A couple of months ago, when we first arrived in Switzerland, our first trip blogged adventure was to Mt. Üetliberg. It was mid-March, and the weather was very cold and foggy, so we didn't have the best views of the Alps. We vowed to return when the weather was better. Well, summer is now in full swing and the weather has cleared up beautifully, making it a great time to retrace our steps. Hiking is a good Sunday activity. As we've said in our previous posts, most shops are closed on Sundays and holidays. However, the mountains are open 24/7 and are the perfect place to spend time on a nice day.
The Üetliberg bahn is located in a special section of the Zurich train station, tucked away on Gleis 2, far from the more commonly used S-Bahns and Inter-Regio trains .
Last time, we took the Üetliberg Bahn to the top of the mountain, then worked our way across the mountain range to Felsenegg, where we took a cable car down to Adliswil to end our journey. This time, we decided to hike from the base of the mountain to the top.
Instead of going to the final stop on the Bahn, we got off early at Triemli.
We decided to do the route called Gratwegli/Hohensteinweg. The description says the trek is sehr steil, einige Treppen (steep, some stairs).
On the way up, we were treated to stunning views of Zurich.
About half-way up the trail, we can begin to see above the treetops.
Admiring the view!
Along the way, we saw many great places to barbecue.
These grills were FILLED with meat and sausages. Smokey goodness.
A park right near the BBQ pits for kids to play!
Public water fountains everywhere to hydrate tired hikers.
When we reached the top, we treated ourselves to a light lunch at Hotel Restaurant UTO KULM at the top of Üetliberg mountain.
You can sit outside and enjoy the view from the top of Üetliberg.
If you don't have time to stop, a nearby stand offers quick bites to go.
Of course, we decided to relax at the restaurant! Treating herself to a milchkaffee (a coffee with a high proportion of milk).
Same here!
Swiss Ms. ordered an air-dried beef sandwich (from the canton of Grison) last time. This time, she got Rohschinken (raw ham) sandwich. I forgot to mention last time that all sandwiches come buttered.
I ordered the Zunftbratwurst last time, and decided to try the Paniertes Schweinsshitzel (vom Hals), which translates to a breaded pork cutlet (from the neck) with Zuri Frites (Zurich french fries).
While the views on the way up were nice, once at the peak, we could climb up the look-out tower to get even more breathtaking views.
Not just views of Zurich, but the entire Lake and the surrounding towns!
Lush, rolling green hills. Clear blue sky.
You can see the Swiss Alps in the distance!
Another Toni Jogurt Update! A new seasonal flavor was released for summer!
Apple Toni! I thought it was quite good.
I don't know if you remember our Toni rankings, but for me, I would put it after Strawberry (#2). Swiss Ms. would put it after Rasberry (#5 for her). Again, I disagree with her. Today is Swiss National Day, and since 1891, August first has been celebrated as the foundation of the Swiss Confederacy in 1291...like July 4th in the States. Happy Swiss National Day! -Herr Cervelat
Switzerland is an amazing country, but it still doesn't quite feel like home. A recent trip back to the States reminded me what I missed most about being in America. 1) Family and Friends. Working from home certainly has its advantages (case in point: traveling to the States without taking time off), but it also means it's hard to get out and meet people. Meeting people here takes effort. From what I've heard, (and according to my book on culture in Switzerland) the Swiss are slow to warm up and make friends, especially with foreigners. They are reserved and don't go out of their way to introduce themselves when they meet someone new. It takes them a long time to build meaningful relationships. In fact, they tend to keep to themselves so much that it's said that "Even the Swiss don't like being friends with the Swiss"! During my visits, I had the opportunity to see friends from all over.
Friends from near and far...sometimes very far!
Three beautiful weddings this summer! So glad I could be there!
LOVE!
2) Incidental Conversations (Not sure what to call this...) Those pleasantries with the grocery clerk, comments about the weather with the bank teller, the simple "How are you today?" from the security guard...those don't happen in Switzerland. Prior to moving to here, it never would have occurred to me that I would miss those things. The Swiss are friendly, but not in the warm, open way that Americans are. Swiss tend to err on the side of business-like efficiency. In America, it was my habit to greet most people, from the coffee shop barrista, to the front desk attendant at the gym, with a "Hi. How are you?" When I tried the same line for the first time at the train station ticket office, I could tell that my greeting took the clerk by surprise and answering made her uncomfortable. I quickly learned to remove such greetings from my social script. These seconds-long side conversations were always part of my life in the States, albeit a part that I never paid much attention to. As soon as they were absent, I realized how, in a small way, they brightened my day.
Good ol' visitor's center of Dixon, IL. I cleaned up on brochures and soaked up small town America.
3) Sweet Potatoes, Peanut Butter, Greens and Sweet Corn Despite spending a year in North Carolina, I'm far from a Southern girl, but this list sure makes it look like it. These very American foods are not popular in Switzerland. Sweet potatoes are the only food in the produce section of our Migros sourced from the US and it shows in the price: over 6 CHF per kg. Compare this with any variety of white potato for around 3 CHF or less.
Imposter!
Ah, peanut butter how you have sustained me through the years as my lunchtime companion. Alas, no more. The peanut butter here is sadly lacking in flavor and concocted with tropical oils and sugar. In short, it is not the peanut butter I know and love in the States. 48oz of Trader Joe's PB made the transatlantic flight back to Switzerland with me a few weeks ago. It will be carefully rationed over the coming months.
Salads: yes. Sweet corn: no. (Reminds me of a Nasco food model!)
While salad greens are very popular in Switzerland, cooking greens such as collards, kale and (ironically) swiss chard are not. I have yet to see cooking greens sold in our grocery store or farmers' markets. Unlike cooking greens, sweet corn is available, just ridiculously expensive. The price at Migros this afternoon: 5.35 CHF for 4 ears. In short, don't take your CSA box's overabundance of mustard greens and wormy organic corn for granted! Enjoy, friends! -Swiss Ms
Before I begin this post, I want to congratulate Crunluath, for successfully identifying the piece the accordion player was performing in our previous post [It was Vivaldi's Four Seasons (Winter)]. As a reward, Crunluath received a delicious bag of Basler Läckerli. En guete! (Enjoy!) I would also like to apologize for the infrequency of our posts. It has been over a month since I last posted. The Swiss Ms. and I have been extremely busy, travelling all over the States (for work and for fun) and we have a huge backlog of posts to upload. So, stay tuned, loyal readers. Much to come! One of things we are very grateful for is that almost everyone here speaks at least some English. A simple "Sprechen Sie Englisch?" and we typically receive the shy response, "A little bit." The conversation that follows is nearly flawless English. I'd be pretty happy if I also spoke a "little bit" of German. Incidentally, we have also found that people are a little bit friendlier to us if we begin with "Grüezi" (a common Swiss-German formal greeting, which is short form of "Gott grüsse Euch", which is "God greets you"). We've found that attempting a little Deutsch (as bad as it is) goes a long way. We are in Switzerland, after all, and we should respect that English is not one of the four officially recognized languages (the four are German, French, Italian and Rumantsch). Despite the prevalence of English, we still get slightly anxious about approaching people here and it has taken us some time to build enough courage to interact with the Swiss. We decided to face our fears on a trip to Oerlikon, a district in the northern part of Zurich, and home to one of the city's biggest farmers markets.
Oerlikon is a very large station, with several major trains, buses and tram lines stopping there.
Oerlikon Farmers' Market: The thing to do on a Saturday morning.
Who wouldn't want to be here? Look at that delectable spread!
Our apartment-mate had requested we buy him some apple cider at the farmers' market. Therefore, we first set out to accomplish the task at hand.
The sign translated to, "Wehntaler's Sweet Cider, freshly pressed." If you bring your own 1.5L bottle, it's 2 francs, and if you need to buy a bottle, it's only 2.50 francs. What a deal!
Since we got one for Kevin and one for ourselves, we both got a chance to dispense our own fresh cider!
Emboldened by our apple cider purchase and the beautiful sunny weather, we decided to buy food for an impromptu picnic in the city.
The Swiss Ms. bravely buying some fresh bread and knuss gipfel (a Swiss hazelnut croissant)
Adding some apples and getrocknete tomaten (dried tomatoes). Didn't know these would be salted and dried.
What meal would be complete without cheese? We bought the Splüga (a cheese from the Splüga region, which is in Southeast of Switzerland) and Formaggio Valle Verzasca (a cheese from Valle Verzasca, a valley in the Canton of Ticino, Switzerland). The Splüga was a soft, mild cheese, while the Valle Verzasca was a hard, more pungent cheese.
With our bounty in hand, we took the tram easily down to Bellevue Platz, a large central square in the heart of Zurich. We headed over by Lake Zurich to chow down on our spoils.
Look at that feast!
To top it off, we visited Café Bar Odeon for some coffee and drinks.
Nothing like a cup of milchkafee (milk coffee) after a picnic!
I decided to go for a mint julep!
The warm, sunny weather beckoned us to explore, so we strolled around the city, going up and down Niederdorf (known as Zurich Lower Village), Bahnhofstrasse (Zurich's main downtown street), and Lindendorf.
A stunning view of the city from Lindenhof, a park in the old town of Zurich on Lindendorf hill, overlooking the Limmat River. The hill gets its name from the tilias (lime tree or Linden tree).
One of the many drinking fountains placed all over Zurich.
A view of the Grossmünster (a Romanesque-style Protestant church). You can climb up the tower and get really great pictures (in a future post!). Note the Swiss Alps in the background.
Next up in our adventures, we went to Basel, which is located in northwest Switzerland on the Rhine River (and also where the Swiss, German and French borders all meet!). Basel is part of the canton of Basel-Stadt (City of Basel), which is actually a half-canton. The other half is Basel-Landschaft (Land of Basel). The separation occurred due to concern over the rights of people in the agricultural areas. These concerns led to the separation of Basel-Landschalt from the city of Basel on August 26th, 1833.
To get to Basel from Thalwil, we took our dependable Inter-Regio to Zurich HB, and then transferred to another completely new type of European train: the Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV)!
The TGV can go faster than 200 mph (320 km/h) when on the correct tracks!
This train goes all the way to Paris! Definitely another place we have on our checklist.
While the train may look empty, many of these seats were reserved from Basel to Paris, which is certainly a popular destination.
A very modern cafe inside the TGV.
We arrived in a speedy 53 minutes, covering about a mile an hour to reach Basel. Three more hours and we could've been in Paris! (The train can run at faster speeds once it crosses into France.)
Very open and grand station.
Certainly felt like one of the larger stations we've visited.
We made our way to the Basel Münster, a cathedral situated right next to the Rhine with Romanesque and Gothic lines. The building is made of red sandstone with colored roof tiles, and listed as a Swiss heritage site of national significance.
The Münster towers over every other structure.
Very grand interior with an organ at the end.
As noted in earlier posts, I am always stunned and awed by the stained glass windows.
Feeling hungry, we took to Altstadt, the medieval Old Town in the heart of Basel. At Marktplatz (marketplace), a bustling farmer's market was filled with delicious and fresh local foods, which we took full advantage of!
Tens of farmers and other producers filling the entire market square with their goods!
We could not resist the delicious looking and smelling bread!
Homemade bread filled with cheese and roasted peppers.
Green and black olive bread, filled with cheese and zucchini!
As we ate our bread, we made our way to the Rathaus (City Hall), the seat of government for the Basel-City canton. It definitely stood out with its brilliant red facade, built with Gothic and Renaissance elements. Here, we also saw an amazing street musician perform on his accordion!
Stunning Rathaus stands out at Marktplatz.
Interior is ornately decorated and just as vibrantly colored.
Can you name the piece he is playing? One correct comment will be randomly chosen to receive a prize!
We continued to explore Altstadt, visiting the Spalentor city gate, (about 400 meters west of Marktplatz) one of the three gates to survive the wall's demolition. Unfortunately, it was under renovation when we visited, so we'll have to come again when it's finished. It was also very pleasant to stroll down the many narrow lanes to gaze on the centuries-old houses in Basel.
A gentle stroll on the historic streets between Marktplatz and Spalentor.
I think our bagpiping readers would appreciate this. Happy Father's Day!
Since I like eating and am constantly hungry, we decided to linger at one of the many cafes in Basel for lunch.
Very happy (Ms: or creepy!) with her Latte Macchiato (typically a three layer drink, with milk on the bottom, a shot of espresso in the middle and milk foam on top).
Me with my Cafe Lungo (Italian for long). Similar to an espresso, but twice as much water is used to make the drink, resulting in a stretched espresso, or lungo.
Spicy salami panini oozing with mozzarella cheese, grilled to a golden brown.
Fortified with (more) food, we made our way to the Kunstmuseum (art museum) in Basel to see the Picasso exhibit! We could not take any pictures in the exhibit, but it was definitely worth the trip and made me appreciate the diverse talents of this artist. We also got admission to the rest of the museum, so we were able to look at other wonderful works of art by Monet, Cézanne, van Gogh, Renoir, and many many more.
Very much worth the visit!
After a very busy day, we decided to go back home, but not after getting some of the famous Basler Läckerli, a traditional hard spice biscuit (recipe over 700 years old!) created by local spice merchants and made with honey, hazelnuts, candied citrus peel and Kirsch (a fruity brandy, made from distilling cherries).
Packages of this stuff go quickly!
They even have different flavors. Extra candied lemon peels are used in this one.
Basler Läckerli!
More adventures coming up (and quicker updates too!)
-Herr Cervelat
