|
Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2014 0:01:28 GMT
I am extremely happy to have a number of Swiss friends from the German speaking areas of Switzerland, because it would be extremely unlikely otherwise for me to ever discover some of the sites there since I am more naturally drawn to the French speaking areas -- who knows why? In spite of countless supplications, I confess that I had not been back for at least 7 or 8 years, but on the other hand I had built up quite a few brownie points by having hosted my friends in Paris a number of times during that period. The friend who was housing me has a very busy schedule, but I have the magnificent advantage now of being able to tell people "just tell me which date is convenient" which makes everything so much simpler. Trains from Paris to Switzerland are operated by the joint venture of the French and Swiss railways, TGV Lyria. Due to a new TGV line, all of these trains now leave from Gare de Lyon, which is a bit of an inconvenience for me. In the old days, only the trains to Geneva and Lausanne left from there while the trains to Basel and Zürich left from wonderful Gare de l'Est which is in walking distance from where I live. Oh well, no reason to shed tears over it, since travel time has been cut by almost two hours, so I suppose that I can put up with spending an extra 10 minutes in the Paris transportation system to get to Gare de Lyon. The trip went without incident with very fast stops in Belfort, Mulhouse and Basel. A five-minute delay was announced after leaving Mulhouse due to a "police intervention" concerning some passengers, but we arrived on time in Zürich. In spite of the Schengen agreements, there are often "interventions" between Mulhouse and Basel for whatever reason, as I would discover on the return trip. In any case, my friends were waiting for me at the station and the evening was calm. I already felt like a poor relation when we went to an Italian restaurant for dinner because the Swiss prices are rather eye-popping when you come from France, but I am pretty much used to that. I had some really excellent asparagus ravioli in a saffron sauce. Just about all of the restaurants in Zürich seem to be Italian restaurants although they are rarely operated by Italians. This place was run by Montenegrans. The next morning the plan was to take the train to... I had no idea where. But it turned out that we were going to Einsiedeln, which is one of the major pilgrmage sites in Switzerland along the Santiago trail. The weather was not all that great, but I am a sucker for Swiss scenery, no matter how the weather is. Although the train followed the banks of the Zürichsee most of the way, Einsiedeln is actually near a different lake, the Sihlsee.My tourist eyes fixated on the traditional shop signs, to the great amusement of my friends. These are considered to be totally normal and boring to the locals, but I took some photos anyway.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2014 1:01:02 GMT
I'm really enjoying this thread, Kerouac. I guess the shop signs are a Germanic influence, because I remember them a lot from my childhood. Of course, in the Middle Ages, when most were illiterate, it was the only way to find what you needed. I'm looking forward to more.
|
|
|
Post by mich64 on Feb 12, 2014 3:53:00 GMT
Wonderful! I will enjoy every word and every photo Kerouac.
In Brugge also there are many of those shop signs. Some are quite intricate. I too found I became a little fixated on them and have a few photos myself.
Besides spending one night in Basel, we have only spent time in the German (Lauterbrunnen) and Italian(Lugano) speaking areas of Switzerland. This year our hope was the French speaking area with a plan to visit Lausanne but in the end flights did not work out with our vacation schedule so it will be Germany and Austria instead. Austria provides similar scenery but with reduced hotel and restaurant costs.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2014 13:59:28 GMT
The Einsiedeln Abbey is the main sight of the city. Photography is forbidden inside. It was just renovated in a style that I would call "Baroque Psychedelic." I found a few photos on the internet that do not at all do justice to the new flashy colours.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2014 14:15:10 GMT
Anyway, just so you'll know in case somebody asks, the original abbey was established by Saint Meinrad in 835. He was a Benedictine monk and happened to have a statue of the Virgin Mary with miraculous powers, so he built a place to keep it. He was killed a few years later by robbers Richard and Peter (I love how the town is on a first name basis with them) who came to steal treasures brought by pilgrims. However, two ravens saw the whole thing and they squawked above the robbers to draw attention to them. In honour of this heroic feathery deed, the coat of arms of the city has the two ravens on it.
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Feb 12, 2014 17:56:17 GMT
Fab start and I cant wait for more photos!!
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Feb 12, 2014 18:11:17 GMT
Really interesting & quite pretty. I would have been rubbernecking & snapping away at all those signs & building facades as well. I see what you mean about the abbey being the teensiest big overwrought -- whew! Maybe all the lovely pastels we associate with certain eras were originally screaming loud colors. Taste, or because they knew the colors would fade? I love how the ravens on the crest seem to be announcing & pointing. On the far left window of the fabulously art nouveau Rathaus, something resembles a couple of little faces. Security cameras? Looking forward to more of this report!
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Feb 12, 2014 19:10:47 GMT
I just looked at the ravens. They used Heckle and Jeckle as models.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2014 19:33:26 GMT
That's a very intriguing detail Bixa, but not being Swiss, I can't reply. However, during my stay, there was a moment when I mentioned security cameras in front of a group of people (at a party), and they all grimaced in distaste. However, this was not necessarily a representative cross section of average Swiss people. Anyway, after visiting the abbey, we went to the Goldapfel boutique, which is an institution. The last time my friends had been in town, it was closed, and they insisted that we absolutely had to go there. It is a shop specialised in gingerbread but which also sells plenty of other items. We started looking at all of the stuff -- gingerbread, chocolate, liqueurs, teas... The prices did not necessarily entice me, and I am not a huge fan of gingerbread or dark chocolate, which was the kind they sold. This was a bit surprising because the Swiss eat mostly milk chocolate, like the Belgians, and it is the French who are the #1 consumers of dark chocolate in the world. Nevertheless, dark chocolate is becoming more and more fashionable in Switzerland, and that is what was on display. (Actually, after leaving the shop, we saw that there was another Goldapfel shop around the corner with a huge selection of milk chocolate.) Even though my friends had already selected things to buy, the elderly lady running the store said that perhaps we would want to visit the gingerbread museum located up those steps right over there. So that is what we did. It was definitely a delightful visit to a different century. I loved the portraits of the "Goldapfel" family. The owner almost certainly did his accounts here. I joked to my friends that this must be the "lost and found" cabinet. In fact, it just contained all sorts of old things that had belonged to the family. The moulds for shaping the gingerbread were absolutely fantastic. Fish shapes were almost certainly for Easter items. Anywhere, here are the sort of items on sale in the shop. There were liqueurs to sample, and I was absolutely fascinated by the saffron liqueur. While it tasted a bit too surprising and strange for me to actually "like" it, after a few minutes of reflection, I decided that I needed to buy a half bottle as a curiosity that I can have other friends taste in the future. Meanwhile, my friends grabbed two full sized bottles of cherry liqueur to take home. They also grabbed my bottle out of my hand to pay for it as a gift. I really feel like a poor relation whenever I visit people in Switzerland, because 90% of the time they all act -- even if I have just met them -- like those people who say "your money is no good here." The prices are indeed rather outrageous, but there are a few things that I could actually afford myself if I were allowed. Every time I go home, I feel as though I have completely sponged off everyone. At least I always bring a lot of French specialities with me that I know are on the list of coveted items.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2014 20:20:28 GMT
Kerouac, does the saffron liqueur stain your tongue orange, like saffron does? Probably not, I guess.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2014 20:24:25 GMT
They would probably have to invent turmeric liqueur to do that.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 12, 2014 21:48:48 GMT
Oh, believe me, saffron stains more subtly, but just as well.
|
|
|
Post by mich64 on Feb 12, 2014 23:57:59 GMT
The bread and gingerbread moulds are stellar, I will have to see if I can purchase something similar for my baker sister.
The interior of the church is beyond opulent to what we are used to here, but I love it. Where I live, all of the Catholic Churches have no adornments, purposely. I was told that it was difficult to ask people to donate money every Sunday when the Church looks like it has lots of money so they keep them quite barren. I prefer the pretty ones!
The herringbone wood floors are incredible. I wish my home would have suited them.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2014 15:04:42 GMT
We seemed to be required to go to a candle store next. I have never seen people use so many candles as they do in German Switzerland. You'd think they don't have electricity. Out on the street there were some clanging noises coming from a group of children. Carnival season is beginning, but before the real fun begins, demons have to be driven out of town by loud bells. In a local café, the carnival seemed to be in full swing already! I must add with extreme regret that the canton of Schwyz still allows smoking in restaurants and cafés. Finding the restroom in the back area felt like a real scavenger hunt. At least you can't smoke in the restroom itself! Back outside was a real "breath of fresh air." Wow, you really forget how miserable it can be to be in a room with 15 chain smokers. I asked what all of the poles were, and they are real estate markers for all of the buildings about to be built there. Then it was time to take the train to our next destination of the day...
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Feb 13, 2014 15:48:05 GMT
Good one, Bjd! It doesn't pay to take ones eyes away from this report, as the treats just keep coming. I'm a lifelong fan of gingerbread, so was actually sniffing at the monitor, trying to get a whiff. It must have smelled wonderful in that museum. I'd give my eyeteeth for the pike mold. Candles, huh? Kudos for making yourself take a picture, particularly as there were so many cl*wn candles. I'm not a big fan, but maybe people there like them because candle light makes everything seem warmer. Love the pic of the kids bowed beneath their bells. Wonder how many centuries that tradition goes back. World class photograph, the first one of the café interior! More strange little faces in the picture of the wooden bench -- show window decorations for carnival? Huge craggy tor, there -- the next destination? Totally love the sleek beauty of the train photo, with the excellently designed & no doubt efficient Swiss clock top & center.
|
|
|
Post by mich64 on Feb 13, 2014 15:49:29 GMT
I could not figure out why the kids had those belts on until I seen the next picture with the bells attached. I thought it was some new fashion trend that we were not aware of yet.
Seeing the ashtrays on the table inside is very surprising. That was banned here years ago and even most smokers do not smoke in their homes anymore either. Even in winter they will put on their coats and go outside.
The Hotel I have booked in Austria advertised on their web page that they sell all popular brands of cigarettes. I found this strange as the hotel is sort of a spa.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2014 18:23:36 GMT
I was surprised to still see cigarette machines in the restroom of Swiss restaurants.
To get those huge bells to clank, the kids pretty much had to make a skip in the air with every step. They must have been exhausted after going all through the town. I saw at least two groups of them at work. There must be a lot of demons.
Yes, Bixa, most of the shop windows had little carnival decorations like those masks. The bars with a sign reading "decorations" (meaning they are gussied up for the carnival season) are apparently authorised to charge 1 franc more for their drinks, according to my friends. And speaking of bars, in that café we had a "Kaffee schnaps." Sounds like an ordinary coffee with brandy in it, right? Oh how wrong one can be! It is a big glass of hot slightly yellow diluted schnaps. Apparently a tiny bit of coffee -- the size of a Swiss 20 centime coin, which is not very big -- is put in the bottom of the glass, and boiling water is poured on top until the coffee disappears. The rest of the glass is filled with schnaps. I was lucky to be able to walk out. While I never had it again, one of my friends did in a different place, and even though the drink was a tiny bit darker than the first time, it is very obvious that the Kaffee part is symbolic.
|
|
|
Post by fumobici on Feb 14, 2014 0:03:51 GMT
This is nice. I knew there would be cool stuff around the Zurichzee, beyond the reach of the city vaporetti one can ride for a bus ticket. I like the agridolce tension in this part of CH between the icy stolid traditional alpine conservatism and the sometimes dissolute cosmopolitanism of the city. It's similar to other rural/urban social dynamics but it's Swiss, which takes the edge off nicely.
The Abbey, all bleak snowblown gray upon approach yet a warm swirl of fancy within, is perhaps fitting.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2014 2:06:24 GMT
Interesting photos, Kerouac. But for once, I don't feel inclined to say I'd like to see the city in the photos. Maybe it all just seems to cold and too familiar somehow?
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2014 8:01:02 GMT
Einsiedeln is the end of one of the commuter lines to go to Zürich, so there are plenty of trains going back in that direction -- at least one every half hour, even on the weekends. And there are a lot of commuters out here, because Zürich is considered to be much too expensive, both in real estate prices and also tax rates. One thing that was pointed out to me from the train was how you could see the limits of the canton just by seeing where there were huge housing developments compared to small villages that haven't changed.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2014 8:12:10 GMT
|
|
|
Post by tod2 on Feb 14, 2014 12:25:46 GMT
I am so glad your friends insisted you pay a visit to the Goldapfel! I am a bit curious why the name is half English/half German....or Swiss....I thought it would spelled "Goudapfel" or maybe that is too Dutch!?
'I loved the portraits of the "Goldapfel" family' you said. I think the old woman on the extreme right, top row, looks like Whistler's Mother with that black bonnet. Those molds are stunning-
It looks mighty cold with all that snow around and I am guessing the lake will rise considerably when it all starts melting. Loving all the photos!
|
|
|
Post by bixaorellana on Feb 14, 2014 17:17:06 GMT
Glad you got the recipe for the Kaffee schnaps, in case you ever want to slip someone a mickey! Whew. Guess that's why they fit their kids out with heavy bells -- to toughen 'em up for an arduous adult life of smoking & drinking.
Fun & illuminating comment there at #17, Fumobici.
Great pictures, Kerouac! Absolutely adore the one of the pedestrian walkway. Lovely mountain & water picture, and the pictures of the looming mountains which seem to start abruptly beyond the marsh grasses are great.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 14, 2014 23:27:40 GMT
|
|
|
Post by bjd on Feb 15, 2014 8:27:38 GMT
If smoking is allowed inside, why would they put tables outside cafés in that kind of weather? I just looked up the Polish Museum: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Museum,_Rapperswil
|
|
|
Post by lugg on Feb 15, 2014 9:48:32 GMT
How I would love to do that walk , the scenery is stunning. Photos too.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2014 11:22:48 GMT
If smoking is allowed inside, why would they put tables outside cafés in that kind of weather? Rapperswil is in the canton of Zürich, where smoking is not allowed. The other town was in the canton of Schwyz.
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2014 11:49:55 GMT
|
|
|
Post by htmb on Feb 15, 2014 14:36:11 GMT
This is a most interesting report. The area must be even more beautiful during the warmer times of the year.
I'm surprised there isn't more snow and that there doesn't appear to be ice on the lake.
|
|
|
Post by mich64 on Feb 15, 2014 15:42:59 GMT
An awfully odd sculpture placement.
A few years ago we were invited to a restaurant far out into the bush, down a long dirt road to where a Campground has been for probably over 50 years. We went because we heard schnitzel was now on the menu, very unusual. We had to investigate. We found a lovely couple from Rapperswil that had immigrated and bought this business. They love to talk about the area and have shown us photos and books. At the end of every meal we order a cherry schnapps and toast the owners. Looking forward to our pilgrimage again this summer!
campconewango.com
|
|