really national holiday!

As everything has to be written in 3 official languages, tomorrow, August 1st, is the Swiss National Day (i.e. Schweizer Bundesfeier; Fête nationale Suisse; Festa nazionale Svizzera; and in the less 'famous' language the Romash: Fiasta naziunala Svizra).

The whole country gathers in public places around bonfires and listens to speeches about the independence of the country from the Austrian rulers, which started with the Grütli Pact of 1291.It was first celebrated in 1890 in Berne to celebrate the 600 years of the happening. As part of the Swiss culture, in 1994 it was declared official national holiday with a voting session.

This important day is celebrated solely in the municipalities. Only one radio and television broadcast a speech by the President of the Confederation currently in office reminds the Swiss that their cities are united in cantons, which in turn makes the Helvetic Confederation. If it’s true that you can judge a country’s image of itself by its National Day, then Switzerland definitely offers a relaxing sight. No military parades and no grandiose speeches on Lebensraum. Thought-provoking words from an eminent cultural or political speaker, songs and music, gymnastic shows and group performances of the Swiss national anthem are the traditional elements of the holiday.

Even the bakers get involved, decorating their rolls of bread with little Swiss flags.
BArbecue meat remembering the big day, what is the white cross made of?

Fireworks
Swiss eggs, what they represent?

Many municipalities set off fireworks, and these spectacular light shows are often ignited from the mountains and hills. They serve as a reminder of the expulsion of the foreign invaders since it was announced in this very way. The children march through the streets at dusk with candle-lit Chinese lanterns. Flags with the arms of the Confederation, the canton and the municipality fly proudly above public and private buildings alike. The holiday takes on a whole new dimension at Neuhausen am Rheinfall in the Canton of Schaffhouse, with the illumination of the 25-meter high Rhine waterfalls.

This extravaganza is completed by a great fireworks display that draws throngs of spectators with their music and the national anthem animating the evening.

So, see you tomorrow by the lake Geneva trying to catch any glimpse of the fireworks if the big crowd allows me.

Source: wikipedia, migros

Swisses and supermarkets...

It is a fact, the wallet of Swiss person is full, what means, very thick! Well, it doens't mean it is full of money and credit cards, but in fact, full of supermarket chain fidelity cards.

Here and in France, probably in other countries around as well, you can sign for a fidelity card from the supermarket you usually shop. They give you the possibility of collecting points that later give you the right to use then for buying other products or even getting a discount in your bill.

When I say discount, it is not a 3-7 fr discount, but it can reach even 20 fr by the end of the month. Not a bad business, don't you think?

MOst of the supermarkets have it: Coop, Migros, Carrefour ( I know, this one is French..., but a lot of Swisses go there). And if you subscribe for a card here, it can be used in the network in the whole country and in its shop whatever it is, with some exceptions.

Another interesting topic for supermarkets here is the label of the products. Remember I already mentioned about how many official languages are used in the country? So, a product here, even if it is imported, has bit of information in how many languages, even if it is a match box? Yes, that's right! Amazing, no? It is really nice to see how integrated the different regions of the country are, even though not all of them speak the same language and sometimes have to communicate with each other in English! (From these, I think the English language is missing since, at least here in Geneva, lots of foreigners don't speak any of the local languages!)



What an amazing country this is!

Soon I will be back from Budapest to write more. By now looks like the entire country is on vacation, the gare (train stations) are quite empty as well as restaurants....meanwhile, pubs and department stores are full of people spending their saved money and tourists!!

See you around in the picnic mat right besides you!

Why to hate the 'Tour de France'?

Sunday in Switzerland is holy. You cannot work, it is not allowed, unless you have permission. Can't use the lawn mower, not good if you put your clothes to dry outside, not good if you sew, and so on.

Sunday here is a day to enjoy family, visit friends, make barbecue, go making tourism related things, like discover new cities. And that is what we tried to do!

We left on Sunday morning to check Montreux, fantastic little bourgeois city as I already mentioned before. Then we checked the Chateau de Chillon, that beautiful castle at the Lac Léman shore which still keep some of the 16th 17th century characteristics. Also we tried to visit the other castle in our route, the castle in the Gruyere city. And this is when all went wrong.

From Chillon there is not so far, maybe 30-40 km. On the way there one of the main roads was closed. We saw some policemen and thought maybe an accident. So we asked Ms. GPS to direct us through another way. Which was also closed and so was another and other and other....
We saw some decorated cars passing with giant advertisements in it and al the stuff. We even tried to use an option our Ms. GPS contains, a system that tells which roads are closed and some of this modernities. But here in this Swiss area that does not work, why? We don't know. In the German Switzerland it works great and it even says for how long we gonna fry there under the hot sun.

THen we realized that by the amount of French cars and some bikers (there were not so many Swiss around) we understood what that was. The 'Tour de France'. And all roads connecting to our target were closed, at least after we look for 1h we could not find any that wasn't.


And this was how we ended up our little trip. Abandoned the idea of climbing to the castle and lunch all those marvelous fondues and meringues. All roads interdicted and no explanation or somebody to give an information so far. And so did most of the tourists who were driving around like us looking like drunk cockroaches like us looking for a way to the castle. ANother option was to wait 3 hours for the thing to be opened, but after you already detest it, why to stay?

And this is how we all came to hate the bad organization and closed roads to our destination of the Tour de France, that by the way had just information written in German and French, but not in English on the Gruyere tourist info site.

little Swiss plant...

Walking around the lake, close to the Saugy Chateau in Genthod commune we found this interesting plant...
Though I am a biologist, I usually defend myself saying I am a histologist, I have never seen this bizarre little plant before....

Does somebody knows what is this? Interesting no? And mostly on shadowy places.

Let's go trekking!

The first time I saw them was in the garden of the Schönbrun Castle in Vienna when I was there for a Genetics Conference in 2004. At first I told my friend and colleague Lilla: "how weird, maybe these people have kind of a walking disorder and they need that cane to walk". But after a while, I realized almost everybody had one. It was verrrry interesting to us. Then it became a common thing, even in Hungary.

The famous trekking poles, even used in asphalt!

Now I know they are called Trekking Poles and they are used in hiking to provide stability. So, next time you go for a walk on the mountains don't forget those walking sticks of yours and to avoid carrying all that extra wait you always have to bring you can use the latest trend on trekking: rent a goat.


They can carry until 40kg more than their body wait; you dont need to bring a lot of food for them cause they can eat a bit here and there; they are also quite friendly and some trained goats can even be trained. I heard you just have to take care because they can start following other groups, so not so faithful.

Have fun.

Source: www.20min.ch

Cinema....popcorn

This weekend we watched one of the best films ever. Nowadays it is very rare if we can classify like this a film.

It is called in English, since it is Swedish "Let the right one in" (Låt den rätte komma in, as original title).

It tells the story of Oskar and the problems a 12-year-old boy can have with divorced parents, alcoholic father, workaholic mother and who is also bullied in the school.

One night in the snowy playground with his Rubik cube he meets Eli, a different and defying girl 'almost' his age who just moved to his apartment building. Attracted by puzzles Eli starts talking to Oskar and since then their lives will never be the same. She helps him improve against the bulliers and he becomes a friend.


Based on the book with the same name written by John Ajvide Lindqvist and directed by Thomas Alfredson, 'Let the right one in' takes place in the suburbs of Stockolm during an ice cold winter and shows how a little vampire can survive so young. It can be a bit slow if you are used to Luc Benson's films, but it is rather compensating for it. It drags you inside its dark world and makes you see the nice 'love' story formed from loneliness, friendship and loyalty between two pre-adolescents. It also needs to be payed lots of attention to the smart plot and details behind the scenes. In my opinion, one of the most involving parts is when he discovers her secret and his 'love' for her wins over his fear.

Why it didn't run for the 2008 Oscar of foreign film? I think it could had won it. Simplier than the nowadays vampire films, though with more soul it is reaaaaalllllly good and it is worth watching this chilli child fairytale...

http://www.lettherightoneinmovie.com/

Keeping it hot...

Calm down! The Montreux post has a continuation! here it is:

After Montreux we headed to the only reason why Miki came to Switzerland: the Alien bar! Yes, you can find one there and of course not only that. At the top of the not so high mountain, the medieval city of Gruyère and its castle is one of the few cities from that age that are still up. Formed of moody stony streets and restaurants with Alpine decorations and delicious meals, like the typical fondue.

The main street of the middle-age city of Gruyere and the castle towers on right at the end and...

The Gruyere chateau!

Small shops sell the gruyère cheese, folklore articles, and the fantastic 'Crème double de la Gruyère avec meringues', nothing but a creamy cheese cream with meringues, a famous Swiss dessert around here which I learned with my hungarian-suisse friend Andi.

plus

meringues, the perfect marriage (one of my passions besides chocolate!)

Also, if you are a cheese addicted like us, you might have already heard the name Gruyère before. Yes, that is it. The Swiss gruyère, a cheese of unique taste is produced not far from the castle and the factory can be visited. Another attraction for us.

THE Gruyère cheese.

Then, after checking the delightful little shops we went to look for the bar. And there it was, right besides the museum with the same topic! Amazing figures and also the public inside. We had to enter and taste an alien drink. It was very good and not necessarily more expensive than a normal coffee shop! We enjoyed a lot!

This I copied from the bar site...it is just awesome:

"MUSEUM HR GIGER BAR (Giger was the creator of the alien style!)
in Château St. Germain, Gruyères, Switzerland

The interior of the otherworldly environment that is the H.R. Giger Museum Bar is a cavernous, skeletal structure covered by double arches of vertebrae that crisscross the vaulted ceiling of an ancient castle. The sensation of being in this extraordinary setting recalls the tale of Jonah and the whale, lending the feel of being literally in the belly of a fossilized, prehistoric beast, or that
you have been transported into the remains of a mutated future civilization. "

THe Alien bar interior and...... me frightened in the Alien chair!

It really deserves a visit if one is around there. After the coffee, up to the castle, there was some presentation going on and they were shooting "cannons" probably against the invaders with all those middle-age dresses and guards. We could walk around them and discovered mountains all around it with funiculars that go 2000 m high! That deserves a better visit to be made not so far away!

It was a memorable weekend!

Sources: wikipedia, Gruyere tourism site, Giger museum bar