Towers Of Beer

Over the course of my two years in Geneva, I had several occasions to visit Les Brasseurs, a microbrewery with four locations in the region. Not only is their beer great (especially the amber), but they serve it in a way not uncommon in many European nations: by the yard. Yes, Les Brasseurs specializes in towers of beer. I know I mentioned this practice at least once before, when Joe came through last summer, but the sheer glory of it cannot be understated. Thankfully, I had a final opportunity to enjoy one with some friends a few weeks before departing.

Behold, the tower of beer:

Eurocup 2008

If there’s one thing Europeans (and just about all the world outside America) love, it’s football (soccer). Unfortunately, I arrived a few months too late in 2006 to experience the excitement of that year’s World Cup. However, this summer has almost made up with the 2008 Eurocup being hosted in Switzerland and Austria. For my fellow Americans, the Eurocup is basically the same as the World Cup but on a smaller (read: European-only) scale. And the Europeans take it just as seriously. Play kicked off on June 7th and concludes on the 29th.

Geneva is one of Switzerland’s host cities (along with Basel, Bern and Zurich) and hosted three games in the first round. Thus, there has been no end of football fervor over the past few months. Several of Geneva’s key monuments have been refitted for the occasion and our town is home to the country’s largest “Fanzone” (basically an off-site viewing center for the games that includes giant screens and sound plus plenty of food and beer).

Thus far, I’ve experienced the tournament in a variety of ways. Traveling through Basel on the day of the first Swiss match, witnessing hordes of orange-clad Dutchmen descending upon Bern while changing trains there, seeing Spain triumph over Sweden at a bar in Barcelona, watching Germany conquer Portugal at the Fanzone, and of course plenty of other matches from the comfort of my own apartment. It’s been an exciting time thus far, even if England didn’t make the tournament and Switzerland didn’t make it through Round 1.

Some photos of the madness:

Swiss fans gather in Basel’s train station on the day of Switzerland’s first match





Giant viewing screen in Basel’s town center


Geneva’s Jet d’Eau (or “big old geyser,” according to Emily Verba) gets outfitted with a giant 200,000+CHF football for the occasion. As if that weren’t enough, the thing popped a few weeks back and they actually returned it to the UK for an 80,000 pound repair…


Geneva’s Flower Clock gets an equally exciting treatment


The host city icon for Geneva


Geneva’s Fanzone at Planpalais


Germany and Portugal duke it out on the big screen


Portion of the massive crowd. There are an inordinate amount of Portuguese people in Geneva (and Switzerland in general) so their fanbase is pretty big here.

Who’ll win the whole thing? It’s been pretty unpredictable so far, but I think undefeated Spain could be a nice surprise champion. Time will tell.

What Would Rick Steves Do?

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of hosting Adam and Julie who came through Switzerland over Julie’s teaching break on their way to Austria. I took a day off work and we spent the long weekend making our way to Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen, two place I’d heard a lot about over the past 20 months but had yet to visit. Interlaken is a destination for outdoor sports enthusiasts and Lauterbrunnen is known for its waterfalls and beautiful scenery.

Lauterbrunnen
We spent Sunday hiking around Lauterbrunnen (though it was more on walking trails than actual hill climbing) and had pretty much perfect weather. The only slight disappointment was that we were ahead of season for Trümmelbach Falls, a collection of ten waterfalls inside of a mountain.

Here are some photos from our journey:






Adam and I are surprised to find Christmas in April (photo by Julie)


Julie and I chill by a creek (photo by Adam)


Authentic glacial spring water. It was fantastic — and none of us got sick!











On our hike out we had passed several small farms including many which sell “Alpine Cheese.” Of course, it being a Sunday in Switzerland, nothing was open. However, on our way back we saw a farmer baling hay and wondered aloud about the possibility of obtaining some cheese. After a couple moments of deliberation, Adam decided to approach the barn and made an inquiry. The man told us to go back a bit and up a short path to a nearby house. This was apparently his parents’ place and they would be the ones to ask. Fortunately, a little old Swiss German man was already outside and Adam made fine use of his high school German. We were invited to sit down while he went and cut us a wedge and some samples.

I always joke that from what I’ve seen of Rick Steves’ travel videos, he would have everyone go to a remote village somewhere, knock on a random door and invite himself in for dinner to get the most ‘authentic’ experience possible. This was our definitive Rick Steves moment. While we certainly didn’t impose, we were able to enjoy a nice little taste of the Swiss Alps.


Adam, awaiting cheese amidst some amazing scenery


Julie, awaiting some cheese with the housecat


we think these bells were awards – our host rang them all for us (photo by Julie)


Adam, the cheese guy and one enormous bell (photo by Julie)


the cheese was pretty great too

Interlaken
We arrived in Interlaken Sunday evening and found a place to grab some good Swiss German food (mainly rösti, which I think I’ve described before as glorified hashbrowns - but in a good way) for dinner. The next morning we awoke to lots a rain and explored the city while hoping for the clouds to part in time for our 3:00 paragliding appointment. Alas, it was not to be. Our guides even took us up the mountain to check on the conditions but determined we couldn’t make the leap. A bit disheartened, we resolved to reschedule for the future (currently set for late June). And the rain may have been a letdown, but it didn’t dampen our spirits too much.


Sunset over Interlaken (the night before the rain began)


Enjoying some local beer







Geneva
The only good thing about paragliding being cancelled was the chance to make it back to Geneva in time for Monday night Pub Quiz at Mr. Pickwick. The next day I was back at work, but Adam and Julie made it around the town to see all the landmarks (and fortunately had great weather). We capped off their visit with Tuesday Night Jazz at local music school AMR. All in all, a great time!


This trombonist reminded us of Adam Norman


…and we figured we should probably get some sort of pic with all three of us

US Economy + Swiss Standard of Living = Suck

It’s been a little while since I’ve actually described living in Geneva and Europe in general. These posts have more or less turned into a travelogue, which may be appropriate but isn’t entirely what I set out to do with this journal. Hopefully from time to time over my last 4 months or so here I’ll be able to do some more reflection on day-to-day life. Here’s one example.


{No actual dollars were harmed/defaced in the creation of this “graphic”}

I’ve complained before about how expensive Switzerland (and Geneva in particular is), but things have gotten a whole lot more ridiculous over the last few months. Yes, in the international economy the US Dollar has been hitting some all-time lows – especially versus the Euro and British Pound. When I arrived one dollar bought you 1.25 Swiss Francs. Now one dollar buys 1.02 Swiss Francs.

That’s almost parity, folks.

What this means is that this weekend when I went to McDonald’s (no, I’m not proud of it, but their beef quality standards are much higher here than at home) which is basically the cheapest food option in the city, it cost me about 3 times as much as home. Here’s the receipt as proof:

14.70 CHF = $14.40 US

If I’m not mistaken, this same meal (a Big ’N’ Tasty Extra Value Meal) costs somewhere between 4 to 5 bucks stateside. That is quite a mark-up.

I am reminded of this great SNL skit from a few years back. At the time it was funny and a bit quaint. Now, it’s a much bitterer pill to swallow.