June 15 - Frutigen and Spiez

Konrad worked today so I went with the students to a place called Frutigen.  We stopped in the town of      to buy lunch and enjoy the medieval castle and grounds.  We then got on another train and went over to Frutigen.  This was where we visited Tropenhaus.   www.tropenhaus-frutigen.ch   Kind of hard to explain but a sturgeon caviar farm with a tropical greenhouse producing bananas and exotic fruits.  It is supposedly a model of sustainability but frankly I felt more like we were entering the Island of Dr. Moreau.  Very very crazy concept by someone that has lot of money, (or owes a lot of money)  We took the tour and saw the sturgeons.  Did you know the Beluga Sturgeon takes 13 years to grow to produce cavior?  The cavior costs about $1,275 for 250grams.  Check out the Oona website   www.oona-schweiz.ch  .

We then had time to visit the town of Spiez.  So far this was my favorite and I hope to take Konrad back here next week.  It is on lake Thun and there is a castle with huge manicured grounds swarming with flowers and beautiful stone walls.  Benches everywhere to sit and medieval stone pathways.  Absolutely charming.  The lake is surrounded by mountains and there are sailboats dotting the lake.  I have never seen anything so picturesque.  Our swiss pass covers all trains and buses and ALSO boats.  We have gone on one boat on Lake Geneva but I would like to go on Lake Thun.  Wish us good weather.

June 14 - Zermatt - Matterhorn

This was an amazing day.  We left pretty early on the train to get to the town of Zermatt.  The last train up the hill was absolutely amazing.  For over an hour we climbed up the alps through tunnels and through valleys.  Tons of waterfalls and rivers.  I think some of the students have never seen mountains.  It is so much like Banff, except there are green pastures and little villages and cookie cutter houses on every hill.  When we got to Zermatt it was perfectly clear and the Matterhorn just showed itself completely without clouds for about 5 minutes.  It almost always has a small veil of clouds that kept circling around the summit.  Apparently it is VERY unusual to even see the summit!  Lucky!  We toured the church and were given the assignment of interpreting the story of the fresco on the ceiling.  Awkward painting of Noah in his ark with skiers and crazy unhappy people falling off the boat.  We then had to study the cemetery of the lost climbers.  It was pretty interesting.  Most people that died were young and trying to climb the face.
We then had time to get lunch.  Konrad and I saw the locals going into a little shop.   You could get a half a grilled chicken a hunk of bread and fries.  Why start eating vegetables now?  We don't get them at the hotel.  We sat down within view of the Matterhorn and ate our lunch.  We had the option of 2 hikes, one more water and bridges, one to a better view  of the Matterhorn, or pay $40 to go up a cable car.  Konrad opted for the cable car, I opted for the hike and view.  Are you surprised?
I should have realized as we began our hike that I was in for some intense steepness.  There were some ropes to hold on to.  The fact that only 6 people went on the hike should have tipped me off.  So 10 lbs of sweat later we reached a small village way up the alps.  Our leader turned his iPod speakers on and played sound of music.  At least that gave me a beat to walk to.  The view was out of this world and i was happy I went up.  Think Waterton Bear's hump on steroids.  For me the coming down is more difficult.
When we came down and I willed my leg to stop shaking we toured the museum, then took the train and got back to Leysin late. 

June 13 Bern

We went to Bern and I just loved it.  It was kind of sprinkling on and off all day.  Bern is the capital Switzerland.  We arrived in the huge train station that is literally a giant mall.  Our leader gave us one hour to eat lunch, then meet back to visit our sites.  Konrad and I walked around and he saw a McDonalds.  Just when we were going to give in a buy a sandwich we noticed that they started at $12 each.  Not worth it.  So we walked a bit and found an Italian take away that actually had a place to sit.  We shared a pasta bolognese salad and drink for $12.50.  Way better.  It was pretty good.  We met the group and then went off walking through the old town.  Bern is really amazing with lots of beautiful architecture.  We stopped at the clock tower that apparently prompted Albert Einstein  to come up with the theory of relativity.  We jumped on a bus to go to the Paul Klee museum.  I had interest in this mostly because of the architect that designed the museum, Renzo Piano.  It was amazing, but the weather was terrible - think sideways, wreck your umbrella wind and rain.  The art of Paul Klee, the Swiss' favorite artist is fairly marginal to me.  I was quietly looking at it trying not to exclaim that I did virtually all of his drawings when I was in kindergarten.  Apparently everyone of his drawings and paintings can call over $1 million.  Now that is crazy.  We had time after that to explore the city.  We saw the bears by the river - Bern is for "bear"..
Konrad and I walked around downtown and then went to the fine arts museum.  Now that is art, Manet, Cezanne, Guagin, Momet, Picasso, Chagill and all the other artists I remember from playing masterpiece.  HAHA.   Then we went over to the shopping area, which is long boulevards with covered loggias.  Really nice for rain.  We went in a shoe store and a really cool book and paper store.  I bought some black paper for my sketching assignment.  Getting nervous about that.  We got on the train at 5:00 and were home for dinner at 7:30.  The train rides are long but I don't mind them because I get my homework done and have time to discuss the day with Konrad.  A good day.

June 12 Dornach

Super rainy day and we rode the train (with connections) all the way to Dornach, which is just south of Basel (near Germany)  We went to visit Rudolf Steiner's center for the anthroposophical movement.  He was a philosopher, social thinker, architect and esotericist.  Can you say WIERD?  He built a building called the Goetheanum for learning and performing arts.  We had a tour and we got to sit in on a eurythmy dance.  Eurythmy dance involves people dressed in white gowns with flowing gossamer scarves moving their arms to different heights according to the notes in the music.  Interesting and super crazy.  The really liked the architecture of the building.  It was built in 1924 and it is completely modern and cool.  We were to explore different design thinking.  It had some really strange and (to me - amateur) stained glass.  The tour guide kept talking about numbers and their importance to everything we saw.  I thought the building was really amazing.  Inside the doors were asymmetrical and had giant carved handles.  So different than anything I have ever seen.

June 11 Broc-Fabrique

Woke up to a herd of cows and their bells walking right outside my window. We didnt have to be up too early, I was glad for that because I was still kind of sick.  We headed out to Broc.  IT is a small  town with the Cailler Chocolate Factory.  It is owned my Nestle and makes a lot of the chocolate consumed here in Switzerland.  We have a group project to help with one of their lines of chocolate.  We have been assigned to groups to rebrand, help  with marketing ideas,  etc.  The Cailler people  are coming to  our hotel next week for our presentations.  We had to catch 4 different trains but the scenery on the way up was just amazing.  The chocolate factory experience was not too far from Willy Wonka.  Think walking through automatic rooms with Disneyland  like displays,  music and animations.  Super  cheesy.  It told the story of the history of chocolate and the Cailler family.   You end up in the factory seeing the candy being made and then you end up in a room  with all  their chocolates and you can eat as much as you want.
  I started to feel sick half way around the table.  I could not believe how much chocolate some of the students ate.  Then I  couldn't believe how much chocolate some of the students bought!! When we got  back to the hotel they assigned us our groups for the project.  I  was voted the leader of the group.  Mostly to communicate with the other groups.  Thankfully I dont have to present next week!tasting room

June 10 Sick in Bed

I actually did not leave the apartment all  Sunday.  Dripping nose and eyes.  Konrad and I listened to 2 conference talks and I tried to sleep.  I felt lucky that it was my day off, at least I didnt miss anything.  It was fun to skype with Audrey and Alison.  We miss  everyone so much.  Especially James

June 9 Lausanne

It was a bright and sunny today and we got on the train early.  Lausanne isnt too far from Leysin so we would have a shorter ride.  Lausanne is a beautiful city on Lake Geneva.  We first rode the metro up the hill to the Rolex Center, which is built on the EPFL campus as a library, cultural hub for public and students.      rolexlearningcenter.epfl.ch   

Our assignment was to study the design.  It is very modern and new in concept.  There is giant ramping in place of stairs.  The first thought I had was I would like to roll down that.  One of the students dared me so I did but accidently the director of our program saw me and apparently had to tell the security I was special needs or something.  At least I can use the special  needs toilets legitamately now.  Some of the kids videotaped me so it will probably turn up on youtube.  Hope not.   I didnt think it was a big deal because no one was around.   After the Rolex Center we went to the old part of town.  Since it was Saturday, there were open air markets everywhere.  Everyone was giving samples,  mangoes, nuts, cheese, bread, olives.  We walked for quite a while through all the stalls.  Konrad and I picked up a calzone and a pretzel hotdog.  Both marginal.  We found a street flea market and browsed through it.   It was interesting to see European junk compared to American junk.  Just more expensive in Switzerland.  I  saw two Bernina sewing machines.  Konrad bought a little leather key and change holder.  We had an appointment to be in the cathedral at 2.  This is the biggest cathedral in Switzerland. There is an incredible organ and the main organist arranged to give us a tour of the organ loft and give us an organ concert.  Absolutely  amazing to go up the turrets into the tower with the organ.  The concert was amazing too.  I was started to feel sick so I knew the cold was coming on, as many in the group have had it.  So now I was getting it.  We spent quite a long time at the cathedral and then took  in a contemporary graphic design museum.   After that, we walked down the hill, rather than take the metro and met the train.