Freitag Shopping – a unique experience - http://www.freitag.ch/ their Zurich store is in Zuri West, a mix of light industry, office buildings and up-and-coming Zurich hot spot close to the train tracks.
The store is created from 5 freight containers piled on top of one another. Shoppers can climb to the top for a view of the city. The Freitag brothers popularized the messenger bags in the 90’s. Theirs are made out of recycled vinyl tarps from European freight cars - each bag is a different color or colors in one of ten or so different styles – Mac has a red messenger bag (not the very expensive Freitag brand) which his friends call his pizza delivery bag. I had really wanted to get a bag but couldn't find any that looked unblemished and the bags are expensive. The only reasonably priced item in the store was a box of Swiss chocolate candy which was on a shelf above the heater so I didn’t even buy that. And I who am not fastidious came home and washed my hands and face.

Skiing and winter hiking

A group from Larry’s area at ETH went skiing last Friday at Flumserberg about an hour and a half train/gondola trip from Zurich. Gorgeous weather, recent snow and an intermediate mountain – when you skied down you could see a lake off to your left and across the valley a wall of steep mountains – just about perfect. You could also see that view when riding down the tram which I did in the morning. Larry and I went up to the top but when I saw the narrow path down I thought back to my unhappy ski lesson in St. Anton where I fell and landed in the grass, so decided to descend to an easier run. Good decision as I skied well all day. Larry and I met for lunch outdoors at a mid-level and then Larry successfully found the tougher runs. We found the ETH folks at the end of the day and 23 of us enjoyed a great fondue dinner after a few beers. Only the 3 Americans and 1 German enjoyed the end of the day outdoor beer – everyone else went inside! And the waitress quickly brought over ashtrays thinking that must be the reason we were outside.

With an international women’s group I went on a winter walk hike in Holzegg yesterday – again about an hour and a half trains+bus+gondola ride from Zurich to Holzegg which is at about 1400 m. We walked up and down and up and down and back up for 3 hours in a mix of snow, ice, mud and bare paths. Fortunately, I brought my walking stick with me - thanks to Ruth. Walking paths through ski areas are becoming very popular here. This area was lower than Flumserberg and the skiing wasn’t good. Again the weather was perfect and the vistas magnificent. On the way back some of us stopped in Einseldn (normally a great place for cross-country skiing but bare this winter) to watch some Fasnacht entertainment. A group of men dressed in white sheets with masks but not looking KKK’ish were hurling about 100 loaves of bread into the crowd. Many people were dressed in costumes (cowboys and Indians being the most popular! Then we listened to a surprisingly enjoyable, slightly off-key 25 piece band before continuing our train ride back to Zurich.

Konstanz visit just before a weeklong celebration of Fasnacht

In Konstanz last weekend we met Martina Valentin, a German exchange student who stayed with us for a month in March 1994. We’ve kept in touch – off and on – since then. She visited us in 1998 and 2000. We didn’t realize how close Konstanz is to Zurich – just an hour away by train. Martina met us at the train station and we had lunch by the lake - the largest in Europe and then walked around the city, did a little shopping, visited the Archeological museum, visited Martina’s very nicely furnished apartment, and met her boyfriend. As Germany is less expensive than Switzerland, Martina lives in Konstanz but works in Switzerland.

Konstanz, on the Rhine River, was settled by the Romans. With the only bridge across the Rhine it was an important medieval center. Jan Hus, the Czech predecessor to Martin Luther, was summoned to defend his views at the Council of Constance in a building that is now a restaurant. Hus was burned at the stake in 1415. Later Konstanz became a center of strength for the Hapsburgs and during WWII was never bombed as it kept the lights on to fool the allies into thinking it was part of Switzerland.

Having just been to Prague and learning more about Hus, it was great to visit Konstanz – and even better to see Martina again.

Larry’s Birthday Yodel

On the eve of Larry’s birthday we went to a “Gold Coast” restaurant overlooking Zurichsee for fondu – outdoors style. We were wrapped in blankets with a hot water bottle nestled in our upper back and sat on a porch about 25 meters from the Lake. Delicious fondue, gluhvein, wine and kirsch all warmed us and my hot water bottle stayed warm all evening. Around the end of dinner, a group of 8 men and 1 woman dressed in traditional Swiss, sang a few sets of songs. The woman had a lovely, clear voice and veered from soprano to yodel style. I asked Larry’s colleague and our host, Thomas (a 40 something German who has lived in Switzerland for more than 10 years and is a cancer survivor) if he would ask them to sing Happy Birthday for Larry. At first he demurred saying it wasn’t the Swiss way, but then he did ask them and they were pleased to do it. They would not have liked it but I wished I had a recording device with me. Their version of Happy Birthday was about 5 minutes long and wished Larry much good will, pleasant days and life (at least that’s how it was translated to me.) Even though they didn’t know Larry, it was surprisingly personal and very moving.
After that the actual birthday was anticlimactic. I told Larry he should attend the Friday beer fest/TGIF which he did and enjoyed and we celebrated at home with sushi and treats from the fancy market Globus and talked with Alison just before going to bed.

Weekend in Prague

The 3 people I asked whether we should visit Prague or Budapest, including an American (member of the Women’s Club) now living in Zurich who had lived in Budapest for 4 years, all recommended Prague. I’m glad we followed their advice. Night trains (without dining cars) to and from, with little sleep for me, did nothing to lessen our enjoyment. We enjoyed 2 Prague Walking Tours with a 64 year-old Czech Republic native. He spoke with an accent which forced us to listen closely and miss a few things now and again, but he knew Prague well and was proud to share the history of his country and his life. He showed us a picture of himself as a happy, healthy and robust toddler dressed in white sitting on a Russian tank. The Czech Republic provided much of the German industrial strength and agriculture during WWII and didn’t suffer as much of the rest of war-torn Europe. Despite numerous religious based wars, persecution at one time or another of the Catholics, Protestants and Jews, the city is dominated by so many churches. Only a few of the churches have space around them, so we just would walk down a street, and happen to see a church – or really have to search for it. We heard the Czech Philharmonic in the wonderful Rudolfinum and a quartet in a library. We walked miles and only on the last afternoon did I get a sense of the place. Before that I would head for the river no matter where we were going. We enjoyed staying in a spacious and quiet attic room at the Cloister Inn, near Jan Hus chapel. The inn had been a cloister and was used by the secret police during the time of the Communists in power and we chose it because Larry had been a member of the Cloister Inn, an eating club at Princeton. Larry enjoyed sampling a number of different beers and we had a great late lunch Saturday at a small restaurant recommended by another Women’s Club member which was located down a corridor between two other restaurants on a side road in Little Quarter. Interesting tidbit – in the 50’s all the cobblestone streets and sidewalks were paved over, but the Czechs have restored the cobblestones.