Skiing in Flumserberg

On Boxing Day, whilst my mum was here, I went to the Flumserberg ski resort. The area is spectacular and I thought it would be a great place to take her, and show her what the Swiss Alps have to offer.

To get to the Flumserberg ski resort, take the train to Unterterzen.

With Unterterzen being just over an hour's train ride from Zurich, the ski resort attracts many skiers and snowboarders from the city. The resort itself is quite big and offers predominantly red ski pistes. Although if you're going there with any uneasy skiers or snowboarders, it's best not to take the cable car right to the top, as the pistes leading down are rated either red or black. My poor mum found that out the hard way!

Thanks to clear weather we enjoyed the awesome views from the top.

Conveniently, the ski lift is located right by the train station in Unterterzen and, if you're needing to hire a pair of skis or a board, there's an Intersport located nearby too. We payed 67 Franks for the day ski pass, which was reasonable – given that it is an expensive sport. The ski pass can also be bought at Intersport, which saves queuing twice if you're going to hire / buy equipment anyway.

The slopes were pretty busy with it being Boxing Day, making for a few close shaves on some of the narrower sections.

After spending a day at Flumserberg, I've got the urge to go skiing again – so watch this space. There's nothing quite like carving your way down a beautiful mountain side in the Alps. And then of course, there's the apres ski...

Christmas in Zurich

I decided to stay in Switzerland for Christmas this year. Why not, it would be pretty special. After planning that, my mum said she'd come to visit! Great, so now I can have Christmas in beautiful Switzerland and not miss out on the family side of things.

Christmas decorations along Bahnhofstrasse

Having snowed heavily earlier this week, I was expecting a white Christmas. However by the time my mum arrived in Zurich, not only had all the snow melted, but the temperature had risen back to an unusual high again. At least it made for nice weather to show mum around the city in.

Zurich had momentarily transformed itself earlier this week into a winter wonderland. Although it didn't quite last until Christmas day...

Me, mum and some neighbours of mine celebrated Christmas together and we even managed to rustle up a pretty decent Christmas dinner! It was a novelty having so much meat in a meal, it was easy to forget I was still in Switzerland – the same place in which I had once considered the financial benefits of becoming a vegetarian!

Christmas in Zurich has a different atmosphere to back at home. Things are much more relaxed here and the festive period still has real tradition left that hasn't yet been ruined by over-commercialism. It's refreshing. On Christmas eve, I gave mum a tour of the city, including an obligatory stop by Sprüngli – the Swiss master chocolatiers – and we also went to the Jules Verne Panorama Bar which overlooks all of Zurich. The views were nothing short of spectacular.

The Jules Verne Panorama Bar offers the best views in Zurich. Despite their high prices, it's well worth a visit.

All in all, a very nice Christmas. Hope yours was too!

'Tis the Season for Exams

It's that time of the year again, the exams at the University of Zurich are under way. The student flats have become eerily quiet as everyone is in their own rooms hidden beneath a pile of revision notes and empty cans of energy drink. The streets of Zurich also seemed noticeably quieter this week – although the constant rain recently might have played a role there – perhaps caused by the eloquently-named Scottish hurricane 'Bawbag'.

Snow has been forecast though, so hopefully the city will also be able to enjoy the deep snow the Alps have had. It would not only make for a white Christmas but would probably brighten the dull exam-mood. Despite being an exchange student, I too have a number of exams to attend. The first of which was today, Russian phonetic. Thankfully, it was easier than it sounds. Although I'm afraid I won't be able to say the same is true for my other courses.

Revising for my Russian exam on Tuesday.

Instead of spending my weekends reading over notes, I've done what every exchange student should do, try to get to know the environment I'm in – planning day trips, going to parties and generally having a good time. Of course, of all this has caught up with me now that the once distant prospect of exams looms ever closer. My literature exam on Monday shouldn't be too difficult in theory as we just have to define terms and discuss various schools of thought, although in practice this means I'm going to have to do some last minute cramming. And then there's Russian which won't be easy, but hopefully I should manage, there's still time.

I'm just lucky that these exams have no bearing on my degree in Aberdeen, I'm here for the experience of being in a German speaking country – this experience and learning the language will – and should - always take precedence over my actual modules here, the credit points for which my university at home won't recognise anyway. I think it's preferable to spend more time out and about in Switzerland, in order to practice speaking (Swiss) German – which is also the aim of this year abroad and is more useful to my degree – than spending most of my time hidden away under books, whereby I wouldn't be getting much speaking practice at all or even experiencing what this great country has to offer.

That's what I keep telling myself, I'm still going to have to try...

Voyage en France: Strasbourg

A trip to Strasbourg had been recommended to me often. The pretty, French city is located in northern Alsace – close to the German border, and is well known for its Christmas markets. Indeed, the city calls itself the Christmas capital – 'Capital de Noel', and with good reason: almost all the open spaces in the city were crammed with stalls, when I visited with some mates this Saturday.

Strasbourg is located along the French – German border, closer to Luxembourg than Switzerland.

Yep, another post about Christmas markets, but this is the season for it, right? So why not consider Strasbourg. Despite being in France, it has a really authentic German style Christmas market, offering a huge amount of stalls - selling bizarre Christmas trinkets and sickly, sweet Vin Chaud (Glühwein or mulled wine). The city itself feels quite festive thanks to all of its decoration and the amount of tourists doing their Christmas shopping.

The city was full of people who had the same idea.

Unfortunately, the masses of tourists and shoppers in the city meant that looking for a restaurant to eat lunch in that was both authentically French and not full, was a challenge that took us on a wild goose chase. After quite some time we managed to find a decent place that didn't have a queue lining up outside. It turned out to be as much of an authentic French restaurant as we could have hoped for. Quality, rare fillet steak was the order of the day and an opportunity we couldn't allow ourselves to miss out on, as the same quality dish in Zurich would have required taking out a small loan.

The search for food took us across the city centre, passing through the picturesque old town.

It was a novelty hearing a language that wasn't German and having to struggle to communicate with anyone. Three years of French at school (and over six years of neglect) have resulted in me having no choice but to utter the most basic of phrases and point at things – with the odd English or German word thrown in for good measure. A pity really, maybe I should give it a shot to pick it back up again. How hard can it really be?

Back in Germany: Freiburg

On Sunday I spent the day in Freiburg im Breisgau. A friend of mine studies there and another came down from Berlin, so I thought it'd be cool to get together again. Freiburg lies in south west Germany and is just an hour and a half's train ride away from Zurich.

The Altstadt of Freiburg is really pretty, especially with all the Christmas decorations that have been put up.

Freiburg also boasts a great Christmas market within it's tight, windy streets. German Christmas markets are renown for their festive spirit and German Glühwein (mulled wine) makes quite a good incentive to go and meander around the mismatch of stalls.

The Germans know how to do Christmas markets. There are countless ones across the whole of Germany which many people come to visit.

Getting involved in the tradition of Kerzenziehen (candle making) was also possible at the market. By paying a few Euros you can try your hand at decorating your own Christmas candle in a variety of wax colours. This is really popular amongst children, as they can often come up with some really creative designs. My friends however decided to give it a go, and well, the less said about how their masterpieces turned out, the better!

A candle 'decorated' by one of my friends with some more professional ones in the background...

Anyone looking to go and do some Christmas shopping – and enjoy it at the same time – may want to consider going to Freiburg. It's worth making the trip simply for the merrily priced Glühwein!

The Polyball

The Polyball is a prestigious annual ball held by the ETH (the other major university in Zurich) and claims to be the largest decorated ball in Europe! This year's theme was left quite vague: 'The Search for Eldorado'. Me and pretty much all of my flat mates and neighbours decided to go and check it out, this Saturday just gone.

The Polyball is open to all, not just students of the ETH.

The event was held in the university's main building and included 15 different stage areas, ranging from salsa, jazz and waltz to a casino floor and cinema. Although the casino was a rather limited idea in practise due to the small technicality of the illegality of gambling actual money on non-licensed premises...

Poker and blackjack could be played, although no money could be won or lost.

The decoration for the ball included huge wall-to-wall murals which looked awesome, they were painted voluntarily by students not wanting to have to dig deep (real deep) in their pockets for the tickets. They did a great job!

I have no idea how many came this year, however I was told that last year saw around 9000 people attend the Polyball!

Those who missed out on this year's Polyball should seriously consider going to the next one in 2012. There's music to suit everyone and if you're not terribly good at dancing, I wouldn't worry too much as you'd be in good company!

Alpine Hike

The beauty of living in Zurich is that I'm not too far away from escaping city life and making the most of the proximity of the Alps. On Sunday I went to Walenstadt – about an hour away by train – which is also one of the closest ski resorts to Zurich. As the skiing season hasn't really begun yet, I spent the day hiking.

Walenstadt is the name of the town closest to the ski resort.

Walenstadt itself is a small town situated on the border between Canton Sankt Gallen and Canton Glarus. It's a really picturesque area as the mountains look quite dramatic and there is also a lake in the valley, the Walensee. Once I arrived at Walenstadt train station I took a proper esoteric bus full of cheery locals up to Walenstadtberg, where I begun my hike.

Walenstadtberg is easy to get to from Zurich and it makes quite a pleasant day out.

Despite it being neither the hiking season nor the skiing season, the mountain seemed to attract quite a few people. I can understand why, it was nice to get on some high ground above the eternal fog which seems to have it's grip over much of lowland Switzerland.

Paragliders were also out in force.

Perhaps I will return here once the ski season gets under way, I've heard Flumserberg is particularly good and easy to get to too. From what I saw this side of the valley, it seems to have quite a varied range of pistes.

A Day in Basel

My train journey to Basel today was rather pleasant. After helping an old lady with her bags, she proceeded to sit at my table, where we then talked for the duration of the trip. It was nice to use the time to practice my German – it certainly beat staring out the window aimlessly for an hour, besides I got the impression she was quite lonely. What was rather surprising was that after carrying her luggage off the train once we arrived in Basel, she stuffed a 100 Swiss Franc note in my hand (£75) – ordering me to use it to finance my student life. Of course, I didn't accept the money and gave it straight back. Although perhaps hanging around train stations helping people with their luggage could become quite profitable if I were to ever hit rock bottom!?

Basel lies on the spot where the French, Swiss and German borders meet.

The reason I went to Basel was to meet up with a friend who's currently spending an exchange year in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. It was nice to catch up as well as see the sights of Basel. Basel is situated in the Northern part of Switzerland, where the French and German borders meet Switzerland. It's known as the Dreiländerecke (3 country corner).

Despite it's proximity to France, the local language of Basel is still Swiss German.

The Altstadt (old town) area of Basel is very picturesque and has quite a few sights, as well as shops, comparatively more than Bern. There was a noticeable amount of activity in the city, perhaps due to the rowing race which was taking place on the Rhine.

One of the market squares in the Basler Altstadt.

I would suggest that anyone thinking of going to Basel should consider going this coming weekend or afterwards as that is when the infamous Basler Christmas markets will be open. We saw the preparations for the Christmas market by the cathedral and it looked rather festive indeed.

The Swiss Capital: Bern

Yesterday I headed out with a group of other exchange students to the picturesque city of Bern. Although Bern is only the fourth largest city in Switzerland (Zurich is the largest), it is the Swiss capital. However being so small, it's quite unlike any other capital city in that it has a slow and sleepy atmosphere to it.

It only takes around an hour to reach the city by train from Zurich. So it's definitely a trip worth making.

In order to have a tour around the Swiss parliament building, we had to reserve on an early showing meaning that we also had to get up and leave Zurich at a most unreasonable hour. However the tour was surprisingly interesting and the building itself was pretty impressive – although the airport-like security measures meant that I was unable to take any photos of the inside.

The Swiss Parliament building (although it's even more grand when looking at the interior).

After the tour, we had a wander round the city itself, including observing the infamous Zytglogge ('Time Bell' clock tower) chime in twelve o'clock - which to be frank, was quite an anti climax. A large group of tourists had gathered in front of the tower, thus leading me to expect something slightly more spectacular than a couple of figures turning their heads - or moving their hands in time with the bells. After that we enjoyed a 'quick' snack by the cathedral – which involved the ESN rep buying out a couple of bread and cheese market stalls in order to feed us all...

The view from Rosengarten overlooking the old town.

In the evening we then walked up to a rather nice view point over Bern and had a couple of beers before taking the train back home to Zurich. All in all, an enjoyable day in another beautiful Swiss city, which I'd happily recommend to others!

Autumnal Reflections

This weekend has been the first free weekend I've had in a while, giving me the chance to reflect on the past two months in Zurich. Autumn is well and truly under way in Zurich, turning the city which is usually so green in Summer, in to rather nice shades of gold and red.

The University of Zurich seen from Rämistrasse.

University is going well and I still find I have quite a bit of free time after taking into consideration all the reading that has to be done. Coursework has begun to be handed out now that the semester has entered its second half. Essay writing in German takes some getting used to, although luckily the assignments are usually quite short. Russian is also going surprisingly well, despite the rather extreme pace. Learning Russian at university is not normally possible in Aberdeen, so I'll have to keep my notes when I return. Of course, a holiday.. ahem – I mean an 'educational' trip to Russia at some point is a must!

After two months in Switzerland I'm finding myself getting used to various things and developing Swiss habits. For example I have probably eaten more Swiss cheese and chocolate than I would've ever imagined. Well, who can blame me when they taste so good?

Swiss Francs look pretty cool, but they take some getting used to.

One thing I haven't yet got used to is using Swiss Francs. The notes are pretty cool but differentiating the coins from one another is quite a challenge. They're all round and silver (except the coins of less than 10 Rappen – or cents) which when compared to Sterling is striking, as British coins are all of various shapes, sizes and colours. Euros too have a little more variety. For example the ½ Frank coin is the same size as the 10 Rappen coin, and smaller than the 20 Rappen coin – which is of course worth less. Coins are often considered as small change and are quite undesirable as they take up a lot of wallet space. Therefore I found it strange that there should be a 5 Franc coin, which is a rather unwieldy chunk of metal. Although when reflecting upon Swiss prices, perhaps the 5 Franc coin is right to be considered as Kleingeld...

A Complete Tour of Liechtenstein

This Saturday a group of us decided to make the short train ride over to Liechtenstein. None of us had ever been there before and I was simply curious of how a country smaller than half the canton of Zurich actually looks. It turns out: quite beautiful – we were pretty happy to have the combination of Autumn and sunny weather.

The flag of the Principality of Liechtenstein. Curiously their national anthem shares the same melody as the British national anthem.

We arrived in Buchs (Switzerland) and made the short walk over the border into Liechtenstein, where we then headed to Vaduz – the capital city – or perhaps more fittingly: the capital village as there are only around 35,000 people in the whole of the country! First impressions were pretty good, there was lots of modern architecture as well as art and you were never too far away from the rather princely castle, Schloss Vaduz, which sits on a crag overlooking Vaduz.

Many trees and lampposts were wrapped in a knitted coat which looked really cool albeit strange.

Unfortunately we couldn't enter the castle but the view from the top was impressive. So after accepting the fact that the prince and princess were not willing to entertain us, we walked back down into Vaduz where we then took a bus to Schellenberg, a village in the north of the country, home to one of our friends.

Schloss Vaduz is unfortunately closed to the public, but the walk up was worth it simply for the views.

After some great hospitality we accepted an invitation to dinner at a restaurant in Feldkirch, Austria – just a 12 minute drive away despite being in a different country. The Schattenberg wasn't just any restaurant, rather a huge castle sat overlooking the city which specialises in schnitzel. Such a place is always going to be a winner for me, it ticks both boxes: it's a castle, and it serves great schnitzel.

Liechtenstein nestles between Switzerland and Austria. Map image source: BBC

All in all despite being a country small enough to refer to Switzerland as a giant, there was enough to see and do in the country. A great day had in Liechtenstein and also a great evening in Austria – which I will have to revisit soon...

One Day in Germany: Constance

Fast approaching my 2 month landmark of being abroad, I faced the unavoidable task of having to get my hair cut. Everyone in Zurich is well presented and well groomed, so the thought of getting a dodgy trim in the city, due to not knowing where to go and where to avoid hadn't really crossed my mind. What had crossed my mind however was the price, and haircuts – like everything else in Zurich it seems are no exception – they're expensive. Then I had the idea to head across the border into Germany, where I could also do a bit of sightseeing in a new town and buy a few other things I need cheaply. So, Constance it was then.

Constance straddles the border between Switzerland and Germany.

Constance is only just over the border and about an hour's train journey from Zurich, and although the weather was a little overcast when I arrived, the town is really pretty. Lots of old buildings and plenty of tight, twisting streets revealing quite a few gems. Like Zurich, it has it's very own lake - Lake Constance or the Bodensee.

Constance is pretty small, but definitely worth a visit.

Upon my arrival the first hair dresser's I saw were offering a haircut for €17 (£15), much better than what I would've had to pay in Zurich – 50 CHF (£40) and so I made an appointment for the same day. Thanks to the fact that I also had two railway subscriptions (Halbtax Abo & Gleis7), I saved enough to include the cost of the train journey and then some!

It's possible to take a boat around the lake, but maybe I'll save that for another time, when the weather is more appealing.

Having spent so much time in Switzerland already, I had already got used to Swiss prices. My very first thought after walking around Constance was that everything was ridiculously cheap – even if it wasn't relative to Germany! I treated myself to Currywurst for lunch for example, and was hugely surprised to find that I still had [quite a lot of] change for a tenner. Now I realised just why Constance is so appealing to the Swiss as a town to simply go to for the savings made on grocery shopping...

Constance is often frequented by Swiss loading there bags full of cheap shopping before heading back over the border into dearer Switzerland.

Another observation that was immediately noticeable to me, was that I heard High German on the streets! It seemed like a novelty to hear German German again after being in Zurich for so long, I had to keep reminding myself that I was no longer in Switzerland and so saying 'Grüezi' or 'Merci' would only return curious looks.

Although the German spoken in Constance is peppered with the Badisch dialect, it made a change to hear High German on the streets again.

I would definitely recommend a day trip to Constance to anyone in Zurich who could benefit from buying a few things cheaply. It's worth the trip, especially if you have the train subscriptions, and besides, Constance is a nice town in it's own right. Just make sure you go on a sunny day to make the most of it...

A Dummy's Guide to Swiss German

Grüezi mitenand! [Hello everyone!]

Anyone flying into Switzerland and expecting to be greeted in German by a customs officer may at first think they've ended up in the wrong country upon hearing the local language. We're told that Switzerland has four official languages: German (64%), French (21%), Italian (7%) and Romansh (<1%), but this isn't quite the case. What people actually speak here is Swiss German (a range of Alemannic dialects), rather than German German (or 'High German') and they differ quite a lot.

The variant of Swiss German spoken in Zurich is called Züritüütsch.

Swiss German differs from city to city - and from valley to valley - too. One of the noticeable differences between High German and Swiss German is in pronunciation. For example the High German 'ung' is pronounced as 'ig', 'ei' as 'ie', 'n's are often omitted and if you seem to hear people with throat infections, you're probably just mistaking it for the throaty 'ch' which the Swiss say instead of 'k'! As can be seen in these common examples:

High German: __________Swiss German: __________English:

Kuchenkasten __________Chüchichäschtli _________Kitchen cupboard

Verzweigung ___________Verzwiegig _____________Intersection

Lebensgefährlich _______Läbesgföhrlech __________Deadly

Not only does Swiss German have it's own pronunciation, but it also has it's own vocabulary and grammar – for instance, there is no simple past tense or genitive case in Swiss German, although it does have it's own set of articles etc..

Of course, despite the difficulty of picking up Swiss German, I really am quite enthusiastic about learning it properly. Swiss German sounds very pleasing to the ear and somehow more 'natural' than High German, perhaps due to the sing-song nature of the dialect's intonation.

Thankfully - for those of us more familiar with High German – Swiss German tends to be just a spoken language. All university lectures and written communications are in High German (excluding informal text messages or emails etc.). Or more accurately – Swiss Standard German – which is pretty much the same as High German, except for a few peculiarities.

Bicycles – or Fahrräder in High German- are given a different name here in Switzerland: Velos. The same is true for motorcycles; the Germans call them Motorräder, whereas the Swiss Töffs.

Although Swiss Standard German is supposed to be like High German, there are quite a few interesting differences. The Swiss tend to like to make themselves different to their German neighbours in any way possible, and this is especially true with their written language. Where perfectly adequate words exist in High German, the Swiss tend towards their French influences, saying quirky hybrids such as 'Merci vielmal', (thanks very much).

You won't find any Fahrräder (bicycles) in Switzerland for example, rather the Swiss cycle on Velos – which originates from French (except with it's own unique Swiss German pronunciation). Even where French words are used in High German, the Swiss opt to be awkward and choose another French synonym to use! A Friseur is what you'd ask for when you'd like a haircut in Germany, but in Switzerland you'd ask for a Coiffure.

I'm gradually getting used to the language(s) here; the mental 'hangover' of speaking, hearing and having to understand High German & Swiss German the whole time is exhausting – although it is becoming a little easier every day...

For those of you who would like to learn more about Swiss German, I can recommend some online resources that may help:

Learning resources:

http://www.eldrid.ch/swgerman.htm (Highly recommended)

Swiss German media:

www.wilmaa.com (TV and Radio within Switzerland)

www.drs3.ch (Radio)

www.videoportal.sf.tv (Swiss TV)