Uf Wiederluege mitenand!

So, this is the 79th and last entry that you will recieve from the alpine:penguin. It's been at once a long and a short year. It's gone incredibly quickly, looking back on it. I have met some amazing people, been to some amazing places and drank an amazing amount of Oettinger. I started the year with vague plans of what to do after it, and am finishing about to move in with the boyfriend and start to study an MA in German and Dutch C20th literature.

Switzerland is a strange little place. Before I arrived I only had a vague knowledge and little understanding. Whilst my knowledge has vastly improved, my understanding hasn't; it seems that here you solve one mystery whilst unravelling a dozen more.

If you wish to keep reading, you'll find me over at heretu.wordpress.com

Adieu.

Fast am Ende

The Birsköpfli

My time in Switzerland is almost up, dear readers! However, that hasn't really inspired me to travel the length and breadth of the land to see as much as possible before I leave; rather it has made me remain largely in Basel to enjoy the city as much as possible before I leave. And temperatures in the mid 30s has helped this a lot.

I did go to Vaduz, though. There isn't much to do there, and it rained so much I didn't dare take my camera out of my bag, so no photos from then.

However, I do have photos from Neuchatal, where Matt and I went last Friday. It is down in Romandie and is apparently the most-French town in Switzerland. It had a lovely, relaxed atmosphere and the buildings are a beautiful, golden colour. We lazed by the lake, explored the Old Town and soaked in the atmosphere. It was a lovely day.

The Lake at Neuchatal

Inspired by being in French-speaking areas, and forced to be by my mentor teacher, I cycled from Mulhouse to Basel on Saturday. It's only 25km, I know, but I am not a big cyclist and am, well, quite inactive, apart from the odd hike here and there. But I did it, and the route was quite nice- along a canal and then the Rhine down into Basel. We passed farmhouses and canal buildings and some lock gates designed by Le Corbusier, which was fun.

Gonzen

The Rhine Valley, as seen from Gonzen

Gonzen is a mountain that looms 1,830m above the town of Sargans, in eastern Switzerland. As I was there for a party last evening, me and a friend decided to go for a hike around the town during the day, and ended up walking about half-way up the Gonzen, to a height of 1,100m, through the forest.

I'm not going to lie, it was hard work. The first section was ridiculously steep and very very hot; we had to take a bit of a break on a bench and watch numerous older people tackle the path with ease whilst we floundered. But once we got further up, the path levelled out a bit and took a steady route upwards, curling around the west side of the mountain, giving us views over the Rhine valley and down over Vaduz and into Liechtenstein.

Fortunately the weather was good the whole time, neither of us burnt and so far neither of us has found a tick. Good times. However, we have both been bitten by the Wanderung-tick, and are heading back to them there hills tomorrow to tackle another hike.

Kanton Jura

The town hall in Porrentruy

Jura is the youngest of the Swiss cantons. It was only founded in 1979. Originally, it was made part of Bern by Napoleon, but the people of the Jura were unhappy with this, being Catholic and French-speaking, whereas the Bernese are German-speaking and mainly Protestant. Leading up to the end of the 70s, there was an independence campaign that included some arson attacks, and the country voted in 1978 on whether to create a new canton.

The view from the chapel we walked to above Delemont

This weekend I had a visitor, and on Sunday we decided to take his car out for a drive, first to Delemont, the cantonal capital, and then on to Porrentruy, another town close to the border with France. It took us about forty minutes to drive from Basel, and we went for a walk up a hill to a Church above Delemont, and then in Porrentruy we wandered around the town and then checked out the castle. It was very nice, very warm, and very French.

Chillon

Lake Geneva as seen from Ouchy

Ok. I know that this is a hugely delayed post, but I haven't really had the inspiration to update this in the last week or so. Matt is now back home and the weather is still baking hot. Whilst he was here we spent most of our time sunning by the Rhine, drinking beer and reading / doing crosswords. It was really nice. People have now started swimming in the river again, and on Friday I bought a pair of swimming shorts. There is a plan with my flat to go and barbecue on Thursday by the river and perhaps go for a swim. We shall, because it's raining and a chilly 21c today (yesterday it was just over 30c...).

Anyway, while Matt was here we also went for an overnight stay in Lausanne, down on Lake Geneva. It rained a lot on the Saturday so we sheltered in bars, but on the Sunday it was mostly nice again so we went down to the Lake for a wander and visited the Olympics museum, which was actually very interesting.

Then we got the train to Montreux and from there a boat to Chillon, which is an amazing castle perched in the lake. You may have heard of it because it inspired Byron to write the poem "The Prisoner of Chillon", and one of the pillars in the dungeon has his name carved into it. Whilst we were looking round there was a thunderstorm, which added to the atmosphere perfectly.

Chillon, as seen from the ferry

Zermatt

The weekend was more awesome than I expected. I got the train over to Sargans on Friday night and stayed over at Becky's house and had a catch-up and drank some wine before going to bed. Saturday morning we got the train to Chur and then got on the Glacier Express to Zermatt. The whole point was the journey, and it was amazing. We started by going through the Rhine gorge, following the river as the altitude rose; then we had a break at Disentis before travelling on to the Oberalppass, which is at 2033m- there was still snow everywhere and the lake that is the source of the Rhine was still partially-frozen. Then we descended through the Rhone valley to Visp before climbing back to 1604m to Zermatt where we stayed over in an amazing hotel.

This morning we got up and ate breakfast, then tried to go up to the Klein Matterhorn, but because of cloud decided to go up the Gornergrat on a cog-wheel railway instead. It was quite scary to go over bridges over gorges that dropped hundreds of metres below us, but on the top it was amazing. Glaciers and snow and views across to the Matterhorn .. I can't describe how cool it was to be sat up there at 3100 metres and drink a beer...

Terug

So I'm back from my jaunts around Western Europe. Is the world a better place because of this? I'd like to think so.

First stop was Brussels, where my time was spent drinking, dancing, attempting to speak Dutch, lazing around in parks and having a good, ol' Sheffield-style weekend. It was immense. Perhaps it was made even better by the fact that I've been to Brussels before and that we did nothing touristy at all; in fact, I think you had to have a local with you to find some of the places- they were literally just doorbells next to unmarked doors with clubs behind them. Drag queen clubs.

Then I got the eurostar to London and spent a wonderful week there, too, marvelling at the flags strung up on Regent Street and avoiding the wedding like the plague (we went for coffee during the first showing, and got drunk during the second) ... wish I'd known about the republican street parties!

Vorwärts!

Since the last time I posted, I have done very little, aside from melting and whimpering in the supermarket because the air-con is on. I hope this is a blip OR that I will get used to the heat before the summer starts.

I also finished reading the book Stiller by Max Frisch. It was a little bit good, and finishing it means that I can start a new one on the train tomorrow...

... which is when I go to Brüssel and then to London. VERY excited.

See you afterwards!

Osterkuchen

After the success of the countless cupcakes and the Christmas cake, I thought I would also turn my hand to making a simnel cake for the flat. Of course I knew that cooking a whole simnel cake would take hours and, unlike the welcome fug a Christmas cake makes in the winter, the weather's been too hot to have the oven going for hours. So I baked cupcake-sized simnel cakes (minus the traditional decoration, because I couldn't be bothered and the Swiss don't know any differently...) I'm pleased with the results.

In other news I didn't get my fees-thingy from Sheffield so will have to pay 4.2k for my masters next year. I made myself better by going for delicious vegetarian food at lunch time, buying wine for with dinner and listening to Adele on repeat...

Eine Wanderung

Two of my fellow Sheffield alumni (one a former house-mate) have been visiting Basel this weekend and I've had some time to hang out a little bit with them yesterday and this evening. Yesterday we arranged a little walk- nothing too strenuous and also close to Basel. We headed to Frick (lols) and walked up the Thiersteinberg, all 750m of it... which seems more impressive to an English person than a Swiss. Still, rolling hills, views to the Black Forest and Rhine to the north, and time spent in the fresh air. I took some pictures, and look like a lobster. It was an afternoon well spent.

Schon Wieder Da

I'm back in Switzerland after a wonderful weekend in Sheffield. I was attending a wedding and spent that day basking in the sun, drinking champagne and devouring food from a double Michelin starred restaurant, washing the whole down with lots of wine. The day was really nice, and everything went perfectly (and wasn't at all hindered by my help; I had to dry the flowers...).

On Saturday I also got to see Jules and Big P (Hello!) and Elaine and Belino (Hello!?) for some drinks and food. It was great catching up and having things paid for. The evening M and I did a mini pub-crawl through some of Sheffield's less well-known but still good establishments.

Sunday we went for a drive and lunch in the Peak District, and then dealt with separation anxiety.

Back at work for this week though Easter holidays start on Friday- two fellow Sheffield allumni are coming for a visit and to go for a hike in the countryside around Basel. I also think I am cooking for them. It should be nice. Otherwise, trying to think of a way to spend the early part of next week, before I train off to Brussels!

Kreuzworträtsel

My bag is packed full of books and Ricola and Swiss fizzy sweets. In about twenty minutes I need to leave the flat to catch a train to take a plane and then a train to Sheffield (check out that metre) for the weekend; I'm heading back for a wedding, and hopefully to see a couple of Sheffield people (legends?) at the same time. It'll be nice to be back (I just hope the weather's as nice as it is here).

Thought I'd also take the opportunity to share with you my new hobby: cryptic crosswords. This isn't too bad considering I hadn't got a clue what they were getting at on Saturday. Gäll?

SVP Dummheiten

Today in the Tages Anzeiger:

Wie ernst die Parteien Fukushima heute nehmen, zeigt sich daran, dass unterdessen sogar die SVP das Thema auf ihre Mühle umzuleiten versucht ... Ohne die Einwanderung der letzten Jahre, so geht Ihr Argument, könnte man Mühleberg abschlaten, dessen Strom würde nicht benötigt.

That the parties are taking Fukushima seriously is evidenced by that fact that even the SVP has tried to turn it to their advantage ... They claim that, without the immigration of recent years, one would have been able to shut down Mühleberg [the oldest Swiss power station, which was built in the late 60s], because the electricity it produces would not have been needed.

What a load of bollocks.

Kuchen mit Schoggi-Frosting

We got two new flatmates today and as part of making them feel welcome I thought I would make some cupcakes. My go-to recipe at the moment is the very simple vanilla cupcake recipe found in Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Don't let the word vegan put you off, though; they are light and fluffy and you can really taste the vanilla in them. Sometimes, though, a mound of American-style "frosting" can prove to be a little bit too much- it's very very sweet. So yesterday I decided to tone it down a little bit and mixed a good quantity of cocoa powder in with it. It worked, and they were a success this afternoon.

In other news, Spring is now here in full-force. There are blossoms and flowers and countless magnolia trees everywhere. Today I saw a bee. And a butterfly. It's nice. It has also inspired me to start on a summer project: operation cryptic crosswords. So far I still have no clue, but persevere I shall!

Kernenergie

Whilst the crisis at the Fukushima station in Japan continued to rage on the other side of the globe, two elections took place close to Basel: one in Basel-Land and one in the German state of Baden-Württemburg. In the former, the Green party places a representative into the Cantonal council, beating the SVP. In the latter, the Greens are now in position to be the leaders in a coalition alongside the Social Democrats, after 60 years of Christian Democrat rule.

Here in Switzerland many are pointing to the Japanese disaster as the reason behind these Green victories, rather than a sea-change in the political views of the voting public. This is probably the case, and no doubt the pan-European Anti Nuclear movement will gain more momentum before the storm clears in the Far East.

I get the feeling that, back in Britain, nuclear is at best a non-issue, at worst the lesser of two evils (the greater being the great, dirty coal-fuelled stations). Being from Hartlepool and having a parent who works in the power station (as well as my own previous employment there) I feel largely indifferent to the whole thing. At present, and at least until we invest enough in renewable sources of energy to make them a viable alternative, nuclear is the best we have. Much more important, in my opinion, is ending our reliance on foreign energy supplies.

Here in Switzerland the public and country are in a much better position to end the use of nuclear energy: the population is lower and the country needs less energy than Britain. There are plentiful alpine rivers waiting to be tapped as hydro-electric sources. Two of the cantons (Basel-Stadt and Geneva) have even included in their constitutions a ban on energy from nuclear sources- Basel is home to an impressive hydro-electric station that straddles the Rhine just to the east of the city. Finally, the people here have an option to actually do something about their relationship to nuclear energy.

I guess time will tell if Fukushima really has been the signal for the end of the atomic age.

Schwule in der Politik

It will come as no surprise to may of my faithful readers that I am gay. This is perhaps why I went for the monochrome of the penguin, it's classic style, rather than the flamboyance suggested by, say, alpine:flamingo. Not to mention that the penguin is my favourite animal. The mysterious, oft-mentioned M is also a boyfriend of almost nineteen months.

I knew that being in a relationship for so long was good for me, which is why I couldn't help feel a little bit smug amongst all of the anger when I read a story in the Tages Anzeiger today. According to the article, a memo amongst various members of the SVP over in Luzern which was penned by Emil Grabherr stated that homosexual men (no mention of women here) fit into three categories: die im ordentlicher Partnerschaft lebenden (those in a stable relationship), die männlichen Huren (male whores) and die unter keinem Titel akzeptierbaren Bubenschänder (paedophiles).

Thank God I'm in a relationship, eh?

Being in a country where the right has so much clout, it is often easy to feel smug about the situation at home where we haven't banned minarets and where we don't expel foreigners who commit crimes of any nature. Yet when it comes to gay rights and the current government, can we be so smug?

I glaub' net

Whilst the brief glimmer of same-sex marriages being legalised was left in turmoil last September, we should not let it cloud the fact that the current "progressive" government is largely made up (or should that be wholly?) by a party who carried Section 28 on high (prohibiting amongst other things, the promotion of homosexuality as an acceptable family model). Let us also not forget that our Equality Minister voted consistently against gay rights before receiving her current post. Nice gal.

Mailand

The Duomo

Did you know that there is a world south of the Alps? The Alpine Penguin had heard rumours that there was, so he decided to check it out along with M after the hectic days of carnival. So he got on the 11.30 train bound for Mailand (Milan) and arrived four or so hours later after a journey through the high-alps and along beautiful, Italian lakes.

Milan was a change after London and Basel. A new place, dirty and hectic in a different way, warm and humid(ish) and a language that was completely alien to both of us. We spent three nights there.

Castello Sforzesco

On the Friday, our first full day, we walked into the city, through the arcades and onto the huge square that stretches out before the squat duomo. We climbed the steps for views across the city. We walked along to the Castello Sforzesco and around the massive park behind it. We hunted (in vain) for a supermarket and instead plumped for delicious salads for lunch in the afternoon sun. We found the Scala opera house and walked along the streets of the "golden quarter", window-shopping from Prada, Dior, Armani.

On the Saturday we woke up and got into town at about eleven. We went first to the castle, because it housed a variety of museums (most shut), and we got to see some cool castle artefacts and a room that was painted by da Vinci himself. After a lunch of pasta we went first to an exhibition of Archimboldo (you know, the guy with the portraits made up of fruit and fish?) which was really interesting, then wandered more around the city. We had a couple of beers before heading back to the hotel where we waited out a giant thunderstorm.

It was still going on when we went out for a meal in a restaurant not too far from the hotel, on the Corso Como. It was our treat meal, and the food was excellent. A starter of home-made chicken live parfait on rye bread was followed by a wild boar stew served over creamy polenta. On the other side of the table this was mirrored by braised artichokes and olives and, sliced steak covered by a mountain of rucola and grana padano.

A view from the afternoon

The next day the weather had turned again, but it didn't matter- the views up and over the mountains and the tunnel under the Simplonpass were beautiful.

Fasnacht

So, die drie scheentste Dääg have been and gone in Basel. Waking up after the Morgestraich to bright, blue skies and a warm temperature certainly put us in the mood to spend the afternoon watching the first parade. We got a good spot on the Wettsteinbrücke and watched the crowds assemble. At half-one the piccolo and drums started up again and for four hours we watched the cliques parade past. The Sujet included such diverse topics as Lady Gaga, Women in Power and the Burkha-isation of Switzerland.

There were also several groups of Guggemusik performers - deliberately out of tune brass bands with drums and xylophones who marched with the more traditional groups. Some of their instruments looked very heavy.

Special mention should also go to the Waggis. Waggis was originally the word used for the people from Alsace who came to Basel to sell fruit and veg at market. Now it is more about the character that is based on them: he has a big nose, wild hair and giant teeth; he throws sweets or oranges or flowers to the crowd if he feels in a good mood; if not he throws confetti at them. My best "gift" was a glass of wine; a woman next to me was given a chicken leg (raw, de-feathered and complete with foot).

On the Tuesday there wasn't an official parade, but many of the groups took part in gassle, which is the meandering through the alleys of the Old Town playing music, followed by groups of people. Children were also dressed up to take part, and gave out sweets and confetti like the Waggis the day before. We had a lucky escape- only once were we confetti'ed.

By Wednesday the weather had turned for the worse so we gave the second parade, in similar vain to that on the Monday afternoon, a miss, though they were still going strong when we ventured into town for a beer later in the day...

Morgestraich

I arrived back on Swiss soil last night after being in London for the first nine days of the Fasnachtsferien. Rather than getting a night's sleep like I would normally have done, I ate dinner with my housemates a 11.30 pm before spending the next three hours playing cards and drinking wine and coffee. But why? Well, this morning at 4am Basel's Fasnacht started with a parade of the Cliquen (carnival groups) through the Old Town. As the clock struck four the city's lights were all extinguished and the parade was lit by hundreds of large lanterns representing the sujet (theme) that the group had chosen for this year, and countless individual lanterns mounted on top of the masks worn by the drum and piccolo players of the groups.

For the next seventy-two hours it's Fasnacht in Basel.

Fasnachtsplakette

Not much has been going on this week to report- as of Friday the school is on holiday for two weeks and everything is winding down (in one lesson today we learnt about sushi and then made it; tomorrow I am giving a presentation on Hartlepool). Thing are gearing up in the city, though. A week on Monday is the first day of Basel's Fasnacht, or carnival. It's a big deal here.

The first Fasnachts curiosity I would like to present you are the Fasnachtsplakette. They're small badges that represent the theme of the year's carnival, and are made in various metals and sold to the public to raise money for the carnival. If you are wearing one during the carnival, I am told, then you are less likely to be covered in a bucket of confetti or have fruit thrown at you from one of the floats.

The theme this year is Zämme fägts, and (very) roughly translated it means that whilst each individual takes part in carnival, they also form part of the whole, hence them being shaped like a jigsaw piece. What a lovely image. According to this article in the Basler Zeitung, it can also be seen as a call to the governments of the two Basels or to the federal government, aimed at working together more. As this was published in December last year, they seem to be much better at political commentary than I am. It is also where I found the picture of the badges.

I have two pretty little badges on my shelf, waiting for carnival. They're also a nice souvenir.

More Fasnachts-tales will be winging your way over the next two weeks or so, even though the Penguin is off to the motherland on Friday.