Skiing in Engelberg

Skiing and Switzerland are two words which both conjure up thoughts of the snow capped Alps. They both however also carry the connotation of expense. Fortunately, I was invited to stay at a friend's chalet in Engelberg, making the whole venture affordable. While many people were still studying for exams, I was lucky enough to have spent the last week or so skiing.

Engelberg is nestled between Mt. Brunni and Mt. Titlis in central Switzerland.

The ski resort is in many ways different to Flumserberg, where I've previously been. First of all, Engelberg has a lot of steep slopes – not an ideal place to bring a beginner, as one of my poor friends had to find out! Another difference to Flumserberg is that, although Engelberg is pretty much just a village, there seems to be a small, yet decent, Apres Ski scene. And, thanks to the Talabfahrt (a ski run which descends into the valley), it's possible to spend a bit more time on the mountain, have a drink or two in the igloo bar and not have to worry about missing the last gondola to the bottom!

The top gondola station at Mt. Titlis.

A rather curious observation that was made, was that the number of Asian tourists equipped with cameras and smart phones (all wearing jeans) out numbered the number of actual skiers and snowboarders on the mountain! Strange indeed, although at least that meant that the pistes weren't too congested.

The village of Engelberg seen from the Talabfahrt.

I also have a pair of rather nice souvenirs at the end of it all too. A pair of skis I essentially bought for 20 Francs! Well, my options were to either rent the skis for 180 CHF or buy them for 200 CHF (exc. boots and poles). A no brainer, I think. Besides, it makes for a good excuse to do even more skiing this season!

A Weekend of Snow Shoes and Igloos

It's starting to feel like the holidays now. The Erasmus Student Network of Zurich organised a weekend away in the mountains. A popular event – I remember having to sign up for it pretty much as soon as the registration window opened in order to get hold of a place. Much like many of the other events held by ESN.

It was good to be back in Flumserberg.

We headed over to Flumserberg, the same area I recently went skiing in, but this time to go snow-shoe hiking. It was an unfamiliar feeling being on the piste, equipped with ski poles, without being able to actually ski. Left to my own devices, I probably would never have even tried snow-shoe hiking. I'm glad I did. It's a whole different way of enjoying the mountain. The pace alone allows you to take in the impressive scenery, which isn't necessarily what I would normally focus on if I were skiing - indeed if I did, I would probably end up crashing my way down the pistes!

The Quinzy method of building igloos seemed to work the best.

After reaching Panüöl, we set about constructing igloos. It was good fun making them, but I'm glad that we had a plan B, else we would have had to spend the night in unfinished and rather unstable igloos that better resembled wind breaks, than actual feasible shelters. Well, all except one – those lucky guys finished theirs and spent the night in it. Me and most of the other students made a strategic withdrawal to the alpine huts, where we could enjoy a decent warm raclette meal, the bar and the comforts generally associated with not having to worry about a dodgy igloo collapsing in on you whilst you sleep.

The alpine hut in Panüöl.

The next morning we continued our hike to the main piste area, where we swapped our snow-shoes for toboggans. There's nothing quite like throwing yourself down a hill on waxed aluminium, without brakes, whilst wearing all the kit attempting to steer, kicking up snow spray which both blinds and freezes you at the same time. It was quite awesome!

Geneva

Having done my last exam and handed in my last essay, I've suddenly found myself with time on my hands. Although it's the winter break here in Zurich, a lot of students still have exams to do. Whilst many of them were studying, I thought I'd go and have a look around the city of Geneva.

Geneva is the second largest city in Switzerland after Zurich.

Geneva is located right on the south-western most point of Switzerland, surrounded by France, it's only connected to the rest of the country by a 3 kilometre strip of land along the lake. Being in western Switzerland, it is of course French speaking – making for another opportunity for me to embarrass myself at attempting to get by in French. Although 'French speaking' is maybe a little deceptive as I heard as much English, German or even Russian as I did French. Luckily for me.

The United Nations is based in Geneva.

Geneva is actually quite a nice city, although it doesn't seem like any of the other Swiss cities I've been to. For starters – it actually feels like a city – not just a town, like Basel and Bern seem to feel like. Secondly, if you're lucky, you might even spot the odd piece of litter on the ground – which is quite a noteworthy observation after spending so much time in Swiss cities which are so clean that you can barely believe people live there.

In the beautiful Altstadt of the city.

There's plenty to go and see, and I guess it would also be better in Summer. Certainly worth a visit, and it's only 2 ½ hours away from Zurich by train. I'm still only just getting used to how well everything is connected in continental Europe. Unfortunately it's not quite so easy to spontaneously decide to head to any particular European city from the UK, simply on a whim. I think I'll definitely miss this aspect of living on the continent, when I return home.

Happy New Year!

Fireworks by Lake Zurich, temporary bars set up along the Limmat and clubs full of party-goers. Whoever celebrated the new year in Zurich would've seen the city transformed from it's usual peaceful state into a party hub with a buzzing atmosphere.

That's what I've heard anyway. I actually returned to Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany to party with some friends of mine there. As you'd expect, this city was also full of party-goers, NYE club events and fireworks – much like any student city!

Photo taken on my previous visit to the city.

True to its form as a German club, the night involved a lot of decent electro music, interesting dance moves and cheap alcohol - which had become a little strange to me after spending so much time in Zurich. There were no 16 CHF (~£12) mixer drinks in sight!

Rather disappointingly, I seemed to stumble unknowingly into 2012 as the club didn't bother with a countdown into the new year, so it didn't feel like new year at all, especially when combined with the unfamiliar feeling of spending the festive period away from home. Nonetheless, the night was very enjoyable.

Hope whatever you all got up to, you had fun! Happy new year!