Highs and Lows in Switzerland

If you’re following along, you may have noticed we went from Paris to Tours to the Dordogne (pretty far south in France) all the way up to Amsterdam…and now all the way back down to Switzerland, nearly as far south as we had been before. So much for efficiency. But, it was the timing that worked best for our families and for Jessica’s work. So, off we went to Switzerland…

It was exciting to start seeing mountains as we approached Geneva…

You can see here our typical train set-up. If we’re not working on our computers, we’re probably playing Terraforming Mars (and maybe eating strawberries or something). We also discovered that a lot of Swiss trains have special “family” cars marked with a little bear on the door and a pretty awesome interior…

We went to Geneva because, being home to a ton of UN offices, lots of folks Jess wanted to talk to for her project were there. We didn’t really look into what to expect there much before arriving and found that Geneva was…a bit less than we expected. In fact, in our first day or two, we honestly felt like it might be the most boring city we’d visited in Europe. We saw lots of dull buildings, empty streets and parks, and had trouble finding interesting food that wasn’t terribly expensive. We were not impressed.

So, with that intro, I’ll now do what my parents accuse me of having done when I went to camp after 7th grade. They say my letters home always started by saying how miserable I was and ended with a list of all the cool things I was doing at camp. So, despite my complaints, there were several interesting and fun bits to our time in Geneva.

First of all, as we got out of our relatively residential part of town, we discovered some more interesting structures and prettier spots. The cobblestone streets of the old town were particularly nice and we liked some of the art nouveau-looking ironwork on a lot of the apartment buildings.

We also liked the neighborhood of Carouge which had a subtly different look. This part is about a mile south of the old town and across the River Arve, so it turns out that used to be part of the Savoy territories–in other words, it was Italian! So, I guess I shouldn’ have been surprised that it reminded me a bit of Turin and the like…

One of the other nice aspects of Geneva was the lake. From certain angles on a clear day you could see all the way to Mont Blanc (though I don’t have any good pics of that). There were also several nice bridges across where the Rhone exits the lake and some irresistably cute swanlings.

The lake’s best feature (which was turned off the first day or two we were there) is undoubtedly the “Jet d’eau” (or, “jet of water”). Shockingly, this is a big jet of water. But, it is seriously impressive–it shoots nearly 500 feet in the air and is visible from all over the place, with several streets aligned directly with its location. I later learned that it originally developed as an occasional release of pressure to prevent water pipes from exploding, but was so popular that it was moved to a more visible location and made permanent. Weird, but fun. Also, cool rainbows.

Speaking of jets of water, Geneva (and other towns in Switzerland) have fountains everywhere. Seriously, there were several dozen lovely fountains we came across around the city (and a few incredibly boring ones), all with drinkable water.

Geneva is also, obviously, home to many of the UN’s most important offices. Outside the headquarters is “the Broken Chair,” which is intended to be a “symbol of both fragility and strength, precariousness and stability, brutality and dignity.”

The location of the UN here isn’t a coincidence. It traces back to the foundation of the Red Cross by Henry Dunant and the signing of the Geneva Conventions which codify the limits of what is “allowed” in modern warfare. (The first Geneva Convention was signed in the “Alabama” room at the Hotel de Ville, so named because it is where the U.S. and Britain settled their differences over the sale of the Alabama from Britain to the Confederacy.)

Jessica and I visited the Red Cross/Red Crescent Museum too. Honestly, not my favorite: a little too promotional and not deep enough. But, there were some interesting bits:

• One room had a fascinating collection of items made by political prisoners and POWs.
• In other parts we listened to testimony from Red Cross workers and from people dealing with various traumatic circumstances.
• We wandered through the collection of cards the Red Cross produced to track info on prisoners and those killed in WWI.
• Another area dealt with people lost or separated from their families in various conflicts, including thousands missing from Srebenica in the conflict in the former Yugoslavia.
• The last section dealt with the Red Cross’s efforts to “reduce natural risks” from things ranging from unsafe drinking water to countering climate change. It was pretty bland, but I did find Pierrick Sorin’s “Theatre Optiques” amusing. You can see him acting out the various parts that are being put together on the screen in the back.
• And, if you read real closely, you could find the part of the museum where they admitted that the Red Cross basically ignored the Holocaust until it was way too late. (Not pictured.)

There were, as usual, several other oddities around Geneva:

• The “flower clock” (which changed its appearance while we were there!) is evidently a huge tourist attraction. Speaking of huge it also has the largest second hand in the world which is just terribly exciting to have seen in action (not really).

• Continuing with things that go around: carousels. We saw at least three. In a town of 100,000 people (yeah, it’s that small!). Why?

• It is also very important to note that only noodles may park in Geneva.

• For my educator buddies…evidently Jean Piaget is from Geneva. Now you know.

• I liked that there was a municipal vineyard.

• And there were several parks that had stands of redwoods, reminding me of one of the few things I’m looking forward to about coming home.

• Speaking of parks, I noticed all over Geneva that elementary schools were located in or next to city parks. Very smart planning.

• One of the more interesting juxtapositions was a display of rather grim political cartoons (mostly about Ukraine and climate change) along the lovely lakeside.

• Geneva is also home to the longest bench in the world. A weird claim to fame, but a nice spot to chill.

• And next to that bench is a grove of chestnut trees. One is labeled with a special marker and when its first leaf appears each year, the mayor has to record it as the first day of spring. An odd tradition.

Besides all that, we also managed to get out of town a bit. One morning we took a hike along the south side of the lake. We started near the lake in the town of Hermance, right on the border with France, and hiked most of the way back to Geneva, ending in the town of Choulex. Along the way we saw fields of wheat, vineyards, more rapeseed (see France post), and even a self-serve local apple juice stand. There was a cool bench carved from a downed tree and some cute thatched-roof houses. There were also some nice mountain views.

We took another hike which required a couple of trains to get to. Unfortunately, it took an extra train and an extra hour because our first train went right past the place we needed to change trains and dropped us in Lausanne. Sadly, we didn’t get to see the town (which everyone says is lovely) at all other than this odd building that looked like two totally different eras had a collision…

When we finally arrived in St. Cergue, we were greeted by this cow. I should have taken more photos, but we saw these everywhere in Switzerland, each painted differently. They’re in public places, backyards, bars…just everywhere. Why? (Speaking of which, on this trip we saw waaaaay fewer actual cows than we did hiking further south in Switzerland a few years ago. Less real cows. More fake cows.)

On a clearer day, we might have had some great views across Lake Geneva, but regardless we had a nice hike out to La Dôle.

And, continuing on our themes, we came across a fountain out in the woods, and we could see the “Jet d’eau” from about 20 miles away.

Our last day in Geneva was dedicated to sports. We spent the morning dodging runners in the Geneva Marathon…

…so that we could get to the Geneva Open, a professional tennis tournament. It didn’t have the top top players, but most were ranked in the top 200 in the world, and several in the top 30 or so. We had to leave part way through the day, but we still managed to see about 5 sets spread over three different matches. The center court had nice seats and a more “I’m at a real tournament” feel, but the other courts let you get right up close to the action. Regardless, the players were very good, even though clearly not the best. (Though Medvedev was at the tournament, he didn’t play when we were there.)

Sachko serving against Bagnis:

One of the surprisingly interesting bits was watching the ball boys and girls. They were very well trained and took their roles seriously. But it was kinda hilarious too. Some of them were very small, and sometimes looked just a bit nervous.

We were also amused by each player’s pre-serve rituals. Some of them always took three or four balls to choose from while others always tapped their racket in particular ways. For instance, Rosol always hit his racket off each heel.

Here are some of the kids dealing wih Sachko preparing to serve. Watch the eye contact at the end. Every time they checked with each other before returning to their positions.

So, overall, Geneva wasn’t as bad as we thought at first, but still not exactly a thrilling place. A few nice hikes, some slightly less-boring parts of town, and some pro tennis. Not bad, but…

…it’s not Interlaken. That was our next stop. And it reminded us why the Swiss Alps are just simply the best. We had been to Interlaken for all of two days on our quick European tour back in 1999, but it was early April and very snowy. This time we stayed longer (three days), got great hiking advice from the nicest Airbnb hosts ever (we were in their downstairs studio), and had stunning snow-free trails.

Now, technically, we didn’t stay in Interlaken, we were in the next town over, Wilderswil…one train stop closer to the big mountains. I started talking about three types of mountains there: the foothills (low, forested), foot mountains (tall, rocky, maybe a touch of snow), and the real mountains (glacier-capped). The view from Wilderswil was something like this, where you can see a bit of each type:

Our first day out, we took a hike from the town of Lauterbrunnen up high above the valley and back down again. We had fond memories of sleeping in a completely empty hostel in Lauterbrunnen 23 years ago, but sadly couldn’t find it again. (It seems to have been replaced by a much more modern hostel which sprawls over several buildings, one of which we think was the old place.) Regardless, we had an amazing day. The best part was the constantly evolving views of Jungfrau (and neighboring Mönch and Eiger) which towers over the Lauterbrunnen Valley (elevation: 2,631 ft) at 13,642 above sea level.

We had planned to take a cable car up top and hike around up high more, but the cable car was down for repairs, so it turned into a steep uphill climb. Regardless, the views were worth it. At the high point of our hike, we stopped for lunch in the town of Mürren, home to more great views…

All along the way, there were great waterfalls, but it was truly stunning when we returned to the valley to be surrounded by cascades everywhere we looked, with some streams having five or six major falls on their course from clifftop to valley floor.

But, my favorite sight was probably the billiards club/laundromat on the outskirts of the tiny village of Gimmelwald (elevation: 4,485 ft, population: 130)…

Also amusing in their incongruity were the child-decorated avalanche shelters scattered around the valley…

The next day we took the train up the other branch of the valley, up to the fancy ski town of Grindelwald. (For Harry Potter fans: No. We did not encounter any evil wizards.) Grindelwald lies at the base of Mt. Eiger, which separates this area from the valley we were in the previous day. It’s a pretty spectacular spot…

We had only a few hours before both Jessica and I had to return home for important Zoom calls, so we kind of randomly chose a loop that looked like a reasonable length past two alpine huts. We chose right. It looked like this:

And that, my friends, is why the Swiss Alps kick other mountains’ butts. The gorgeous green pastures below incredible rock faces all topped with snow and glaciers. It’s just too much beauty. It engendered a lot of debate about where we should retire: Italy (food, weather, chill vibe) or Switzerland (pricey and dull, but gorgeous). Hmmmm…

Also, not to be outdone by France, there was still self-service cheese and meat along our route, so that adds to the Swiss case too…

BTW, I can’t recall if I mentioned this when writing about the Alps last summer (here and here), but one thing I really like throughout the region is that most trails are well labeled at intersections, and, in particular, they are labeled usually with time estimates rather than distances. Jessica and I have consistently found that we are slightly faster than the uphill time estimates and a touch slower than the downhill ones. Overall, they provide a good sense of how long any given hike will take. Here is the intersection at Alpinhotel Bort (where we had tea and coffee with an excellent view), from which we went to Aellfluh and then back to Grindelwald. Note also the special scooter trail down to Grindelwald…ha!

On our last day in the area, we dropped our bags at the Interlaken train station and took the cable car up to Harder Kulm, a mountain hut several thousand feet above the city. The views of the two glacier-fed lakes that border Interlaken (Get it? “Between the lakes.”), the city itself, and Jungfrau in the background were just fabulous.

There was also a collection of odd-but-amusing carved Swiss-caricature figures dotted along the hillside there.

From there we hiked up to the first peak on the hillside, Wannichnubel, where we had more excellent views and managed not to walk off a cliff (thanks to the warning sign, without which I’m sure that’s a mistake we would have made).

From there it was a mere one kilometer drop to Interlaken. No problem for a guy who’s been having knee trouble for nine months, right? Actually, it was fine; I’ve started wearing knee braces for hiking and they help a lot. We got back to Interlaken, had perhaps the best burger and fries I’ve ever had (and most expensive) and hopped on our train to…

…

Before I move on to our last Swiss stop, I need to recast the narrative of the preceeding week and a half in a much more negative light, because, while we’ve been having a ton of adventures and Jess has done some important work, I was having some serious ups and downs in the rest of my life.

On the up side, as you know, Space Station Phoenix has started to hit stores and is getting some good buzz. My favorite so far is this clip from Jon Gets Games. He was paid to do a tutorial about SSP, but has turned into a fan:

Also on the up side, as I mentioned in my last post, I had some job interviews for math positions and got job offers at two different schools. Yay! Sadly, this is where the downside comes in…

The principal at the school I worked at for the last seven years (PCS) drove me nuts throughout the time we were in Belgium and Switzerland. As I got job offers, I tried to contact her to ask about the prospects of moving into the PCS Math Department (a job I had applied for, but the process for which was moving incredibly slowly). Repeatedly over the past couple of weeks she did not reply to emails, promised responses and didn’t deliver, and generally slowed the process down practically to a halt. I’ll spare you all the details (I didn’t spare my colleagues–I sent them an extended rant of a timeline), but this constant terrible communication kept me awake a lot of nights. I was so tired that I was occasionally closing my eyes while walking on flat ground and I even managed a midday nap twice, a feat I have rarely accomplished in my life. I was exhausted with frustration and worry.

Anyhow, after our Grindelwald hike, I had a disastrous interview (I was super-tired) and a sample lesson severely interrupted by tech issues (on PCS’s end). I had promised the other school I was most interested in moving to an answer by Wednesday morning. Despite PCS knowing by Tuesday night (after my interview) that they wouldn’t let me move into Math, the principal waited until Wednesday morning to notify me. Regardless, when she did, I was flooded with relief, instantly emailed the Nature Academy (my new employer!), and responded to PCS that I was taking another job rather than returning to teach History. After what she put me through, I was pretty sure I didn’t want to work for her anyway. Though I’ll miss my colleagues and my six-minute bike commute, I’m still happy to be moving on.

Since that day, about a week ago, I’ve slept soundly every night.

All of this went down on Wednesday, the 18th, our first day in…

(Now…where were we? Oh, right, on a train to…)

…Lucerne.

Lucerne was way cooler than Geneva. Much more lively, with pretty streets and buildings, and just pleasant to wander. Our hotel receptionist recommended we see the sleeping lion, which was cool, but an odd representation of fallen military heroes.

But, it at least got us to the right area for heading down to the lake and into the “old town” which was quite cute…

Particularly interesting are the two wooden bridges (from the Renaissance era, but restored after a recent fire) spanning the Reuss River. They’re both lovely and contain some odd and frightening 17th century religious art (the ones that weren’t destroyed).

By the way, did I mention that Lucerne has great views of the mountains?

After spending a relieved Wednesday afternoon (I received the email from PCS right after arriving in our hotel, because afternoon here is morning in California) wandering Lucerne, the next day, my birthday, was awesome!

I started by waking up–on purpose–before 6:00am. Why? Because, in celebration of my friend Matt’s birthday (a few weeks ago), and coincidentally occuring on mine, I had an early morning date to play Agricola, one of my favorite games, while zooming with four of my favorite people. Who doesn’t want to play heavy strategy games at 6am, right? I lost to Matt and Ira, who are both ridiculously good at the game, but did manage to beat Gale and Ollie by scoring exactly 44 points on my 44th birthday. So, that’s cool. I guess I’ll aim for 45 next year.

From there, we enjoyed the breakfast at our hotel and then zipped to the other end of Lake Lucerne to take a hike before the predicted afternoon storms. Our timing was perfect. We had a gorgeous hike above the lake (from Sisikon to Brunnen), arriving at our destination just as the first drops of rain fell. The views were consitently beautiful, only occasionally disrupted by powerlines. It looked something like this:

Unlike our past several hikes, where we spent most of our time musing about what the heck was going on with PCS (and placing bets on whether I would get a reply to whatever my latest email was), on this hike we spent our time pondering the mysteries of harvesting grass off of steep hillsides…

We finished the day with one of the best Peruvian meals I’ve had. Definitely the best outside Peru at least. (Why no photos of ceviche or tacu tacu? I guess the pisco sour impaired my thinking…)

So, overall, a lovely end to a stressful (but also pretty fun) couple of weeks in Swizerland.

More adventures to come in a few weeks as we’re now off to visit friends in Germany before heading north to Scandinavia…

BONUS CONTENT!

Have you ever wondered what I do when Jess is off doing interviews? I mean, besides writing this blog? Well, here it is: my secret occupation…

Also, someone needs to tell France (and, apparently, Switzerland too) that “taco” doesn’t mean just anything in a wrap! My California-self is offended.