A trip to Basel in which we discover how incomprehensible Swiss German is

I went to Basel literally the day after I got home from Paris...aka nearly a month ago. So I’m a little behind. Better late than never?

A few friends and I opted not to stay in Paris for the weekend, as the train fare home would have been crazy expensive, so we took the weekend to explore German Switzerland for the first time. Basel is right on the German border and so, despite being relatively close to France too, we spoke nothing but English and mis-pronounced German the whole weekend. We spent Saturday just wandering the city. We passed through a market to see the red stone town hall, a building elaborately decorated inside and out with paintings, where a street cellist was playing. We also found a random set of stairs and climbed them to a high point in the city to see over the rooftops. And we went to Basel Münster, high on a hill, overlooking the Rhine, and filled with the music of yet another street performer, this time playing one of those portable steel drums.

Saturday evening was what the trip was all about - football! My friend Kavya snagged tickets to see FC Basel (coming off wins over Bayern Munich and Man U) play its archrival, FC Zurich. We had been told that it was a “high security” game but that did not prepared us for the rows of riot police lining the street leading to the stadium. Our seats were close to the field and behind the goal on the opposite end from the Basel supporters. Great seats, except that we were one section over from the Zurich fans in the corner, and they were not nice. We’re pretty sure they threw a dud smoke bomb at us. But luckily FC Basel won, 1:0, and we booked it out before the Zurich fans, so there was no danger, just a fun night of football and people-watching.

Sunday we went to church at Basel Münster; it was an interesting experience as literally everything was done in Swiss German. Having gone to church a thousand times, I could guess where we were in the service, recognize pastoral mannerisms, and understand when they started saying the Lord’s Prayer. Other than that, we stood when other people did, bowed our heads when they did, and hummed along to the hymns.

We spent Sunday afternoon outside of Basel, in a town called Arlesheim, where there is a ruined hermitage atop a hill. We climbed up and around there and I felt like it was one of those fairy worlds kids make at nature camp (so I hear from my camp friends).

We also walked around Arlesheim, and popped into this elaborate and beautiful cathedral. It was the first Sunday of Lent and the day before a major festival starts in Basel, so while we missed the festival we did see confetti everywhere. Those Swiss really know how to celebrate 40 days of fasting and reflection. x

Field Trip: Paris

When we got to Paris, our walk from the Metro to our hotel was immensely improved by a view of the Eiffel Tower right down the street. Naturally, we dropped our bags at the hotel and immediately walked the fifteen minutes to the base. The Eiffel Tower may be the most stereotypical monument in the world, but it is still awe-inspiring and made us all giddy to be in Paris.

You know those tourists who pose in front of famous monuments
and don't show a shred of enthusiasm? They are all over Europe.

In the afternoon some friends and I went to the Basilica of Sacre-Coeur up on Montmartre. We soaked in the view of the city (one of my fav things to do) and then took a quick trip inside the church. We were there as a small service was being held and got to hear the space filled with the chanting of the nuns. it was pretty sweet.

That evening our study abroad program invited the students to a (compulsory) 3-course dinner at a local, traditional French restaurant. It was delicious and so much fun. Let me pull a dad move and obsess over my food for a hot sec: I started with a dried fruit salad with fried goat cheese, followed by steak-frites, and ended by splitting the pot de crème and the crème brûlée with my friend Katie. That crème brûlée was seriously the most delicious thing in the entire world; “it rocked my world.”

As if our day wasn’t great enough already, a few of my good friends and I wandered down to the Eiffel Tower to see it all lit up. When it sparkled...oh man was it amazing.

Lit up...

...and sparkling

We spent most of Thursday in briefings at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and UNESCO (so interesting to hear about their work - definitely an organization I’d love to be involved with), with a quick lunch break to sneak a peek at Napoleon’s tomb.

We ate dinner by the Pompidou where many of us tried snails (!) and, long story short, ended our night walking up the Champs Élysées to the Arc de Triomphe and eating little circles of heaven in the form of the official best macarons in the world. Perfection.

chocolate, salted caramel (i die) and pistachio

AND THEN (it just got better and better), on Friday morning Anna and I went on a quick trip to all our favorite monuments:

Sainte Chapelle

Notre Dame

Shakespeare and Co. (and a Nutella crêpe break)

The

Panthéon

Luxembourg Gardens.

Then we went home, whomp whomp, but with another adventure for the weekend. What a whirlwind of a week, especially in Paris, but what an incredible experience. Makes me happy just remembering it! x

Field Trip: Brussels

Two weeks ago my classmates, professors, and I packed up and traveled through Brussels, Belgium, and Paris, France, for a rather magical five day field trip. We began in Brussels and spent the first afternoon walking around the city to orient ourselves. The tourist center of town seems to revolve around the Grand Place, a beautiful square surrounded by the town hall, city museum, beer museum, and shops.

After a dinner wherein most people got moules et frites but I stuck with what I know and got a croque madame (and a beer - gotta have the cultural experience), we made our way to the waffle shops. I’d been looking forward to these, and they did not disappoint: a warm liège waffle with Nutella, strawberries, and a mountain of whipped cream. I’m not posing for the photo below - it’s really how you had to eat it.

We spent the next morning at a briefing at the European Commission. It was really interesting, especially given the considerable background I have on the EU thanks to my economics class in London. I just had a problem with the mustachioed energy representative who refused to acknowledge the role of the environment in energy policy. News flash: they are inseparable issues and you should be able to speak to both of them regardless of your position as the energy and not environmental representative.

That afternoon we wandered some more and visited the Brussels Cathedral, formally known as the Ste Michael and Ste Gudula Cathedral (I've never heard of that saint either).

To be real, Belgian food is not that different from French or Swiss food, so we took advantage of the international flavour of the city (literally) and had Moroccan food for dinner. We followed that with raspberry beer, fruit beer being a Belgian speciality. It was basically juice aka my kind of beer.

On Tuesday we had a lecture on the history of Belgium and the language barrier that threatens to tear the country apart. Quick summary: Belgium has two language communities. Flanders is the largest and wealthiest in the North where Flemish, a cousin of Dutch, is spoken. Wallonia is in the South and is French speaking. Brussels is technically in Flanders and is officially bilingual but the vast majority of people speak French. Add in the six different governments that control the country and you can see how confusing the political, cultural, economic, and linguistic landscape is.

A few friends and I then visited the City Museum and the Chocolate Museum (sadly underwhelming) before meeting up with another group to explore the Royal Palace and the Maigrette surrealist museum.

Also, we had French fries for lunch. They were incredible.

The rest of our time in Brussels passed by in a blur of amazingly delicious Ethiopian food, another waffle, and the chance to see the Mannekin Pis (a tiny, peeing statue of a boy that is the symbol of Brussels) get dressed in an old timey lacrosse uniform. Then we hopped a train to Paris to continue our “studies” (read: continue to eat our way across Europe). x

It’s finally above freezing! And other exciting things

I keep putting off writing a blog post (even though my google stats shot up midweek - I apparently have a small but consistent readership in Russia...) until I have more material, thinking that I need photos and landmarks and cultural experiences in order to post something. False. I have a lot going on and it is all fascinating. It’s just not all fun and tourism like in London.

Rather than seeing famous landmarks and visiting important museums, I am going to lectures, briefings, and mountains. The Jura Mountains instead of Big Ben; the United Nations instead of the British Museum; an essay on water scarcity as a challenge to international security instead of letters back and forth between William and Mary.

Let’s be real. That essay took up a lot of my time. We had to find interviews for it which was a new challenge but it ended up adding a lot to my essay. I’m such a pacifist though; I actually argued counter to my professor because I prefer to see challenges to international security (such as water scarcity) as opportunities for cooperation and peace rather than inevitable war. So we’ll see how that gets graded.

On Sunday I took a break from homework to go to the mountains with my host mom. We went up into the Jura Mountains which are close to the French-Swiss border northeast of Geneva. The plan was to ride the cabines up to the top of the mountain where my host family goes skiing, but because of the stupid Russian wind the lifts were closed. So we drove through the mountains for a long time and it was gorgeous. I don’t have many photos because I was trying to make like John Mayer and stop trying to fit the world inside a picture frame.

We ended our mountain/road trip adventure with fondue. It was so good but my host mom said I am the first student they’ve had who loved fondue. It’s melted cheese that you eat with bread - how could it not be delicious?

Tip: always drink hot tea or white wine with fondue and other cheese dishes
to avoid having the cheese congeal in your stomach 

The most interesting thing we did this week was go to briefings at the United Nations. We heard from representatives from UN High Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, World Food Programme, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and UN Institute for Disarmament Research. The latter was a little boring, but the rest were so cool. I think we all left the UN very excited about the paths down which we are going.

Good news: I think we have finally seen the end of la bise and the below freezing temperatures! (I hope I don’t jinx it.) Today it was sunny and beautiful and I could finally wear my new TOMS and we’d turned in our essays and everything felt amazing. I cannot wait for spring.

view from school terrace

view from home terrace

This week I also got to skype with a lot of people back home; thanks for filing me with so much love and providing much needed study breaks! I can’t believe I’ve been in Switzerland for exactly a month. I’ve been cold, I’ve been full, I’ve been fascinated, I’ve been challenged, and I am happy. x

P.S. We’re going to Brussels and Paris for the next week...as a field trip. I know, I don’t think I can go back to normal school either.

Spa day

On Saturday, six friends and I took a train ride into the mountains to go to a hot springs, like you do. For CHF 22 we had three hours of access to the hot pools and to the spa facilities - it was pure luxury. I knew it was going to be amazing when we got off the train and this was our view:

I don’t have any photos of the facilities, but here are some of the outside pools courtesy of my friend Chris’ facebook (hey thanks).

In addition to the heated outside pools, there was a pool that played classical music underwater, a sauna series, a Turkish Bath, some light therapy rooms, and a repos room with a wood burning fire. Seriously, I’d never been to anything like it, and we plan on going back after we finish our major research paper. (Although I’m writing my paper on water scarcity, and if I already felt guilty about my water usage I don’t know how I’ll feel after four months of research.)

During the week, I generally spend my time indoors because Switzerland is incredibly cold right now. Yesterday morning my computer said it was 12 degrees F and that doesn’t include the windchill. The cold would be manageable (wear long underwear or two pairs of tights, wool socks) except that the wind will literally knock your socks off. I think it blew one of my favorite earrings out of my ear yesterday. No joke. I’ve braved the cold twice in the past few days and while I couldn’t feel my hands for quite a while afterwards, I got to see some very beautiful Swiss sights.

This is the old city of Geneva, Lake Geneva, and the mountains as seen from the bell tower of St. Peter’s Cathedral.

A beautiful chapel inside the cathedral

This is a phenomenon known as la bise noire. When the Geneva area gets super strong winds they blow the waves of Lake Geneva up onto the shore more than usual. These waves freeze almost immediately when they hit the freezing air, and so you get trees and benches and boats and even cars that are covered in a thick layer of ice. It is so unreal.

The best place to see it is in Versoix, a neighboring town of Mies, but because the wind is so strong by the water my friend and I could only stay for two minutes, maximum. People who were walking on the ice were being propelled along by the wind. I have literally never been colder. I guess that’s part of the Switzerland experience. x