sey085

What with the end of the decent weather fast approaching, I have been doing my best to get outside and enjoy the natural beauty of Switzerland (at least when I'm not doing laundry). As the forecast for Sunday didn't look too bad, Jens (my officemate) and I decided to embark on an impromptu hike. Armed with only my (up-to-this-point) trustworthy "Walking in Switzerland" guidebook, we met at the train station Sunday morning and chose a hiking destination on the spot. As neither of us were feeling like a huge adventure, we decided on a hike in the nearby Jura mountains. A quick glance through the guide found us a 5-6 hour hike that featured both a gorge and a long crest with "splendid vistas of the main Alpine massifs." At this point, it was only 9:45 and according to the book, the last bus from the end-town left at 7 PM, so we figured that we were in good shape. Just to start things off on the wrong foot, we made sure to get on the wrong train. Now, it s...

I think it's time to coin a new phrase and seeing as how this blog reaches literally handfuls of people each week, I can't think of a better place to do it. I propose the phrase "Swiss victory" with the following definition: Swiss victory, n., something achieved only in the barest possible terms; an undeniably positive result which still leaves much to be desired. Recent examples of Swiss victories: my apartment search, buying a bike, being overcharged by the cable company, and now ... Laundry! Ah, laundry. The white whale to my Captain Ahab; the Captain Kirk to my Khan. My quest to achieve a minimally acceptable laundry situation started the first day I moved into this apartment, and honestly, I would have bet on it outlasting me and leaving me a bitter, destroyed man. Instead, due to a small bit of luck and a bold move on my part, I can now declare victory -- or at least Swiss victory. Last week, I was doing my laundry in the usual way: I waited until 10 o'c...

As the weather has been ideal, I have been doing my best to do as much hiking as possible lately. Switzerland, as I have mentioned many times before, is really a hiker's paradise: not only are there mountains, hills, lakes, and natural wonders aplenty, but they are easily accessible to anyone with a Swiss Railway half-fare card. Aside: the half-fare card (aka the halbtax or demi-tarif) costs a scant 150 CHF a year and gives you a 50% discount on virtually all forms of transportation in the country -- trains, boats, buses, trams, funiculars, etc. A quick calculation reveals that it only takes about a half-dozen trips between Geneva and Lausanne a year before one earns back their money, thus the card is generally cost-effective for nearly everyone who lives in the country. Now, you ask, what if you don't live in the country? What do you do? Well, if you've come and visited me, you know that the answer to this is: you pay -- a lot! A half-fare card for a single month c...