.



This was our mascot for the weekend.  Andy received this disco ball from his father for Christmas and we would listen to music at night while it entertained us.  We made it that much better by putting an orange on top.



Austin, as usual, found a comfortable (and pink) place to call his own in the apartment.  What a pampered princess!

This is Frenchie, one of Beth's fresh food sculptures.  We ate him up real good!

The next day we took the train to the tiny town of Antibes. We had a lovely time walking around and looking at stuff.  Beth and Andy has a look around the Picasso museum there, but that was one of the few places Austin was not allowed.



Andy and Austin had many in depth conversations on the train.  This one was about whether cheddar and bacon biscuits are better than beef.



We also went to Monaco.  You may not know this, but there are yacht-loads of extremely wealthy people there.  We went to the Jacques Cousteau aquarium and we also went to the famous, and very boring, Casino.  That place is much better in Bond movies.  Monaco is worth a visit though, if only just to look at all the fancy cars and giant yachts.



Jon got in trouble for trying to go in the royal palace in his skivvies.  He should have read the sign first.  Whoops! 

 

Beth had a serious crush on 'Crabby MacBeth' at the aquarium.  There are about 500 photos of him in the Flikr set linked to below.

We also acquired 'the real deal', genuine absinthe!  You pour water over some sugar on a spoon and this potent liquor turns a cloudy color that signifies, it's time to hallucinate!  It also tastes like anise, mmmm, anise.




The EuroFadoks had a wonderful New Year in Nice!  We hope you all had a good one as well! There are tons more great pictures on the Flikr set, so check them out, yo!
Nice New Year's 2011 Photos


Love,

The EuroFadoks