Trip 2: Mt. Pilatus, Switzerland

Trip date: August 28, 2011

Mt. Pilatus's namesake comes from the Pontius Pilate who was allegedly buried there. There is also a legend that a dragon once lived on the mountain. In present day however, Mt. Pilatus is a high volume tourist destination in Switzerland.

All in Attendance: Just Kristen!

I took the train to Olten from Baden and then to Lucerne. Right outside the train station, I saw the boat docks. I decided to take a boat (12.50 CHF with halbtax) from Lucerne to Alpnachstad, one of the towns at the base of Mt. Pilatus.

Being on the boat is still very exhilarating for me since I’ve probably been on one less than ten times. I was being a picture-taking fiend on this boat but the Swiss scenery is still very fresh and new for me. It was so beautiful. I would highly recommend taking the boat rather than another train to Alpnachstad.

One negative thing (or positive, depending how you look at it) about Swiss mountain peaks is that a lot of them provide motorized transportation options to the summit. Basically you can take a cogwheel train or gondola to the top of Mt. Pilatus. This is nice for travellers who don’t have a large window of time or for people who aren’t physically able to make the hike but honestly, everyone else shouldn’t be so lazy.

The camp Cadicasu counsellor in me believes that the first time you reach the top of the mountain should be because you hiked it. I couldn’t believe that from the full boat of people, only four set out to hike it, especially because most of them were wearing hiking boots.

I read that the hike was 5 hours long at a leisurely pace. Now everyone knows that I’m no mountain man but maybe the Rockies have toughened me out more than I realized. The hike took me just under 2 hours 45 minutes. It is inclined but in no way do you have to scramble, use your hands or fear slipping. It is very doable so I will be sorely disappointed if anyone I know visits Pilatus and takes the train up it.

The views from the hike are amazing and not all of them are visible from the top. There’s plenty of shade (until the last 30 minutes) and plenty of good places to rest with great views. It was beautiful and ineffable. Everyone physically able to should do the hike if they go to this mountain.

There were also a lot of Swiss mountain cows too. They all wore bells. I suspect that they are at different pitches depending on the ownership or perhaps all bells were unique. But because of the bells, you have a sort of ethereal wind chime symphony to hike to during the last hour to the summit. It's very unique to what I'm use to.

The top is riddled with tourists who wore hiking boots but took the cogwheel train to the summit. Women in full hiking gear but carrying Louis Vuitton purses. People with hiking poles but in flip-flops. Thank goodness we don’t have this nonsense in the Rockies.

There's also hotels and restaurants at the top which is a bit of a buzz kill when you're hiking. Don't do anything foolish, like think you should eat there unless you shit diamonds or have a stock of buried gold (A side of fries was 7 CHF). It's ridiculously expensive; even more so than usual Switzerland. You can also see some Swiss towns/cities from the top which also takes away from the mood. But honestly, the natural views you can see really do make up for all this and then some.

The view from the summit is very overwhelming. I was taken aback by my emotions from it. I can honestly say that this is the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. There is real awe when you realize something like that. For this reason, I know that this is definitely somewhere I will come back to again in my life (quite possibly this year).

I am so very glad I discovered how refreshing it is to go hiking by yourself. I highly recommend it. There's more focus into what you are seeing and feeling. It's so great to be with your thoughts in somewhere so sublime.

I can't wait to go hiking somewhere more remote!

Things I learned:

• Always ask Korean or Japanese tourists to take your picture when traveling alone to ensure a good photo.
• Europeans will always think I'm Japanese
• I can plan a trip by myself and not get completely lost

Things to do when I come back:

• Hike from Pilatus to the many other hiking trails that branch out of it
• Paraglide
• Bring someone to share its beauty

Update, Aug 31, 2011: I have since learned that I lost it so bad on the hike because I haven't been desensitized to Switzerland's natural beauty yet. I just saw Gordon's hiking photos and now I'm convinced that the best has yet to come.

Gifts from Baden Stadthaus

You must provide 8 or 9 documents to city hall to finally be registered in Switzerland. My residence card has still not yet arrived but not to worry - I have received lots of freebies to tide me over.

Like how Calgary offers you a white cowboy hat, Baden hits you up with some wonderful gifts as well.

The back brochures provide general city information about attractions, shops and local hiking. I also got information on the library fees, a pass to Baden's hot sulfur springs and card that provides me one free entry to the casino. Now that I have gone through all the boring items, we can now get to the fun piece of information I wanted to share with you.

The box on the bottom right are what I have now named my "nuclear pills". Maybe it's my own ignorance to these things by living in a city drunk off fossil fuels but those pills made me crack up right in from of the official.

What are they for?

Well, in the event that the nearby nuclear plant undergoes a meltdown or crisis, there will be a mass flurry of radio reports and news broadcasts urging civilians to take their nuclear pills. The pills block your thyroid and allow you some time before you absorb the radioactive waves. He also assured me that if I ran out, I can always pop back to city hall and grab some more.

Tourism, library, casino, sulfur springs and nuclear fallout precautions. Thanks Baden !!

Judging by the 3 other nuclear pill boxes I found in my room from past interns, I will likely not be needing any. However, if in the event that nuclear fallout does occur, you know just the Asian to contact for thyroid pills.

Grocery Shopping

Proof of how awful Calgary Transit can be is the fact that I find it less of a hassle to take the train to Waldshut, Germany to grocery shop than to take transit from my Calgary house to the nearest Safeway. International travel for groceries has been integrated into my monthly routine due to the beautiful train-side scenery and the motivation that comes from paying significantly less than Swiss prices.

How expensive are Swiss groceries, you ask?
Here's a basic frame of reference

• A small whole chicken is 25 CHF (30 CAD)
• Standard white mushrooms are 12 CHF per kg
• Two decent size pork chops sets you back 25 CHF
• Instant noodles are 2.40 CHF a pack unless you go to the Asian marketplace and buy the very cheap MAMA brand (then it's 0.70 CHF as oppose to 0.20 CAD back home)
  
• 1 kg of flour is 0.25 euro in Germany, 2.75 CHF in Switzerland

Buying things in bulk is also a no-go since the whole 'bigger and more' concept is a very North American value that has no place here. With that being said, I'm certain the food here has less chemicals, less cruelty and is all around more natural than what we eat in Canada. I'm basing this off the fact that fruits, vegetables and meats are of reasonable size here and not mind bogglingly enormous like back home.

Is anything cheaper here than in Calgary? Yes; beer, wine, brie cheese and spices.

Why is it so expensive? Everyone makes so much in Switzerland. Well, everyone except interns. We make at least 1000 CHF less a month than the cashiers at the grocery stores.

Some other fun novelties about Swiss/European foods:

• The most popular chip flavor based on what I see at the store and vending machines is paprika flavor (which tastes like Lays BBQ chips)
• McDonald's bigmac is 11.50 CHF
• Liquids will come in 1.5L bottles instead of 2L
• Along with ketchup and mustard, you can get 'cocktail sauce' as a condiment and it is crazy delicious *
• Eggs are not kept refrigerated in grocery stores
• Late night pizza slice? Be prepared to pay 9 CHF.
• Condiments are sold to you in large malleable metal toothpaste tubes
• You can also buy pregnancy test in the vending machines at train stations. A "Maybe Baby" test can be yours for a mere 15 CHF. You can also buy condoms in the vending machines too. One more point on that note - the entire machine is refrigerated for the sake of the other items in it (soda pop, chocolates) and I find the thought of refrigerated pregnancy tests and condoms very whimsical and funny.
  

I also heard that drinks at the bar are ridiculously expensive. Luckily I've been able to used my Canadian nationality as a trump for there is no shortage of European boys eager to buy drinks for a girl from 'Kanada'.

* Update, Aug 25, 2011: I just learnt that cocktail sauce is really just ketchup and mayonnaise premixed together. Obviously it doesn't take much to impress my pallet.

Trip 1: Cinque Terre, Italy

Trip Date: Friday August 19, 2011 – Sunday August 21, 2011

Cinque Terre consist of five small villages along the southwest coast of Italy. It has breathtaking cliffs and adorable buildings.

All in attendance: Gordon, Ryan, Vien, Carmen, Parth, Jason, Bikram, Kristen

We took full advantage of our gleis7 (Free Swiss transit use after 7 pm) and took the train from Baden to Zurich, Zurich to Chiasso and then Chiasso to Milano Centrale on Friday night. Swiss trains are very clean, very cushy and very on time (for the most part). Italian trains are a bit cramped, a bit dirty and a bit late all the time. They compensate for these less than satisfactory conditions by putting all their money into the train station.

The Milano Centrale train station is a serious work of art. If it wasn’t so blatantly touristy, I would’ve taken at least twenty photos. The beauty of it hypnotizes you and all your traveling discomforts are instantly forgotten

After a quick night in Milan (Hotel Demo, 24.50 euros a night), we continued on to Monterosso.

In Monterosso, the first thing you notice are the bright umbrellas on the rocky beaches, amazing hillsides and a large volume of tourists. We decided to hike/walk to the next village, Vernazza.

The thing about the trek between the five villages is that if you go in one direction, the whole way is uphill. The other direction, of course, would be all downhill. For quick reference if you are ever to visit, the direction of Monterosso to Riomaggorie is the uphill way. Mid-thirty degrees partnered with a cloudless and windless day and climbing up hundreds of cliff-side stairs results in one big sweaty group of Canadians.

It also makes the gelato in the next village taste a lot sweeter. (My favorite combination of flavours all weekend was kiwi and amaretto)

The group split up and I took the train to the last town with Gordon and Carmen instead of hiking it. Gordon and Carmen actually had legit reasons for not hiking (such as injuries) but I was just lazy and wanted to go swimming. The five villages are very close together by train and it costs just 1.80 euros to go to travel from first town to last town. We received keys to the hostel (Cinque Terre Holidays, 30 euros a night), which was right near the ocean, and then swam and sun bathed all afternoon.

I honestly need to get out more because swimming in salty water under the hot sun still has such a special appeal to me. It's the near-freezing-lips-turning-blue mountain rivers and lakes that I usually associate with swimming in natural water sources.

For dinner I got fancy seafood risotto. Maybe it’s a combination of living in a landlocked Canadian city and that everything in Switzerland costs 3 times as much as it should but everything on the menu felt very reasonably price (10 – 15 euros) - especially considering this was 'tourist pricing'. The fresh fruit sangria I drank also put my orange juice and red wine rendition to large shame. I promise to no longer do this and make proper sangrias or none at all.

The rest of the trip can be summarized in the following three words: sun, gelato and swimming.

We also watched the sunset and star gazed for hours on the beachline because Canadians are the romantic type.

Then it was 12 hours on a train and back to boring work for Monday morning booooo. Thanks to Gordon's cautious planning and several warnings that we'll miss connections due to train delays, we didn't get stuck anywhere for too long and arrived home on Sunday night.

Overall Cinque Terre is very pretty to see. A 'once in a lifetime' definitely. Probably best to go in the spring where it's not too hot or busy. I would've like to have another full day in Cinque Terre to go snorkeling but you wouldn't really need more than 2 days here. I'm glad my first trip was somewhere very touristy because now I'm eager for something different.

Italian Words I learned: Si No Scusi Grazie Per favoure Uno Gelateria	Things I learned: A ‘latte’ is hot milk I can swim without drowning You pay cover for restaurants in Italy You don't tip in Italy

Things I wish I did:

Rent a kayak (5 euros) or row boat (8 euros)

Go snorkeling (10 euro to rent equipment all day)

See the other two towns (Corniglia and Manarola)

Buy/Try the Cinque Terre wine

Eat fresh figs

Buy a jar of fancy pesto

Hello World

I've moved to Baden, Switzerland and I've expanded my world from western Canada to the entire continent of Europe!

Highlights thus far have included
- Seeing Netsky in Zurich
- Zurich Street Parade
- So many bottles of 2 euro wine
- Being a deranged picture-taking tourist-

- Huge German learning initiative
- Living in a city with good transit
- Learning that being Canadian is the ultimate pick up line

Ignorant North-American herpderps on my behalf include

• Commenting on the high price of Jack Daniel's and then quickly being told "Of course, it's imported"
• Learning everyone knows you're not European when you start chasing liquor
  
• Throwing in French words to complete my broken German sentences
• Learning that in Europe, the definition of a 'joint' and a 'spliff' are the opposite to their definitions in Canada
• Thinking that using the 24 hour clock was a quaint custom
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12-hour_clock#Use_by_country
  Turns out that Canada is just once again behind the times.
• Learning to not use the term 'mickey' because it sounds ridiculous when you have to explain what that is.

"Well what do you call it?"
"We call it a 'small bottle'."

I assume a 'Texas mickey' would be similarly received.

I've met a friend who speaks beautiful UK English. It has made me realized that we speak an unintelligible and less cute version of the language. Here are the fancy alternative words I've learned so far that you can integrate into your vocabulary:

• Roommates are called flatmates
  
• University Res is called "Halls"
  as in "I live in halls."
  
• Dinner is called tea
  as in "What are you having for tea?"
  
• Dessert is called pudding
  as in "I'm having cake for pudding."