Swiss Family (Robinson)

Making big strides in the independent adult area of life- I flew by myself to a foreign country. Whatsup.

Thursday afternoon (4 pm) I went to get the bus to the airport (4:30) which was late because of the traffic from the holiday weekend (Labor Day in Italy), so I didn't actually leave until 4:45. Then the bus continued to get stuck in traffic (but this time while I was on it), and didn't arrive to the airport until 5:20ish. For reference- the shuttle to the airport from the train station should take about 20 minutes. But then I got through security very quickly and was seated at my gate with about 40 minutes left to wait before boarding. Whew!

I boarded my flight, flew about 1 and a half hours (bonus: roll and chocolate on board), and landed in Zurich around 8:30 pm! At the arrivals area, I met my cousins Christa and Sigi. My parents and I had stayed with Christa’s parents Heidi and Herbert about 20 years ago, and met both Christa and Sigi- but as I was only 10 months old, I do not remember this at all.

I walked with them to the parking area of the airport and then Sigi helped me put my bags in the trunk of their car. They live only a 20-30 minute drive away from the airport in Urdorf, depending on traffic of course and I was happy to have a designated ride instead of figuring out the train or bus system from the airport!

We got to know each other a little on the ride, and then some more once we arrived at their apartment over some mint tea and yogurt. Fairly soon, I headed to bed- both because I was tired from travel and to prepare for a big day of whatever (I had no idea what plans were) the next morning.

Friday I had a nice shower, and then joined Christa and Sigi for breakfast around 8. They had asked me the night before when I normally wake up and eat (I said 7:30) and they said that time or a little later would work for them. Nice to stay on a similar schedule. For breakfast we had a traditional type of Swiss bread- zopf, named for the braided top. There were also many slices of salami and prosciutto, as well as cheese, butter, and jam. We had coffee that they made from their machine- you just press a button and it brews everything for 1 cup for you! Sort of the same idea as a Kurig machine, but without the small disposable cups- it uses coffee beans and grinds just enough for one cup. 

We hadn’t made plans the night before because we were all uncertain about the weather. Unfortunately, it was raining- so they suggested (and I agreed) that we go to Basel, Switzerland and then briefly over the German border to visit the Vitra Museum Weil am Rhein. This museum had many of the chairs and styles I have learned about and it was very nice to wander through. Some of the settings reminded me of the HP furniture market! Everything was very organic and the main design focus (I think) was Scandinavian modernism- Alvar Alto, Charles & Ray Eames, Panton, etc. Christa said I should get a job with the museum as apparently they change the layout of the furniture and the designs every 2 weeks.

For lunch, we picked up about 6 pizzas from an “Italian” pizzeria (basically I never left Italy haha) and then drove back into Switzerland to Regula’s house (Christa’s sister). There we ate the pizza with Regula, and her 16 year old son Raphael. Regula does acupressure and feng shui, and her husband (Daniel) is an architect. They designed and built their house and Regula’s acupressure practice and Daniel’s office are located at opposite ends of the bottom floor of their house. Nice to work so close/ literally at home- as long as you are able to separate your work life and home life, I suppose. It was very interesting to get a tour of their house! I really liked the functional modern design and bright colors.

That afternoon, Christa, Sigi, and I took a train in to downtown Basel. We saw the main building: Basler Münster (Basel Minster in English-a church, of course- this is Europe) and then an area overlooking the Rhine River. 

On the car ride back (about 1 hour), I took a short, much needed nap. We went straight to Heidi and Herbert’s house in Rudolfstetten, as they had invited us for a “barbeque”. It was so nice to meet them both (again?). For dinner we had salad, pork (grilled outside by Sigi and Herbert), mashed potatoes, and mixed vegetables (carrots, celery, etc.). A little later, we also had traditional Swiss sausage: grillschnecke. And for dessert (even though I was already full) we had carrot cake, along with mint tea that Heidi made with mint from her garden.

Once we returned to Urdorf (only about a 10 minute drive), it was around 9 pm. I went through some of my pictures and even did some Italian homework before heading to bed. The next day’s forecast was much better so we planned to do some “trekking.”

Saturday morning, Christa asked me if I would like eggs for breakfast. I may have said yes before she finished talking- just really miss that American tradition, I guess. I made some scrambled eggs for all of us (cooking, wow) and then we also had some bread, cheese, and meat slices- and of course, coffee.

We quickly finalized some general plans for the day, and then took the train into the center of Zurich. We walked around the small cobblestone streets and went into various buildings; such as the Grossmünster Church, which had cut stones in the windows that looked like geodes, and the Fraumünster Church, which is famous for its Chagall stained glass windows. Neither of these churches allowed you to take pictures inside.

When the grey clouds started to clear some, we walked to the lake and took a path around one side of it through a very pretty park. The sun even came out, and at one point we just sat on a pier enjoying the nice weather and relaxing for about 15 minutes. Previously we had bought luxemburgerli- small swiss specialty desserts. They reminded me of small macaroons, and Christa described them as small sweet hamburgers with creme filling.

Because the weather was nice, we decided to go up the mountain for lunch and a hike. We took the tram to the nearest station, and then a cable car up to the top of Felsenegg; where we had lunch at Felsenegg Café. We got 3 different plates to share- the best way to order in my opinion. Our meal included: lightly breaded and fried fish with pommes frites (French fries), baked ham with potato salad and some other vegetables, and Swiss sausage with pommes frites.

After our (very) filling lunch, we started the trek to another mountain: Üetliberg. The hike was about 2 hours, and very nice- nothing too strenuous. I really enjoyed it, especially because the weather was so nice. Made me miss hiking in the NC mountains, and we discussed the possibility of Christa and Sigi coming to visit my house and family sometime. It would be so fun to show them around and take them to see the Blue Ridge parkway!

Once we reached Üetliberg, there was a tower to climb (free of charge) to get the best possible view of Zurich, the lake, and all surrounding countryside. We also got some pictures of all 3 of us together at the top of the tower. Then we went down the opposite side of the mountain about 10 minutes to the train station.

We took the train back to Zurich city center, where Christa bought some groceries for dinner that night- at a grocery store inside the train station!

That night, we made fondue! I helped stir everything together, and Christa gave me slight instructions from time to time. She also gave me the recipe so I’ll try and make it again once I’m home!  When eating fondue, it’s important to completely dip the bread in and stir it around on the bottom, otherwise the cheese will harden, burn and be ruined. When you do get to the bottom, you will have a small portion that is hard and cooked- they call it a “burned grandmother” for reasons unknown to Christa, or me. Haha

After dinner, we watched some “English” aka BBC tv. The third time I woke up from briefly falling asleep, I decided to just make it an early night and head to bed.

Sunday morning Christa and Sigi made fried eggs with mushrooms and onions, and then put it on bread. So yummy :) We also had rhubarb flavored yogurt- and coffee to help us wake up.

The rain from Friday had returned, but we tried not to let that ruin our day. We drove to the area around Lake Lucerne and up Seelisberg Mountain where we had a somewhat foggy but mostly clear view of the lake (and steamboats) below. We were also able to see Rütli - a meadow where many years ago an oath was made that helped form Switzerland into the confederacy of cantons (or states) that it is today.

We drove further and found a heavily flowing stream and many waterfalls along with many small huts that are used to make cheese. The rain slacked off a little, so we stopped here to eat lunch: sandwiches that we made that morning and packed with us (on more delicious zopf bread). To drink, we had Rivella- which is the most popular Swiss soft drink and is made from milk whey (the watery milk left over after cheese production- aka regular milk minus fats and solids) along with other fruit juices, water, carbonation and other natural flavors. I looked up the ingredients and percentages just for curiosity- and Rivella is made from 35% milk whey!

After we finished our lunch, we drove back down the mountain and over the town of Lucerne (or Luzern, if you spell it the Swiss way).  Here the rain had mostly stopped, and the sun came out! We walked around the city, happy to be rid of our umbrellas. First, we saw and walked over the old chapel bridge and learned about the spiked used to control the water level of the river/lake and hopefully prevent flooding of the town. Then we went to the Kunstmuseum (aka art museum), not to view the museum pieces, but to see the incredible architecture of the building and go to the top story where we had an excellent view of the city.

Instead of merely heading directly back to the car and driving back, we decided to enjoy the sunshine more and meandered in a zigzag formation back to the place we parked. We climbed up a tower at random and happened upon the Musegg wall. There are 9 towers along this wall, even though only 4 of them are open to the public. We went up one more, and then down a third- and exited on the other side of the town wall.

From L-R: Sigi, Christa, Amanda, Heidi, Herbert

We returned back to the apartment at 3:50- which gave us about an hour to rest before we drove to Heidi’s for another lovely dinner. I took some pictures of all of us with the self-timer function on my camera- which will be nice to compare to the ones that were taken when my parents visited 20 years ago!

For dinner, we had salad to start off, and then Heidi’s chicken curry- so incredibly good. Herbert has been trying to improve his English, so all through dinner Christa kept talking to him only in English. Apparently he’s excellent at reading a writing but has difficulty with conversation- which I completely understand as I’m the same way with Italian. 

For dessert, we had mandelgipfel (an almond pastry) that Christa picked up at her favorite bakery in Seelisberg. We also had black forest cake and some more fresh mint tea.

Since I was flying alone, I was able to book my return for Monday morning instead of Sunday (I have no classes on Monday until 6 pm) to save money and give me some extra time with my family there. It was very nice to be able to have a stress free day not worrying about getting to the airport on time in the afternoon or evening, and then just relax that night and go to bed early.

Monday morning, we had a small breakfast (mostly just for the coffee) around 5 am, and then Sigi and I left at 5:30 for the airport. I only had to wait about 10 minutes after security for my gate to be announced and then I was able to sit and catch up on some homework while waiting to board. Then, before long I was back in home sweet Florence.

Cheers to the last week before final exams!

Christa, Sigi, and I at Lake Lucerne