Hello Switzerland Winter Issue 2012

ISSUE No 04/04 | WINTER 2012/2013 SWISS CULTURE | POLITICS | TOURISM | EVENTS

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Issue 4/4

Winter 2012/2013

Contents Hello Switzerland is an English-language magazine published 4 times a year as a service to the English-speaking community.

In this issue: Readers’ Pages

4

Santa Rules

6

A Taste of Home

8

It’s Your Turn to Speak Up

12

All Aboard in Winter

13

Supplying Supermarkets in the Alps

15

Basel Region Basel Roundup, The Nabateans of Petra

17

A Century of Music, Feeling at Home in Basel

21

Chasing Winter Blues Away, GGG Stadtbibliothek

22

Bern Region Bern Roundup, Don’t Let Date Night Slip

24

How an Art Museum Works, The Best Gipfeli in Bern, Restaurant

26

The FASC News Sheet

30

Hot Spots for Cold Days

31

Discover Switzerland: Museums

32

Romandie Region Romandie Roundup, The Last of the Night Watchmen

37

No Egos on the Mountain, The Beauty of Evolène

40

Zurich Region Zurich Roundup, My Girlfriend Guide

45

The Artist’s Reflection, Expat Women Entrepreneurs, Book Review

47

Zug/Lucerne Region Zug/Lucerne Roundup, Feeling foxy?, Rigi Kaltbad

50

Ticino Region Ticino Roundup, Monte Verità

53

Travel: Braunschweig

57

What’s Going On In Switzerland

58

Voluntary Organisations & Groups

61

Presenting partner:

Free Subscription www.helloswitzerland.ch All issues are now also available online To inform us of changes of mailing address, please contact: info@helloswitzerland.ch Editor-In-Chief Caroline Thonger +41 (0)79 874 5004 Caroline@helloswitzerland.ch Co-Editors Basel Anitra Green Anitra@helloswitzerland.ch Zurich, Zug, Lucerne Allison Turner Allison@helloswitzerland.ch Bern Querida Long Querida@helloswitzerland.ch Romandie Catherine Nelson-Pollard Catherine@helloswitzerland.ch Contributors Roger Bonner & Edi Barth, Anita Breland, Angelica Cipullo & Deja Rose, Olivia Coker, Faiz Kermani, Kurt Metz, Sarah Moore, Andrea Pilot, Rashida Rahim, Mary Seidler, Monika Teal, Elaine Vautier, René Welti, John Zimmer Cover photograph “Switzerland – The Greatest Country On God’s Earth!” © Tim Bulmer Publisher Hello Switzerland AG Advertising Lukas Hayoz / +41 (0)58 356 17 60 Lukas.Hayoz@helloswitzerland.ch Pre-press Layout & Printing Jordi AG – www.jordibelp.ch Distribution 16,000 copies all over Switzerland Deadline for the Spring Issue 20 January 2013

,QWHUQDWLRQDO 0RYHUV

6LQFH

www.roche.com

www.berneinvest.com

www.autociel.ch

www.aemovers.com.hk

“What is important to you, is important to us”

www.crownwms.com © The articles in Hello Switzerland may not be copied or reproduced in any form without the prior permission of Hello Switzerland AG or the author. Hello Switzerland accepts no responsibility for the views or opinions expressed by its writers.

Hello Switzerland is printed on paper from responsible sources and the CO2 its production causes is offset.

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„

“

A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

From the whole HELLO SWITZERLAND team This message comes with special thanks to all our contributors, who have played such a large part in our constant efforts to improve the magazine as a showcase for the expat community in Switzerland.

Editorial Dear Readers, In complete contrast to last year’s long and balmy autumn, at the time of writing winter has already made its presence felt, with snow falling as early as mid-October across much of Switzerland. The editorial team has therefore worked very hard on your behalf, to keep you informed about the wide range of activities and festivities taking place over the next three coldest months of the year.

The season starts in December with the abundance of Christmas markets all over Switzerland, colourfully described by each of our Regional editors. And EDUHO\ Âż YH ZHHNV DIWHU WKH 1HZ <HDU IHVWLYLWLHV LWÂśV WLPH WR FHOHEUDWH &DUQLYDO or Fasnacht in February â&#x20AC;&#x201C; each canton having their own traditions. A comprehensive list of events is included under the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Going On in Switzerlandâ&#x20AC;? section on p. 58.

This issue introduces our readers to some more Swiss characters with unusual jobs â&#x20AC;&#x201C; including the watchman of Lausanne Cathedral (p. 38), and an ecologist-turned-conference manager in the Ticino (p. 54). Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also an indepth interview with a British-born mountain guide living in Leysin (Vaud), who provides us with a wealth of sensible safety advice for winter sports (p. 40). True to our readersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; wishes, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve included an article on sourcing non-Swiss food, for those of you missing the taste of home (p. 8). We discover how supermarkets located in the remoter Alpine regions keep supplied, even in winter (p. 15); warm places to visit even on the coldest days (p. 31); and ZKHUH WR Âż QG WKH EHVW Gipfeli in Bern (p. 27).

Museums

32

Fasnacht

22

Winter Wonderland

24

Perhaps surprisingly to outsiders, Switzerland has almost more museums per FDSLWD WKDQ DQ\ZKHUH HOVH LQ WKH ZRUOG 2XU Âż YH SDJH IHDWXUH WDNHV WKH UHDGHU on a whirlwind tour around some of the more unusual Swiss museums (p. 32).

We hope you like the novel design of this issueâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s front cover. Full details of how this unique, hand-drawn map of Switzerland came about can be found on p. 4 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; together with a once-in-a-lifetime offer exclusive to our readers.

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve already said it at the top of this page, but from the whole Hello Switzerland Editorial Team, we wish you a Very Merry Christmas and an excellent and SURVSHURXV 1HZ <HDU

Caroline

caroline@helloswitzerland.ch

Compiled by Caroline Thonger

4

Readers’ Pages Unique map of Switzerland Sharon Vaz (British) and her friend Clair Schönholzer (Swiss) are an enterprising pair of mothers living in Zurich, both with young children attending local schools. Searching for something to keep themselves busy during the school day, they came up with the idea of sourcing products in the UK and selling WKHP RQOLQH LQ 6ZLW]HUODQG 7KHLU ¿ UVW item was a map of Switzerland – but with a difference. Sharon had already commissioned art pieces from artist Tim Bulmer. It seemed a great idea to produce a map of Switzerland, as the perfect souvenir for visitors to take home with them. Together they worked on the overall design, including what each canton was famous for. The result

Special offer!

Exclusive to Hello Switzerland readers: apply now to get your own copy of this fantastic, high quality “Bill+Bessie” map.

Special price: CHF 79.- instead of 95.-.

PICTURE-SHARING As it says on our homepage: Hello Switzerland is written by expats for expats living in Switzerland. Designed mainly for English speakers, the magazine contains features, articles and information to help expats feel at home in Switzerland.

was very successful, as can be seen on our front cover. What better way to plan your outings and discover more about Switzerland?

The map is selling well, with Sharon and Clair in discussion with the artist Tim Bulmer for more “Swissthemed” artwork – watch this space!

The Bill+Bessie shop is now open for business, and you can sign up for the newsletter to be kept up to date with the latest developments. Sharon and Clair would be delighted to receive suggestions or recommendations from our readers. www.billandbessie.com

Contact: info@helloswitzerland.ch *Offer ends 30 December 2012*

For more information about artist Tim Bulmer, see his website at: www.timbulmerartist.com

WINNERS of the Ovomaltine and Wenger Reader Competition

SWITZERLAND

(autumn 2012 issue)

An exclusive OVOMALTINE bag filled with deliciously tempting Swiss treats was won by: Magnusdottir from Uster / R L Mancebo from Basel / P Tompkin from Basel / F Barattini from Zürich / N Maru from Paudex

A WENGER SWISS ARMY KNIFE was won by: H Ozguven from Epalinges / P Popov from Basel / M Pivetta from Zurich / R Ursachi from Basel / S Layher from Oberglatt

Now a great idea has come from an avid reader to start a picture-sharing tool, which would greatly help us develop our own unique style.

Currently we are looking for an excellent quality spring front cover picture.

Send us your photo (at the latest by 30 January 2013) via www.wetransfer. com entering receiver email address info@helloswitzerland.ch and tell us your personal impressions of Switzerland. The winning picture (if selected as front cover) will receive a special voucher (for example for shopping or dinner) offered by Hello Switzerland.

If this experiment is successful, we’ll see if this picture-sharing tool can be advanced for the future.

JOB VACANCY: BASEL EDITOR Do you have any editing experience?

Are you an expat living in Basel? And would you like the opportunity to work with Hello Switzerland’s small but dedicated Editorial team? Applications are now open for the post of Basel Editor. For more information, send your details and full CV to: info@helloswitzerland.ch

5

Reader Outing to the Doubs On Saturday 15 September, around 50 eager readers of Hello Switzerland and their families gathered together just outside the charming mediaeval town of St-Ursanne, at the northern end of WKH 6ZLVV -XUD 1HVWOLQJ DPRQJ WKLFNO\ forested hills and steep limestone cliffs, it’s situated west of Delemont and to the north of the Jura Trois-Lacs or Drei-Seen-Land. We had come from all four corners of the Confederation to experience this nature park known as the Doubs. It’s a favourite area for hiking, horse-riding, mountain-biking and watersports in summer; crosscountry skiing and snowshoe-walking in winter.

The morning’s misty and drizzly conditions did nothing to dampen our spirits, as we followed our knowledgeable local guide on a two-hour walking tour around the town. We stood on the stone bridge over the River Doubs, which makes a loop by St-Ursanne

Reader Outing to the Doubs

(©Julie Collins Photography)

EHIRUH ÀRZLQJ LQWR )UDQFH $FFRUGLQJ to legend, this picturesque town was founded by a wandering Irish monk called St Ursinicus. Some of its steeplyroofed burgher houses date back to the 14th century. We had plenty of time to wander around the little cobbled streets, and explore the collegiate church with its stone cloisters.

Lunchtime involved a very companiable picnic organized by Jura Tourisme’s ORFDO RI¿FH :H DOO KHOSHG RXUVHOYHV WR generous portions of local cheese and dried meat arranged on a long table.

By early afternoon the weather had improved considerably, encouraging us onto the next part of the day’s activities: canoeing on the River Doubs. Groups of up to four (2 adults, 2 children) could ¿W LQWR WKH FKHHUIXOO\ \HOORZ FDQRHV ± each person provided with a safety vest. The river Treasure Hunt arranged

by Jura Tourisme created some riotous fun. By the time we were ready to take our leave, the entire group agreed this had been an energetic and enjoyable day of discovery.

More information on exploring this beautiful part of Switzerland can be found at: www.juratourisme.ch

Canoeing Fun

(©Julie Collins Photography)

Mediaeval St-Ursanne

Caroline

On page 35 of the autumn issue of the magazine, in our fivepage section on Switzerland’s Nature Parks, we erroneously described the “Juraparc” as the “Juraparc Vaudois”. We would like to point out that there are two completely distinct parks located in the Jura:

Parc Jura Vaudois, or the Jura Nature Park for the Vaudois Region, covers an area of more than 530 km2, representing over 18% of the land surface of the Canton of Vaud. Full details can be found on their website at: www.parcjuravaudois.ch

Juraparc is, as described in the article, an animal park situated near to Vallorbes. All relevant information can be found on their website: www.juraparc.ch

The Juraparc animal park was included in the article as being of particular interest to our readers with children. We recognise, however, that this animal park has nothing to do with “Swiss Nature Parks”, and apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

SWITZERLAND

ERRATUM

Contributed by Roger Bonner with illustration by Edi Barth

6

Santa Rules The sleigh goes here ...

D

uring our recent move to a lovely old apartment, my partner and I were surprised to learn that other new tenants â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an expat gentleman, Herr S Claus and his extended family â&#x20AC;&#x201C; would soon be moving into the building too. $V ZH EHJDQ WR SRULQJ RYHU WKH ÂżQH print of our copy of the Hausordnung â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the house rules stating what tenants PXVW GR DQG PRUH VSHFLÂżFDOO\ WKH many things theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not allowed to do â&#x20AC;&#x201C; we realised that we must have been given by mistake a set of house rules intended for our soon-to-be neighbours.

Although Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m certain the Claus family will enjoy the moderately temperate cliPDWH RI 6ZLW]HUODQG DQG WKH WD[ EHQHÂżWV offered to famous foreign residents, how will they react to these infamous house rules?

SWITZERLAND

The following House Rules must be strictly adhered to, for the sake of an orderly and peaceful coexistence: â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Mutual Consideration and Hausruhe WKLV LV D GLIÂżFXOW ZRUG WR WUDQVODWH maybe House Tranquillity): The singing of Christmas carols, the jingling and jangling of sleigh bells, as well as vocal emissions of â&#x20AC;&#x153;hoâ&#x20AC;Śhoâ&#x20AC;Śhoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;sâ&#x20AC;? must be at Zimmerlautstärke (room level), and are only allowed from 8:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 20:00, during which time windows must be closed. On Sundays and all holidays, including the twelve days of Christmas, the need for house tranquillity must in particular be respected.

The unwrapping of Christmas presents between 22:00 and 7:00 on any weekday is forbidden, as gift recipients may inadvertently emit loud whoops of joy. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Entrance: The tenant may enter the building only through designated entrances (for example, the main door), which must be locked from 22:00. The chimney does not constitute a designated entrance. Reindeer or any other antler-bearing tenants may enter the building only via the service entrance and must wipe their hooves beforehand.

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Stairwell, Hallways, Cellar, Lift and Locker Areas: Clothing items such as black boots and soft, velvety UHG VXLWV ZLWK Ă&#x20AC;XII\ ZKLWH WULP DUWLFOHV for grooming long silky white beards or reindeer with shiny red noses, and decorative elements such as jingle bells, Ă&#x20AC;DVKLQJ &KULVWPDV OLJKWV RU FKHDS VLOver tinsel may not be placed, mounted or stored for any period of time in the stairwell, hallways, cellars, lift or entryway. Elves and reindeer may not loiter, even quietly, in the hallways or FHOODU 1R WR\V PD\ EH PDGH ZUDSSHG or deposited for any period of time in any area commonly used by all tenants.

Toys may only be stored in the designated locker areas or on a sleigh.

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Sleigh Storage Area: Only sleighs with a valid Swiss licence plate may be stored in the section of the garage designated for that purpose. All snow must be removed beforehand to prevent the formation of puddles, which could GDPDJH WKH JDUDJH Ă&#x20AC;RRU 8QGHU QR circumstances may sleighs be parked on rooftops. Sleighs stored in any nondesignated area are in violation of this rule and shall be removed at the tenantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expense. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Laundry and Drying Room: The laundry and drying room may only be used on weekdays from 7:00 to 21:00.

6RIW YHOYHW\ UHG VXLWV ZLWK Ă&#x20AC;XII\ ZKLWH trim and elf apparel (no matter how

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Balconies and Gartensitzplatz: Elf-prancing and -dancing are only permitted on balconies and in the tenantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gartensitzplatz (tiny outdoor sitting areas). Christmas trees and lights may not extend beyond the perimeter of the tenantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s balcony or tiny outdoor sitting area. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Cleaning: Reindeer droppings deposited on the driveway, in front of main entrance, in the garage and especially on the roof must be removed immediately. Biodegradable plastic bags (green with red trim) must be used to collect droppings and bags must be deposed in designated organic waste bins. Used Christmas trees must be deposited on the kerb on designated pick-up day (this applies only to biodegradable trees). Trees made of plastic or metal must be stored in the tenantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s designated storage locker or brought to a designated recycling centre. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Trash Removal: Used wrapping paper, bows and ribbons may not be left on the balconies or Gartensitzplatz or stored in any common area. It is forbidden to dispose of Christmas lights in the normal trash bin. These must be brought to the locally designated recycling bin.

Additional Rules: Âą 1R &KULVWPDV WUHHV FUDFNHUV RU RUQDments may be thrown out of the window, and no red capes may be shaken out from the balcony or windows. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; When transporting sleighs, reindeer DQG SUHVHQWV WKH Ă&#x20AC;RRUV PXVW EH SURtected accordingly. Âą 5RRPV PXVW EH VXIÂżFLHQWO\ KHDWHG in winter (that is, a minimum of 12 C), even if the tenant is accustomed to a cooler temperature. The apartment must be regularly aired, especially if straw and reindeer fodder are present. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; With the exception of reindeer, no pets, including partridges in pear trees, turtle doves, French hens, calling birds, geese a-laying and swans a-swimming, are permitted.

â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Tenants are liable for any damage caused by not strictly observing these House Rules.

After carefully reading the House Rules, Herr S Claus apparently decided WR VWD\ LQ WKH FRROHU FOLPHV RI WKH 1RUWK Pole and continue paying his taxes Roger Bonner is a Swiss writer/ poet who runs a writing/editing business, Right Style. A collection of his funniest stories and columns entitled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Swiss Meâ&#x20AC;? (CHF 24.90), with illustrations

by Edi Barth, is available from Bergli Books Basel (www.bergli.ch), or bookshops throughout Switzerland. info@roger-bonner.ch www.roger-bonner.ch

there. He did send a note indicating he, his elves and reindeer would, however, come to Switzerland for their quick annual visit. They all wish us all a clean, orderly, and tranquil Merry Christmas at Zimmerlautstärke between 7:00 and 22:00 hours!

7

Need a cartoon for a birthday, anniversary or other event? Edi Barth, a Swiss/ American cartoonist /tattoo artist, will draw a witty cartoon (also in colour) of whatever subject you want for that special occasion. He is the author of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Menue Surpriseâ&#x20AC;? (www.boderverlag. ch). His cartoons and illustrations for ad campaigns have been published in many magazines and newspapers. edi.barth@bluewin.ch

Aviso Treuhand AG Telefon 061 227 94 00 Fax 061 227 94 10

Viaduktstrasse 65 / Pelikanweg 2 Postfach ¡ CH-4002 Basel e-Mail: info@aviso.ch Internet: www.aviso.ch

your fiduciary for all trustee services, such as: â&#x20AC;˘ tax consulting â&#x20AC;˘ accounting â&#x20AC;˘ insurance consultancy (independent from any insurance company) â&#x20AC;˘ social security â&#x20AC;˘ inheritance matters We look forward to serving you.

Please contact us for more details.

Member of the Swiss Institute of Certified Accountants and Tax Consultants

SWITZERLAND

small or cute) may not be hung out to dry on Sundays and holidays. The laundry room may not be used to clean sleighs or reindeer.

Contributed by Elaine Vautier

8

A Taste of Home Sourcing non-Swiss food This article is presented as a direct response to our Questionnaire in the summer 2012 issue of Hello Switzerland, when you the readers told us what you missed most in Switzerland: food from home.

O

ne of the exciting things about moving to a new country is discovering the cuisine of that place â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in this instance, Switzerland. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also WKH IDVFLQDWLRQ RI Âż UVW WULSV WR EDNHULHV markets, speciality food shops and supermarkets. Some items are familiar, others we can only guess how and when they might be eaten or cooked. These mysteries are part of the fun and pleasure of â&#x20AC;&#x153;food adventuresâ&#x20AC;?.

SWITZERLAND

7KHUH FDQ EH D Ă&#x20AC; LSVLGH WR WKLV YR\DJH RI the new. We want to balance our new food explorations with the familiar, creating dishes previously part of our food repertoire â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the â&#x20AC;&#x153;taste of homeâ&#x20AC;?.

And therein lies the challenge. How to source all the ingredients we need to make the dish almost exactly as weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re used to doing?

Luckily, there are many ways of sourcing non-Swiss ingredients to help us enjoy foods from a wide variety of international food cultures. The list of options keeps growing. In many Swiss towns there are markets, small â&#x20AC;&#x153;ethnicâ&#x20AC;? grocery stores, while most of the major supermarkets have â&#x20AC;&#x153;internationalâ&#x20AC;? foods. In addition, there are a variety of online sources within Switzerland that will deliver to your home. Here, we present you with a brief overview of the options in Zurich, and how to set DERXW Âż QGLQJ WKHVH ZKHUHYHU \RX OLYH LQ Switzerland.

7KH Âż UVW DQG HDVLHVW SODFH WR VWDUW LV RQ the shelves of your local supermarket.

But we sometimes need to look further DÂż HOG 7KH QH[W VWHS UHTXLUHV WZR WKLQJV the Internet and a good pair of walking shoes. With some patient searching on the Internet and the help of chat groups and Food Blogs, you can create a list of

All these non-Swiss items are available in Switzerland

online food sources and a list of shops to visit. Using an online dictionary to translate ingredient names, e.g. from English to German or French, will also help you track down that essential element for your recipe. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget to ask around among friends and colleagues â&#x20AC;&#x201C; they may know of places too. www.englishforum.ch groups.yahoo.com/ group/Expats-in-Zurich Once you have a list of places, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time to put on your walking shoes and go see for yourself. I guarantee that the more streets you walk, the more you will discover, as some small shops donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a website. Some of the ethnic groceries are situated in clusters. For

American and British groceries: www.peacefoods.ch www.britshop.ch www.myexpatshop.com www.afoodave.ch For our readers from Down Under: www.aussieshop.ch Indonesian www.pasar-indonesia.ch Japanese ingredients (online and in Zurich): www.nishishop.ch

example, in Zurich there are at least two areas, with several ethnic grocery stores fairly close together. Some of the international cuisines can be found by walking a few hundred metres along Josefstrasse in Zurich 5. Starting right next to the Hauptbahnhof is Chang Mai Thai. This delightful little shop is packed with ingredients and readymade foods from Thailand and other Asian places. There is a small cafĂŠ, with takeaway hot and cold Thai food, fresh tofu, Asian fruits and vegetables, herbs and chillies.

Further along, you come to El Maiz, the hub of all things Mexican in Zurich.

Freshly-made tortillas, tamales and cheeses are in one chill cabinet; with Pablano and other chillies, and tomatillos in another. On the shelves: hot sauces, beans, dried spices and much PRUH <RX FDQ DOVR EX\ RQOLQH IURP WKHLU ZHEVLWH 1H[W DORQJ LV Zabihah, a Turkish/Middle Eastern store, including a restaurant for eat-in and take-away food. Outside are fresh fruit and vegetables, inside fresh-baked Middle Eastern breads, a Halal butcher, as well as fresh and packaged foods from Turkey and beyond (see their website below). <HW IXUWKHU DORQJ LV India Supermarkt QR ZHEVLWH 7KLV VWRUH KDV D IUHVK Âż VK counter as well as meats, a wide variety

of frozen Asian foods and ready meals, plus the spices and packaged goods that go to make all the spicy Indian, Bangla and Pakistani dishes in your favourite cook books. www.chiang-mai.ch www.elmaiz.ch www.zabihah.com Another area of multiple ethnic grocery shops can be found in Zurich 4. The New Asian Store is in Feldstrasse, with another branch in Basel. This is the largest Asian Store in Zurich, with smaller versions in Oerlikon as well as in a corner of Shopville in the main train VWDWLRQ +HUH \RX FDQ Âż QG XQXVXDO IUHVK fruit and vegetables and large bunches of fresh herbs such as Thai basil, lime OHDYHV PLQW FRULDQGHU DQG PRUH 1RW too far from here in Kernstrasse is Indian store, plus a small Thai store that makes its own Thai curry pastes

in Zwinglistrasse â&#x20AC;&#x201C; they also have branches in Winterthur and Frauenfeld. www.new-asia-market.ch www.aggarwalfood.com www.sala-thai.ch Some of us need items to suit our dietary needs and preferences â&#x20AC;&#x201C; e.g. vegan and vegetarian, diabetic, gluten-free and so on. For these the most useful solution is to seek out your local Health Food store* (all with websites). These shops also have a wealth of very useful, high quality and mostly organic ingredients (known as Bio in Europe). They stock a wide range of grains and cereals, YDULRXV Ă&#x20AC; RXUV DQG VXJDUV Âą LQFOXGLQJ brown sugar types that British and American cooks are familiar with, but JHQHUDOO\ FDQÂśW Âż QG LQ VXSHUPDUNHWV Apart from a wide range of dairy products, lactose-free, gluten-free and VR RQ \RX ZLOO Âż QG VRPH VSHFLDOLVW

products for home baking as well as ready-baked goods.

9

*This is known as Reformhaus in German and magasin des produits diĂŠtiques in French. Remember that some pharmacies, such as SunStore, also stock a range of these health food products, including herbal teas.

Elaine Vautier Originally from Jersey, Channel Islands, Elaine has lived in England and USA, moving to Zurich 6 years ago. Her interest in food and cooking, combined with a former academic career in Cultural Studies, motivates her enthusiasm for seeking out and experimenting with ingredients and recipes from all over the world.

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10

Integration Assistance from the Spouse Career Centre

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hen international employees relocate to Switzerland for their careers, the Spouse Career Centre (SCC) helps their newlyarrived wives, husbands and partners WR VHWWOH LQ DQG Âż QG D MRE RI WKHLU RZQ But itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s much more than simply a career service, as it provides important coaching, helping people from other cultures to integrate with and understand aspects of Swiss life and ZRUN 0DQ\ FRUSRUDWLRQV VHH WKLV service as a vital part of their efforts to attract and retain valuable foreign ZRUNHUV

SWITZERLAND

The experience of Kyoko Shimba is typical of many spouses who join their partners in Switzerland. Arriving from Japan with her husband, she had given up everything so that he could start a new job in Basel. She left behind not only her friends and family in Tokyo, but also a successful career as an Audit Consultant. Despite being well prepared for the move, the 36-year-old

soon felt completely out of her depth.

Her new world was simply much more different than she had anticipated, especially the many cultural differences that only become apparent in everyday life. .\RNR 6KLPED GHFLGHG WR Âż QG D MRE WR provide the foothold she needed, so she approached the Spouse Career Centre.

The SCC has been working for 11 years to help expats integrate into life in Switzerland, both professionally and socially. Formed from a pilot project UXQ LQ FROODERUDWLRQ ZLWK 1RYDUWLV LW ZDV WKH Âż UVW FRPSDQ\ RI LWV W\SH LQ the country. It has worked on behalf of around 90 multinational companies, providing coaching and assistance to over 2000 spouses of international employees in many different industries and at all different levels.

Kyokoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personal coach at the Spouse Career Centre is Annie Wehinger. She empathises with her clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s confusion DQG KHU Âż UVW DLP LV WR SURYLGH HPRWLRQDO support, rather than simply to force

her into a new career here. Relieved to Âż QDOO\ KDYH VRPHRQH ZKR XQGHUVWDQGV what sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going through, Kyoko once again feels secure, and through her own career coaching sessions she has also got to know something about Swiss FXOWXUH +HU QHZ IRXQG FRQÂż GHQFH LQ a previously alien environment allows her, indirectly, to regain her self-belief and ultimately to integrate into professional life in Switzerland.

Kyokoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s case contains many similarities to others, with comparable backgrounds and challenges, even though these are sometimes hidden below the surface.

The team of 25 expert consultants at SCC themselves represent a range of nationalities and languages. They have local and international experience in a variety of occupations and professions, and treat each individual case on its own merits. Wolfgang Jordan, who had known Switzerland well for some time before receiving successful coaching assistance from the SCC, explains: â&#x20AC;&#x153;It never ceases to amaze me just how much

11

depth my SCC consultant went into to understand my personal situation, and to tailor their service accordingly. That approach gave me a new perspective on things. It still helps me today.â&#x20AC;?

From the employersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; point of view, spouse support programmes have a IXUWKHU VLJQLÂż FDQW HIIHFW Âł3URYLGLQJ assistance to ensure the long-term integration of spouses and partners often has a positive effect on staff hiring results, loyalty and retention,â&#x20AC;? says Jeanette Cerquone, Managing Director of the SCC. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As a result, many companies are able to ensure the security of their investment in attracting international employees, and no longer run the risk of losing time and money because of their staff returning home early.â&#x20AC;?

Kyoko Shimba acknowledges that she was â&#x20AC;&#x153;on the point of going back home to Japanâ&#x20AC;?.

Holcim is another company that has learned from its experiences: Âł1DWXUDOO\ DV DQ HPSOR\HU ZH ZDQW to ensure the international hires, to whom we dedicate a lot of resources through the recruitment process and relocation to Switzerland, stay for as long as possible, and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t leave early for family reasons. Unhappiness, a feeling of isolation, and integration GLIÂż FXOWLHV DPRQJ IDPLO\ PHPEHUV have long been at the top of the list of reasons for transfers abroad proving unsuccessful or coming to an early end.

And of course, such situations can also

Jeanette Cerquone, Business owner of SCC

affect the employeesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; own capacity to do their job.â&#x20AC;?

Many companies, as well as Swiss governmental organisations responsible for securing inward investment to Swiss regions and industries, are engaged in a â&#x20AC;&#x153;war for talentâ&#x20AC;?. As a result they offer integrative coaching initiatives like this to underpin todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s international mobility programmes. The Basel-based Syngenta Group also understands the EHQHÂż WV Âł,Q RUGHU WR RIIHU DWWUDFWLYH

conditions to international employees, we help their partners to continue their own careers over here. We happily rely on the assistance of the Spouse Career Centre in these efforts. Thanks to their positive experiences of integration, the employees concerned and their partners and families come to regard Syngenta as an excellent company and employer.

This makes us a more attractive prospect and improves our companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reputation in the international market.â&#x20AC;?

With us you will explore possibilities to continue your career in Switzerland We tailor our services to suit the needs of dual-career couples and guide them through the local job market and cultural differences > We offer our candidates individual support as needed, with research and consulting, to leverage their portable skills > We develop a personal plan of action for each individual > We prepare CV and Cover Letter according to Swiss standards Contact: Jeanette Cerquone, Managing Director / Business owner phone +41 79 279 86 96, jeanette.cerquone@spousecareercentre.com www.spousecareercentre.com

> We lead the research for target markets > We give an overview of regional industries, companies, and functional areas > We support with referrals to target companies > We offer interview trainings

focal point for careers in transition

Contributed by John Zimmer

12

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Your Turn to Speak Up The origins of Toastmasters, and how the organization has spread to Switzerland.

T

here is an old joke about a tourist ZKR LV YLVLWLQJ 1HZ <RUN &LW\ +H wants to see a concert at the famous Carnegie Hall. The tourist stops a man on the street and asks: â&#x20AC;&#x153;How do you get to Carnegie Hall?â&#x20AC;? The man smiles and replies: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Practice!â&#x20AC;?

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the same with public speaking and, LQGHHG PRVW VNLOOV <RX FDQ UHDG DOO the information you want, but you will never improve without actually standing up in front of people and speaking. ,WÂśV OLNH WKH\ VD\ LQ WKH 1LNH FRPPHU cials: Just Do It! One of the most effective, economical and fun ways in which to get that practice is through an organization called Toastmasters International.

SWITZERLAND

From very humble beginnings in 1924 DW WKH <0&$ LQ 6DQWD $QD &DOLIRUQLD Toastmasters International has grown to become a worldwide organization that helps people become more FRQÂż GHQW DQG PRUH FRPIRUWDEOH ZKHQ speaking in front of an audience. Today Toastmasters boasts 280,000 members in 13,500 clubs in 116 countries around the world.

Toastmasters meetings are highly structured, but the atmosphere is very informal and supportive. Depending on the club, meetings are held every week or two and typically last around two hours.

The philosophy of Toastmasters is to learn by doing. Thus, meetings have no instructor or teacher. Instead, members take on different roles such as Toastmaster (a sort of Master of Ceremonies for the meeting), Timer, Sergeant-at-Arms (who ensures that the room is properly arranged) and more.

At each meeting, three or four people deliver prepared speeches â&#x20AC;&#x201C; based on D VSHFLÂż F OHVVRQ LQ RQH RI WKH PDQ\ Toastmasters Speech Manuals available to members. Speakers can choose the subject matter of their speeches,

A recent Toastmasters event

EXW HDFK VSHHFK KDV D VSHFLÂż F REMHF tive such as using vocal variety, using humor or persuading your audience to your point of view.

Every speech is evaluated by a club member, who gives their impressions about what the speaker did well and what could be improved for the next time. In this way, speakers receive on-the-spot feedback to help keep them moving in the right direction.

One of the most fun parts of a Toastmasters meeting is â&#x20AC;&#x153;Table Topicsâ&#x20AC;?, Toastmasters jargon for impromptu speaking. Members have the opportunity to try their hand at speaking on a topic for around two minutes with no preparation. The exercise can be a bit daunting, but the topics are usually lighthearted and the experience is invaluable for building oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s VHOI FRQÂż GHQFH DQG OHDUQLQJ WR WKLQN quickly under pressure.

Switzerland is home to around 20 Toastmasters clubs, seven or eight of which are located in the Frenchspeaking part of Switzerland. Most of the clubs in the Lake Geneva Region are located in Geneva and Lausanne.

However, in the last few months, a new FOXE KDV VWDUWHG XS LQ 1\RQ 2WKHU FOXEV in Switzerland can be found in Bern, Basel, Berikon, Winterthur, Zurich and Zug. Most clubs are English-speaking but there are also French, German and bilingual clubs.

Fees are extremely reasonable. At my club in Geneva, annual membership costs CHF 110 plus a small amount for the manuals. For that price, I can attend two club meetings every month and I receive a monthly magazine from Toastmasters International with excellent articles on different aspects of leadership and communication skills. I also have the opportunity to participate in the many different Toastmasters conferences held at the Swiss, European and global levels. It is superb value for money.

If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re intrigued by what youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve read thus far, you can attend up to three meetings at a Toastmasters club for free before deciding whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s right for you. If you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know anyone at the club, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not a problem. Just show up at a scheduled meeting and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be made to feel right at home. I hope to see you at a Toastmasters meeting or event in the near future. www.toastmasters.ch www.toastmasters.org John Zimmer John has been a member of the International Geneva Toastmasters since 2007.

Originally from Ontario in Canada, he lives in Collex Bossey near Geneva. He writes a popular blog on public speaking and presentation skills: www.mannerofspeaking.org

Contributed by Kurt Metz

All Aboard in Winter!

13

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s possible to enjoy a boat trip on the Swiss lakes even when thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s snow on the ground.

W

hen Hillary Clinton visited Lucerne in January 1998 as the First Lady of the United States of America, the then mayor Urs Studer wanted to show her Central Switzerland IURP D VWHDPHU $W ÂżUVW WKH /DNH Lucerne Shipping Company considered this to be completely out of the question, but after some arm-twisting, the staff reluctantly started to heat the boilers.

Lake of Thun The Bernese are not known to be the quickest people to pick up new ideas, VR LWÂśV RQO\ QRZ IRU WKH ÂżUVW WLPH WKDW a daily boat service is being run from Thun to Interlaken during the cold season. The MS Schilthorn â&#x20AC;&#x201C; their almost extravagantly comfortable vessel â&#x20AC;&#x201C; leaves the pier by the railway station at 11:40 and reaches Interlaken West by 13:49, the ideal time to enjoy lunch on board and let the wintery scenery gently pass by.

At the intermediate stop of Beatenbucht thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a connection to the Beatenberg

Lake Thun in winter

FDEOHFDU DQG WKH 1LHGHUKRUQ JRQGROD bringing visitors to the peak of the same name (1950m), where you can enjoy a PDJQLÂżFHQW YLHZ 7KH (LJHU 0|QFK and Jungfrau are just opposite, and the sun shines even when the lowlands are covered in mist.

On Sundays there is an extra boat run for brunch on board, leaving Thun at 09:40 and returning at 11:20. And for WKH &KULVWPDV DQG 1HZ <HDU SHULRG the vintage steamer DS BlĂźemlisalp will be sailing twice daily. Fondue and Raclette cruises regularly take place on Thursday and Saturday evenings.

Finally, starting in March, there will be a coffee and cake service in the afternoons.

Three Lakes region Three lakes on one boat for one price, a three-course luncheon included â&#x20AC;&#x201C; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the two canals linking the three lakes of 0XUWHQ 1HXFKkWHO DQG %LHO WKDW PDNH this extraordinary journey possible.

And itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scheduled during the cold season, too, in the shipping companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ODWHVW DGGLWLRQ WR LWV Ă&#x20AC;HHW WKH EXLOW

MS Rousseau. The elegant but shallow vessel can also travel on the river Aare all the way to Solothurn â&#x20AC;&#x201C; including a passage through a lock and some very old wooden bridges.

Lake Zurich On Lake Zurich, ships continue scheduled services through snow and icy weather. In the evenings they offer some unexpected themes on board: there is a Casino Ship, a Gay Cruise, Improcomedy outings, a SchnitzelSchiff and Wine & Dine. The wharf opens to the public on 24 March and the summer season 2013 starts on 31 March with a party cruise.

All aboard!

For timetables, days of operation and prices, consult the following websites (also in English): Lake Lucerne: www.lakelucerne.ch Lake Thun: www.bls.ch/schiff Three Lakes and River Aare: www.bielersee.ch Lake Zurich: www.zsg.ch For an overview of boat services on all Swiss lakes see: www.vssu.ch

SWITZERLAND

Lake of Lucerne The outing with the prominent guest aboard DS Uri to Brunnen was such a success, that Vierwaldstättersee boats have been proudly plying the Lake of Four Cantons throughout the year ever since. During the winter months, skiHUV WRERJJDQ DÂżFLRQDGRV DQG KLNHUV bound for the Rigi â&#x20AC;&#x201C; â&#x20AC;&#x153;Queen of the Mountainsâ&#x20AC;? according to Mark Twain â&#x20AC;&#x201C; take the 09:12 service to Weggis or Vitznau and then are whisked up to the slopes and well-marked paths either by cable car or by rack-and-pinion railway.

They have a choice of returning either by bus or on the lake again. The Wilhelm Tell Express boat runs every day from Lucerne to FlĂźelen with an onward connection over the Gotthard railway line to the warm and sunny city of Locarno in Ticino.

RailAway offers special deals for winter sports and visits at: www.railaway.ch

Advertorial

14

Taxation â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New in 2013 Some major changes in Swiss tax law come into force in January.

in contrast to many other countries, wealth taxes are levied.

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In the case concerned, a lady inherited a Giovanni Giacometti painting from her father 30 years ago. Tax authorities estimated the value of the painting at 45,000 francs and the heir paid inheritDQFH WD[ DW WKDW WLPH :KHQ Âż OLQJ KHU annual tax returns in the following years, she considered the painting KDQJLQJ LQ KHU UHQWHG Ă&#x20AC; DW DV D ZHDOWK WD[ IUHH KRXVHKROG HIIHFW $V VKH Âż QDOO\ sold the painting for two million francs 30 years later, the Zurich tax authorities initiated procedures to levy retrospective wealth taxes for the last 10 years DV ZHOO DV D Âż QH 7KH GHFLVLRQ ZDV VXS ported by the cantonal administrative court of Zurich.

ome surprising federal and cantonal court decisions as well as several new initiatives will affect the future taxation of individuals in Switzerland.

We have selected two of the most important changes and trends, which may be of special interest to expats in Switzerland.

Employee participation program: new taxation rules from 2013 The remuneration packages of compaQLHV RIWHQ FRQVLVW QRW RQO\ RI D Âż [HG salary but also of special employee participation programs such as employee stocks or options. These programs have become more and more popular.

However, for employees moving around the world and within different tax systems, the complexity for analyzing the tax consequences of such programs has LQFUHDVHG VLJQLÂż FDQWO\

SWITZERLAND

Harmonized taxation within Switzerland The main questions are where, when and to what price are these shares or options taxable. Up to now, Switzerland with its federal structure had not had a standardized tax law for employee participation programs but various different cantonal regulations instead. With the new â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bundesgesetz Ăźber die Besteuerung von Mitarbeiterbeteiligungenâ&#x20AC;? being effective from 1 January 2013, under this law the taxaWLRQ RI HPSOR\HH SURÂż W VKDULQJ ZLOO EH systematized and harmonized within Switzerland. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Authenticâ&#x20AC;? equity instruments issued by a company, such as employee shares and employee stock options, will be taxable as employment income at the time they are granted. The taxable amount is calculated by deducting any purchase price from the market value. Furthermore, the market value of deferred employee stocks will be discounted by approx. 6% per deferred year but for a maximum of 10 years.

Deferred or unquoted options no longer taxable at grant but at exercise One of the most important changes is that deferred or unquoted options are only taxable at the time they are exercised. This was different in the past and could result in a tax burden on an income that due to an erosion of stock market prices was never realized by the employee. In such a case, the difference between market value of the stock and the exercise price is taxable.

Relocation during the period of grant and exercise If a person has not been tax resident in Switzerland for the whole period from the grant to the exercise of the deferred stock options, Switzerland only taxes the proportional monetary advantage according to the period the employee was residing in Switzerland. The part assigned to the period abroad is exempt from Swiss taxation.

If an individual is not tax resident in Switzerland at the time the deferred stock options are exercised, Switzerland taxes the portion related to the time of residency in Switzerland at source. In case of taxation in Switzerland and the new country of residency, it has to be checked whether it can be applied for treaty protection under a Double Tax Treaty between Switzerland and the new country of residency.

Employee participations considered to be â&#x20AC;&#x153;non-authenticâ&#x20AC;?, such as the expecWDWLRQ RI EHQHÂż WLQJ IURP IXWXUH FDVK payments, will be taxed at the time of LQĂ&#x20AC; RZ Fine arts at home Art-lovers should pay attention to an administrative court decision in Zurich.

The court had to decide whether a piece of art is part of non-taxable household effects, or must be considered as a taxable asset and therefore declared for wealth tax purposes in the tax return.

Important to note that in Switzerland,

Up to that point, paintings at home only had to be declared as taxable wealth if they formed part of an art collection.

Although there was no common rule in SODFH GHÂż QLQJ D FRXSOH RI SDLQWLQJV DV an art collection, it was acknowledged that a single painting obviously cannot be a collection. According to the new court decision however, even a single painting is taxable for wealth tax purposes if the paintingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s value exceeds a FHUWDLQ QRW IXUWKHU GHÂż QHG DPRXQW As a consequence, taxpayers have to (at OHDVW PHQWLRQ Âż QH DUWV RI VXEVWDQWLDO value decorating their homes with the roughly estimated value in their tax returns, in order to avoid any retrospecWLYH WD[HV DQG Âż QHV 1LFROH %UHJ\ PricewaterhouseCoopers AG Tax & Legal Services Private Clients 058 792 40 24 nicole.bregy@ch.pwc.com

Nicole, who is Swiss and was an expat in the UK, is an expert on individual wealth and taxation solutions.

Contributed by Anitra Green

Supplying Supermarkets in the Alps

15

Some of the most popular resorts in the Alps are really hard to reach. So how do the local supermarkets manage to be so well stocked, and with fresh produce too?

T

The answer is: mostly by train. The main reason for this is sheer practicality â&#x20AC;&#x201C; even in Switzerlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s central plain thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a growing tendency to use rail transport. Coop for example has had enough of delays caused by congestion on the main Bern-Zurich motorway LI \RXÂśYH HYHU EHHQ FDXJKW LQ D WUDIÂż F jam on this stretch youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll know exactly what that means), and is moving more towards intermodal transport for supply and distribution all over the country, i.e. using rail for the main part of the journey and road for the short stretch between terminal and warehouse/outlet at either end. The company has even bought its own railway company to do the job.

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also the ecological factor. With the growing awareness of the importance of environment-friendly means of transport and manufacturing processes,

Unloading at the terminal

Samedan

both Coop and Migros, Switzerlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest supermarket chains, are focusing more and more on â&#x20AC;&#x153;fair tradeâ&#x20AC;? products and sustainability. According to a study commissioned by the WWF last \HDU WKHVH WZR UXQ WKH PRVW HIÂż FLHQW and sustainable retail businesses in the world.

In Alpine regions, the reason why Coop and a growing number of other suppliers use rail transport is that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s usually the most feasible way, and sometimes the only one. After all, Switzerland has a great many railways and tunnels under the main massifs, often built decades ago in terrain that nobody would dream of trying to build a road through even today. ,WÂśV GLIÂż FXOW IRU SHRSOH ZKRÂśYH QHYHU seen these mountains to imagine the scale of the problem. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lovely story about Aldi, the international discount chain: when they wanted to move into the GraubĂźnden a couple of years ago, they said they carried everything by road, everywhere, and train wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t an option. They changed their minds when they saw the steep, narrow roads in this area: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our trucks will never get XS WKHUH ´ 1RZ WKH\ XVH WKH QDUURZ gauge railway line, Rhaetian Railway (RhB), like everybody else.

As the amount of goods to be carried is comparatively small, RhB is one of the very few railways left in the world to run mixed trains: here, a passenger

train with couple of Coop or other wagons hitched on the back is a common sight. In 1992, RhB started developing its own intermodal system to transport foodstuffs in standard swap-body units, which can easily be transferred between a truck and a railway wagon.

1999 saw a big leap forward with a new handling centre in Landquart (in Eastern Switzerland) and the opening of the Vereina tunnel, leading to new services for Coop and also the post RIÂż FH ZKLFK XVHV UDLO IUHLJKW D JUHDW deal). And in 2000 it opened an intermodal terminal, complete with gantry crane, in Samedan: at 1700m, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the highest in Europe!

As for Zermatt with its restricted road access and car-free policy, rail really is the only way. The Matterhorn-Gotthard railway MGB used to look after all freight transport to this resort by itself â&#x20AC;&#x201C; foodstuffs, heating oil, furniture: the lot. But they realized it would be better to concentrate on running the railway and get an expert to look after the increasingly complicated logistics side. So now a new company, Alpin Cargo, deals with everything except the actual carriage by rail, with a terminal in Visp and another in Zermatt itself.

Amazingly, about a quarter of what they carry is, yes, oil.

6R LI \RX Âż QG \RXÂśYH OHIW \RXU IDYRXULWH toothpaste at home, or fancy a kiwi for breakfast, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t worry â&#x20AC;&#x201C; youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re almost bound to be able to buy it even in these remote resorts.

SWITZERLAND

hink of it: youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going off to a KROLGD\ Ă&#x20AC; DW LQ =HUPDWW DQG \RX have to leave your car at the bottom of the valley and get on the train, taking all your luggage and your skis with you. Wengen is the same. Parts of the GraubĂźnden, which is practically all mountain, can get cut off for days at a time in winter if the weatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bad. How on earth do supplies for supermarkets, sports shops and so on â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and maybe even more importantly, heating oil â&#x20AC;&#x201C; get to these remote, mountainous places?

www.packimpex.ch

Are you leaving your home?

Looking for a new tenant?

Perhaps we can help you! No charge.

Do you know of a good property becoming available?

If so, we would be delighted to hear from you as we are relo-

info@packimpex.ch

cating people to Switzerland and therefore constantly looking Basel:

061 281 58 40

for new properties. Just drop us an email or phone any of the

Bern/Biel/Fribourg:

031 888 14 14

Packimpex offices and we will do the rest.

Geneva:

022 710 21 51

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021 613 80 20

If we are successful in connecting client with property you will

Lugano:

091 940 26 69

receive a bottle of champagne from us as an extra thank you.

Neuchâtel:

032 724 07 66

Zug/Lucerne:

041 760 84 55

ZĂźrich/Schaffhausen: 044 275 21 01

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at any of the locations.

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Contributed by the Basel Team

Basel Roundup â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sali zämme - your BaseldĂźtsch survival guideâ&#x20AC;? has just been published

by Bergli Books, and not a moment too soon. This highly useful book is a mine of information about the local dialect, enabling you to communicate with local people in their own language and giving useful tips on doâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ts (the importance of being polite/observing laundry room routines/bringing a gift when invited). Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also very funny, being liberally sprinkled with the most

the strangest, most colourful creatures imaginable (how does he dream them up), or â&#x20AC;&#x153;My Alien Penfriendâ&#x20AC;?, the story of an intergalactic friendship between two boys in letter form â&#x20AC;&#x201C; again full of fantasy.

Both books published by AuthorHouse ISBN 978-0-557-74879-2 ISBN 1-4206-5860-2 â&#x20AC;&#x153;Belonging Nowhereâ&#x20AC;? by Susan Meredith, a long-time resident in the Basel region, is a gentle romance rather in the style of Jane Austen, telling the story of Sylvie and the ups and downs of her life in Switzerland. Elegantly written with fabulous descriptions of Swiss scenery, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s full of cameos of scenes, people, emotions, with some lovely touches of humour. A nice read.

ISBN 978-1468182088

Christmas market

hilarious cartoons, which drive a point home like nothing else. Everything youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re likely to need is there, from a potted history of Swiss dialects to easyWR ÂżQG LQIR XQGHU GLIIHUHQW KHDGLQJV some basic grammar and a small dictionary in both directions at the back. ,I RQO\ ,ÂśG KDG WKLV ZKHQ , ÂżUVW DUULYHG in Basel â&#x20AC;Ś

By Sergio Lievano & Nicole Egger, with BaseldĂźtsch by Walter Loeliger.

Published by Bergli Books ISBN 978-3-905252-26-2 www.bergli.ch Faiz Kermani, well-known as a Hello Switzerland contributor, also writes childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s books, the zaniest things you ever saw. Try â&#x20AC;&#x153;A First Guide to Space Creaturesâ&#x20AC;? which won last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Reviewers Choice Award and contains

Baselâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Christmas market on BarfĂźsserplatz is a gorgeous market with lots of arts and crafts, local specialities, GlĂźhwein, rides for kids, and a great fairytale atmosphere with beautifully decorated Christmas trees everwhere â&#x20AC;&#x201C; no wonder it attracts visitors from all over Europe. There are also stalls on the MĂźnsterplatz â&#x20AC;&#x201C; very beautiful with lights in the trees â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and the Claraplatz, any number of Christmas concerts, the Basel Wish Book in the Rathaus (town hall) for all to sign, and a procession of Santa Klauses on Harley Davidsons (afternoon of 9 December). Better still, take the Basel city Christmas tour on Saturdays in December, 16:00 at the %DVHO 7RXULVW RIÂżFH DW WKH &DVLQR www.basel.com

13th Basel Museum Night %DVHOÂśV ÂżUVW 0XVHXP 1LJKW LQ was such a success that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s become a regular feature. Held in mid-January, it now attracts over 100,000 people including hosts of young people and families, and most of the museums in the area join in, including the Vitra

Design Museum in Weil-am-Rhein (D).

Special guest last year was the Fernet Branca contemporary art museum in St Louis (F). Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s such a huge variety of entertainment, special exhibitions, activities, competitions, presentations and refreshments â&#x20AC;&#x201C; as well as the reguODU H[KLELWLRQV LWÂśV GLIÂżFXOW WR NQRZ where to start, and even in eight hours (18:00 to 02:00) itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impossible to visit them all. Transport by tram, bus, trolleybus and ferry is included in the ticket price, special buses are laid on (the MĂźnsterplatz becomes a bus terminal), and you can even take a Rhine ship. www.museumsnacht.ch

A Christmas Carol For a one-man theatre performance of Dickenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s classic, A Christmas Carol, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s well worth going over the German border to the Wallgraben Theatre in Freiburg in Breisgau (which also has a super Christmas market). Brian Barnes, a gifted and well-known actor whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been treading the boards for many years, is back on 20-23 December with this classic, which never fails to please. www.wallgraben-theater.de

Restaurant tip: Tapadera Located near the main station, the Restaurant Tapadera is well known for its Mexican and Spanish food and very popular with people working in nearby RIÂżFHV $ KLJKOLJKW LV WKH ÂżVK buffet Ă discretion on Fridays at midday â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a salad buffet plus guacamole, prawns and various Spanish tapas, and a wonderful hot buffet with a superb choice RI IUHVK ÂżVK VHSDUDWHO\ DQG EHDXWLfully prepared, fried potatoes, paella, Spanish omelette and I forget what else.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very easy to pig out, which means you have no room left for anything but D FRIIHH <RX FDQ DOVR HDW j OD FDUWH ÂżUVW class Argentine steak from the grill, quesadillas, the Tapadera giant prawns, a mixed plate of Mexican specialities and so on. Reservation recommended. www.tapadera.ch

BASEL

The Book Nook

17

Contributed by Anita Breland

18

The Nabateans of Petra: a Twice-Told Swiss Story Petra awes visitors today as it has for centuries.

KLV ZDV WKH DQFLHQW 1DEDWHDQ FDSL tal in the southern mountains of the Jordanian desert. With its Roman paving stones partly exposed, a sandy path curves through the Siq, a deep cleft in stone. The dim recesses are lined with ancient water-channels and dotted with prayer niches, cool after shimmering desert heat. The clop of horsesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; hooves echoes until the 40-meter-high, elaborately carved façade of al-Khazneh (â&#x20AC;&#x153;the Treasuryâ&#x20AC;?) slices through the shadows.

T

In 1812 Jakob Ludwig Burckhardt, a Lausanne native and member of Baselâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prominent Burckhardt family, traveled to Petra and into our history books. +H ZDV WKH Âż UVW (XURSHDQ WR VHH 3HWUD since its decline a couple of centuries after the dawn of the Christian Era. This autumn, two independently organized exhibitions in Basel celebrate the bicentennial of Burckhardtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

re-discovery of the ruined city. The principal one is at the AntikenMuseum, Switzerlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only museum fully dedicated to Greek, Roman, Egyptian and 1HDU (DVWHUQ DQWLTXLWLHV Petra. Miracle in the desert. In the footsteps of J L Burckhardt alias Sheikh Ibrahim highlights the extraordinary feats of design and engineering that enabled the rapid transformation of WKH 1DEDWHDQV IURP GHVHUW QRPDGV LQWR settled traders with a substantial material culture. Petraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s location, on the frankincense trade route between the <HPHQ DQG *D]D RQ WKH 0HGLWHUUDQHDQ was invaluable in ensuring a supply of the precious spice. The city was the routeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most important station, a protected oasis where caravans could rest, paying a hefty 25% toll on the value of goods they carried. Bitumen, used for embalming, made the reverse journey from the Dead Sea to Ptolomaic Egypt.

Burckhardtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s road to Petra began in London in 1808, when the African Association hired him to explore the continentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interior for gold and other resources. With caravan travel at a standstill for several years, due to epidemics across Africa, Burckhardt WUDYHOHG Âż UVW WR 6\ULD (Q URXWH WR Aleppo, he stopped at Malta, where he changed his name. Ever after, he referred to himself as Sheikh Ibrahim.

Petra. Miracle in the desert.

In the footsteps of J L Burckhardt alias Sheikh Ibrahim 23 October 2012 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 17 March 2013 AntikenMuseum & Sammlung Ludwig St. Alban-Graben 5, Basel www.antikenmuseumbasel.ch Sheikh Ibrahimâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dream: Treasures from the textile and jewelry collection of Widad Kamel Kawar 27 September 2012 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 7 April 2013 Historisches Museum Basel Haus zum Kirschgarten Elisabethenstrasse 27/29, Basel www.hmb.ch

Even as his mastery of the Arabic language improved, he explained away his accent by claiming to be of Indian descent.

BASEL

Two years in Aleppo prepared him for the disguise that would help him enter Petra, and later Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

In 1812 he persuaded a Bedouin to take him to the mountain shrine atop Jebel +DUXQ XQGHU WKH SUHWHQFH RI VDFULÂż F ing a goat in honor of Aaron, brother of Moses. Burckhardtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s terse description RI KLV Âż QGLQJV VXUHO\ EHOLHG KLV H[FLWH ment at what he found along the way.

Petraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Treasury glimpsed through the Siq

(Š Tom Fakler)

The AntikenMuseum exhibition opens with artifacts from Sheikh Ibrahimâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s travels and concludes with portraits of modern-day Bedouins in Petra.

The exhibitionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s co-curator Laurent Gorgerat, however, says the primary aim is to show appreciation of the extraordinary accomplishments of the 1DEDWHDQV :LWK VXSHUE HQJLQHHULQJ WKH\ EXLOW DQG LUULJDWHG D Ă&#x20AC; RXULVKLQJ city in one of the most arid areas of the world. In addition to advanced hydraulic systems, water conservation systems and dams, they were technologically sophisticated in architecture, ceramics, metallurgy, chemistry and construcWLRQ 1RW XQOLNH /DV 9HJDV DQG 'XEDL today, Petra was an expression of power and wealth in a hostile environment.

One object on show is the dramatic â&#x20AC;&#x153;eye idolâ&#x20AC;?, a two-thousand-year-old iconic representation of a deity that seems VXUSULVLQJO\ PRGHUQ ,W H[HPSOLÂż HV D NH\ DWWULEXWH RI 1DEDWHDQ GHVLJQ Âą WKH PL[LQJ RI 2ULHQWDO VW\OHV ZLWK LQĂ&#x20AC; X ences from other cultures and religious

traditions. This is a one-time opportunity to see approximately 150 artifacts IURP 3HWUD DQG RWKHU 1DEDWHDQ VLWHV brought to Basel from museums across Jordan.

3HWUD ZDV QDPHG D 81(6&2 :RUOG Heritage site in 1985. Swiss-led archaeology teams began work soon after, and the exhibitionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s virtual reality tours bring their efforts to life. A walk through a section of Petra presents the façades around the Roman soldiersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; tomb and triclinium (formal dining room) as built architecture, vibrantly painted. A virtual visit to a villa overlooking the city provides a sense of the lifestyle of its well-to-do residents.

The Haus zum Kirschgarten was %XUFNKDUGWÂśV FKLOGKRRG KRPH 1RZ D museum, it is an evocative venue for the exhibition of 100 pieces of textiles and

Bedouin jewelry from a private collection. The mansionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s splendor contrasts sharply with the desert environment of Sheikh Ibrahimâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s travels, and gives us a sense of the privileged context within which the re-discovery of Petra was received in Europe.

19

Anita Breland is a travel writer based in Basel. Her blog celebrates food, art and cultural traditions around the world.

Visit Anitaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Feast to read more about her adventures. Visit Tom Faklerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website to see more images from Petra and other destinations. www.AnitasFeast.com www.TomFakler.com

www.danieleangelillo.ch

Contributed by Faiz Kermani

BASEL

20

A Century of Music and Still Going Strong The Basel region has a lively classical music community, and one of its most enthusiastic participants is the Liestal Orchestra.

unchanged ever since. A music critic at the time described the orchestra as having â&#x20AC;&#x153;left the former amateurish spelling far behindâ&#x20AC;?.

T

he symphony orchestra in Liestal, known to its members as OLi, has a long and proud history. The survival and expansion of the orchestra has been the result of dedicated work behind the scenes from various presidents and committees; much of the following information was recently accessed from the state archives in Basel-Land.

In 1906 violinist Julie KĂśchlin, a founding member, took over as president. At around the same time, Karl LĂźdin joined as conductor, and both participated until 1919. At a time when Europe was going through dramatic political and social changes, they were commended for helping make this â&#x20AC;&#x153;extremely difÂż FXOW WLPH D KDSS\ RQH´

Past The Liestal Orchestra was founded in 1873 by 19 friends. Despite a promising start in 1885, progress halted due to internal administrative wrangles, and by the time they were resolved in 1896, the available resources had dwindled drastically. At this point the orchestraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s equipment consisted of â&#x20AC;&#x153;a double bass, 4 clarinets, 3 horns and a violaâ&#x20AC;?. Apparently, the double bass had â&#x20AC;&#x153;no stringsâ&#x20AC;? and the horns and clarinets ZHUH GHVFULEHG DV EHLQJ ÂłXQÂż W IRU XVH and completely uselessâ&#x20AC;?. Fortunately over the years, the orchestra has been able to build up a wider range of instruments.

The next 29 years were marked by Walter Sterk (1920-1949), when the RUFKHVWUD ZDV Âż QDQFLDOO\ EDFN RQ track after a drop in membership. The PXVLFDO SURJUDPPHV GLYHUVLÂż HG DQG extended to playing music in hospitals and nursing homes. The orchestraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s talents were widely recognised, with one music critic remarking: â&#x20AC;&#x153;A concert under Walter Sterk is a social and artisWLF HYHQW RI WKH Âż UVW RUGHU ´

Present Based on this solid foundation the orchestra has continued to thrive.

6LQFH <DLUD <RQQH KDV EHHQ WKH PXVLFDO GLUHFWRU WKH Âż UVW ZRPDQ WR hold this position. The orchestra has EHQHÂż WWHG IURP KHU ZLGH UDQJLQJ WDO ents â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from composing music through to playing steel drums. Today there are around 50 active members from Basel, Basel-Land, Solothurn, Aargau and Bern. The orchestra has always welcomed new members; its friendly philosophy is illustrated by the agerange of members, from 15 to 70. All are encouraged to contribute their skills and help the orchestra expand. As well as contributing musical expertise, they also help in developing and maintaining the website, creating brochures and promotional material and doing various administrative tasks.

The Liestal Orchestra today

In 1949, Peter Zeugin, a young pianist with little conducting experience, took over. He adapted rapidly to his new position, and the orchestra prospered and gained new audiences. It proved to EH D GHÂż QLQJ SHULRG DV WKH RUJDQLVDWLRQ of the orchestra has remained largely

Each year, programmes are selected by the conductor and music committee to maintain a balance between classical and modern styles. As well as playing famous popular pieces, the orchestra likes to try out lesser-known

Contributed by Anitra Green

Future At the moment the organising committee is working on a long-term strategy, including looking for people or organisations to sponsor their work. Support is needed because during 2013, the orchestra will be working on two exciting new programmes with two professional concert-masters. The orchestra also intends to continue special programmes such as the Tango programme featuring a professional Tango-Trio and dancers, as it did in 2011, or projects with the Cantabile Choir Pratteln as in 2012. Although well received, these programmes were costly, so support from sponsors was much appreciated.

In October 2012 the orchestra held a successful concert in the Stadtkirche Liestal. The next will be a cooperative project with a group of gifted young musicians from the music school in Liestal known as the “classic strings”.

The orchestra will present two concerts in Liestal on 27/28 April 2013, featuring Mozart’s Jupiter Overture, a Concert for Orchestra and Percussion by Darius Milhaud with a 16-year-old soloist, a string symphony by the “classic strings”, and the D Major Symphony by Louise Farrenc by the whole ensemble. www.orchesterliestal.ch Faiz Kermani is part of the PR team for Centrepoint the international community in Basel.

He also serves as President of the Global Health Education Foundation, a US-based QRW IRU SUR¿ W KHDOWKFDUH FKDULW\ ZKLFK aims to improve educational resources and training for healthcare professionals in developing countries. www.centrepoint.ch www.globalhef.org

Feeling at Home in Basel

21

Moving to another country is never easy, but MyTown4You can help.

I

t was an enthusiastic group of people of various nationalities that met at the Bottmingerschloss in October, their main object being to learn about the Swiss state school system. This was part of the Gatherings4Spouses programme for helping newcomers to Basel to settle in, with various presenters including Margaret Oertig (author of Going Local <DQQLFN +RKQ LQWUR duced the story behind “give a chance” – a charity concert with wonderful musicians and dancers to support schoolchildren in Cameroon. At the end was a highly amusing talk about Basel’s autumn fair (Herbstmesse) by

have and the more we know what they need, the better we can do.” And she emphasizes: “It’s not just a matter of helping by providing a service, but also of connecting locally and globally. All our board members have lived abroad and know how challenging it can be, but we’re global citizens who know KRZ EHQH¿ FLDO LW LV WR EH ORFDO FLWL]HQV too.”

The monthly Gatherings4Spouses meetings are always held on Wednesday mornings at the Bottmingerschloss.

According to organizer Kaya UsherSamayoa: “It’s got such a wonderful

Bottmingerschloss

Bryan Stone, historian, author and long-time resident in the Basel region, followed by an excellent lunch. ,W¶V W\SLFDO RI 0\7RZQ <RX 7KLV QHZ organisation’s aim is to be a true onestop shop for newcomers, helping them settle in and familiarize themselves with local culture and customs. As a QRQ SUR¿ W RUJDQL]DWLRQ ZKHUH PHPEHU ship is free of charge, it’s effectively a club (it also has a business arm offering one-stop shop solutions for individuals and companies). It was only founded recently, so is still in the development phase.

“We’re always open to new ideas,” says founder Katrin Adler. “Anybody can visit our website: the more members we

atmosphere, just right for our gatherings.” Meetings follow a regular pattern: presentation of a special topic such as insurance, schooling or something equally serious, with time for questions, followed by a light-hearted session on a local event or custom in this tri-national region. And it’s a golden opportunity to meet other people – both local and global. www.mytown4you.com

Anitra Green Originally from London, studied classics and came to Switzerland before women even had the vote.

BASEL

compositions. Sometimes it also commissions works which it then premieres.

Each year, the orchestra concentrates on developing two musical programmes.

Besides weekly rehearsals, the members get together during the busy weekend in the run-up to major concerts.

These are also fun social highlights for the members.

Contributed by M. Stannard

22

Chasing Winter Blues Away People in the Basel area celebrate winter traditions in style.

B

BASEL

aslers boast that their Fasnacht is unique; the timing certainly is, as it starts just after the beginning of Lent, six weeks before Easter, a tradition said to date from the 16th century. It begins at 4 am (this winter on 18 February) with Morgenstraich in pitch dark, with drum and piccolo cliques parading the streets with huge painted lanterns, and ends precisely 72 hours later. A huge procession winds through the city Monday and Wednesday afternoon, with wagons,

Baselâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s famous Waggis

KXQGUHGV RI PDVNHG Âż JXUHV Âą Waggis â&#x20AC;&#x201C; throwing oranges and sweets or handing out Zeedel printed with scurrilous rhymes, and cliques playing their special music, either drum and piccolo in a style unique to Basel, or the brass band Guggemusik. On Tuesday evening thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a Guggemusik concert.

Every village in the area celebrates Fasnacht but on a smaller scale. Although itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s basically the same tradition as Carnival in Germany and elsewhere,

Swiss Fasnacht is subtly different â&#x20AC;&#x201C; less riotous and more stylized. Spectators who dress up are frowned upon (except children!), but that wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop you from enjoying it enormously. And do try the traditional Mehlsuppe Ă&#x20AC; RXU VRXS

onion tart and Fasnachtskiechle (sweet wafers). www.fasnachts-comite.ch Vogel Gryff This is an event peculiar to KleinBasel, being held on 26 January this winter.

7KUHH KHUDOGLF Âż JXUHV Vogel Gryff *ULIÂż Q Wild Maa (Wild Man) and Leu (Lion) parade through the streets, and perform dances according to an age-old pattern. With them are three drummers, three standard-bearers and four jesters who collect money for the poor. Children have great fun trying to pull off the apples adorning the Wild Manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s costume. The day starts ZLWK WKH :LOG 0DQ Ă&#x20AC; RDWLQJ GRZQ WKH River Rhine on a raft, and goes on till late at night. This unusual tradition dates back from the Middle Ages, when the three Honourable Societies (Ehrengesellschaften) of KleinBasel who still organize it used to guard the city walls. The walls have long since disappeared, but the procession and tradition of the Gryffemähli RU *ULIÂż QÂśV Meal still remains.

Chienbäse 7KLV Âż HU\ WUDGLWLRQ RI WRUFK EHDUHUV is unique to Liestal (capital of BaselLand) and the most incendiary spectacle you ever likely to see. It takes place the evening before Morgenstraich in Basel with groups of people carrying lit bundles of wood through the walled mediaeval town, and even burning wagons. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s said to be a pagan tradition originally, and probably evolved from the 16th century custom of lighting ERQÂż UHV EHIRUH /HQW ,W DWWUDFWV WKRX sands of people, special trains are laid on, and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re well advised to wear old, thick clothing as protection from the heat and sparks.

Contributed by Faiz Kermani

GGG Stadtbibliothek Basel

Relaxed reading at any age in the library

interested in serving its younger readers. It runs a number of events, such as the Bookworms group where children can listen to nursery rhymes in English and German. A fun yet valuable initiative is the Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Literature Bus (Kinderliteratur-Bus). Its bright yellow colour is instantly recognisable, and the bus brings books and playing materials to libraries, playgrounds, parks and public swimming pools. Above all, the Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Literature Bus is a programme that encourages children to improve their reading skills, wherever they are. Featuring some 500 events a year, the Kinderliteratur-Bus reaches about 6,000 young readers.

F

ounded in 1807 by the GGG* as WKH Âł5HDGLQJ ,QVWLWXWH IRU <RXWK´ (Leseanstalt fĂźr die Jugend), Baselâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s library service has become an integral part of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s educational and cultural life. Every day library members borrow some 3,200 items, and demand shows no sign of abating. There are now seven libraries around the city and one in Pratteln. The central library is located downtown in Schmiedenhof, which has its own reading room. The GGG Basel West Library specialises in providing library services to the English-speaking community, with an English-speaking member of staff always on duty.

in April 2011, is well equipped for English-speaking members in the international community and others looking to improve their language skills. It has the biggest collection of English language adult and childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s books, DVDs and audiobooks in Basel.

This section was originally started with a generous donation by the American Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club, and the library continues to expand in this area. Around 400 new books and audiobooks in English were ordered in 2012. A very popular service is the availability of the top WHQ ERRNV IURP WKH 1HZ <RUN 7LPHV bestseller list; within a week of being announced.

Special events Basel West Library holds a number of special events. On Wednesday 12 December, author Roger Bonner will talk about â&#x20AC;&#x153;What it means to be Swissâ&#x20AC;?.

Based on his best-selling book Swiss Me (Bergli Books), he will explore Swiss people, Swiss culture and SchwyzerdĂźtsch. This follows two sucFHVVIXO HYHQWV LQ 1RYHPEHU D FRIIHH morning for the Basel English-speaking community, together with International School Basel (ISB) and Centrepoint, and an evening talk by Anita Fahrni, an American living in Switzerland, about an educational exchange programme with Mongolia.

All the libraries are open to the public and free to use. Behind the scenes, over 80 employees work in 42 posts to keep the whole system running. As a result, this comprehensive library offers visitors 270,000 media, such as books, magazines, maps, CDs, DVDs DQG JDPHV HJ :LL 1LQWHQGR '6 DQG PlayStation). The libraryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s knowledge portal also provides free access to databases such as international journals and newspapers. Simply accessing the Internet will enable you to browse the libraryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s entire catalogue and see where items are available.

Another important feature has been the Libraryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s keen interest in developing close partnerships with other organisations geared towards the expat community. In May the library was the location for an English Book sale, a joint initiative by the American Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club, Centrepoint, the Anglican Church of Basel and the GGG Stadtbibliothek Basel West. The organisers encouraged the donation of books, DVDs and CDs, which were then carefully sorted by enthusiastic volunteers. The event was an overwhelming success, and planning for next yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s event on 7-8 June 2013 is already underway.

Basel West Libraryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expanding range of services and events aim to ensure that the library is a friendly place for people to come and relax, read what is on offer, meet others and bring their children.

Biggest English collection in Basel Basel West Library, which moved to its present location in Allschwilerstrasse

Basel West Library has a growing childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s section and is particularly

* Gesellschaft fĂźr das Gute und GemeinnĂźtzige â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Benevolent and Charitable Trust founded in 1777 by Baselâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Town Clerk.

Basel West Library, Allschwilerstr. 90, 4055 Basel (tram 6 to Allschwilerplatz or Bus 36 to Morgartenring) Tel: 061 381 60 93 baselwest@stadtbibliothekbasel.ch www.stadtbibliothekbasel.ch

BASEL

Serving local and international communities for over 200 years.

23

Compiled by the Bern Team

24

Bern Roundup Ice Rinks

Christmastime in Bern

Iceskating is a favorite winter sport of the Bernese. Whether you’re an expert or just a beginner, lace up your skates (or rent some at the rink) and hit the ice. Admission is 7 francs for adults, 5.50 francs reduced and 3.50 francs for children (6-16).

December is a magical time in Bern.

The city center is aglow with holiday lights, and the music of Salvation Army EDQGV ¿ OOV WKH DLU ,W¶V D ¿ QH WLPH WR VWUROO the arcades and enjoy the atmosphere, but in addition to the usual late opening times on Thursday evenings, you can get items crossed off your holiday shopping list on Sundays during this year’s Adventsverkauf: – 2 December: shops on Brunngasse, Münstergasse, Postgasse and Rathausgasse are open 10:00-17:00.

– 16 and 23 December: shops are open 10:00-18:00 (some 11:00-17:00).

PostFinance Arena in Mingerstrasse is where hobby ice skaters can practice their moves next to local hockey team SCB’s home stadium. Open daily until 17 March 2013.

Ka-We-De in Jubiläumsstrasse serves as an ice rink in the winter and a swimming pool in the summer. Open daily until 10 March 2013.

Weyermannshaus in Stöckackerstrasse has three separate rinks, so there’s plenty of room for everyone. Open daily until 3 March 2013. All three of these rinks are closed on 25 December.

BERN

Egelmösli in Muristrasse is a natural ice rink, in other words a pond you can skate on when the temperature drops low enough. Opening times depend on the weather and will be announced in the Anzeiger der Region Bern and 20 Minuten newspapers.

Ice Palaces in Schwarzsee

walking through, climbing on and otherwise discovering the ice palaces, they can warm up with a hot drink from the snack bar while the children enjoy the play corner.

A lack of funding meant that the ice rink on the Bundesplatz was missing last winter, but thanks to new sponsors it’s back! Open daily 9:00 to 23:00 from 31 December to 10 February.

The ice palaces are open from Christmas to the beginning of March; they are, of course, weather dependent, so check the website before you leave home to make sure they’re open. Dress warmly and wear shoes with good traction.

The ice palaces are fun for the whole family, but please note that they’re not entirely stroller and wheelchair accessible. Admission: 10 francs for adults, 5 francs for children (4-16), cash only. www.eispalaeste.ch

Winter Wonderland

Stauffacher Reading Circle

The Ice Palaces in Schwarzsee (Eispaläste Schwarzsee) are truly a winter wonderland. Artist Karl 1HXKDXV¶V FUHDWLRQ KDV EHHQ GHOLJKWLQJ visitors of all ages for over 25 years.

His imagination and the natural beauty of ice combine to transform a small patch of woods into a fantasy land.

Colorful lights make the palaces even more spectacular at night. Visitors can explore grottoes, igloos, towering ice sculptures and even a pirate ship. After

If you enjoy reading and discussing books in English, you should give the Stauffacher Reading Circle a try. Each month local author Diccon Bewes chooses a paperback book for the group to read, and leads the discussion. It’s free and open to everyone – all you have to do is sign up in the English Bookshop. The reading circle meets once a month, usually on Wednesday at 19:00. Check the website for details. www.stauffacher.ch/en

There are also two Christmas markets with plenty to choose from. The market on the Münsterplatz has mainly handmade items, while the one on the Waisenhausplatz offers traditional Christmas market fare. Both markets are open daily 1-24 December.

Grab a cup of Glühwein or some roasted chestnuts to keep you warm, and head to the Bundesplatz to take a break from Christmas shopping and enjoy the light show “Rendez-vous Bundesplatz” at 19:00 and 20:30 until 27 December.

For a more traditional celebration of the season, you won’t want to miss the English Carol Service at the Heiliggeist Church on Thursday 13 December at 19:30.

Berner Fasnacht (Bernese Carnival) The 2013 Fasnacht will take place 14 WR )HEUXDU\ In keeping with tradition, the celebration begins when the bear is set loose at 20:00 on Thursday.

On Friday at 14:00 the not quite as loud children’s parade sets off from Zeughausgasse and makes its way to the Münsterplatz. On Saturday the main parade begins at 14:30. People line the streets, as dozens of costumed Guggenmusik bands from in and around Bern head to the Bundesplatz for the Monster Concert.

Contributed by Querida Long

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Let Date Night Slip into a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Januarlochâ&#x20AC;?

25

Beat the January Blues with ideas for winter dates that go beyond the usual dinner and a movie.

A

small step toward getting out of the rut is replacing a movie with a play, concert or ballet. The Neustart website makes this easier than ever before by giving you the dates for the Bern city theater, symphony orchestra DQG EDOOHW LQ RQH VSRW <RX FDQ Âż QG RXW the show times, read information about the event and even buy tickets online. www.konzerttheaterbern.ch

Go all out and book a romantic weekend at the Victoria Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa in Interlaken. The hotelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Romance Package is three days of luxury. The pampering begins when a limousine picks you up from the train station and continues with breakfast in bed, private spa time, a 5-star picnic basket for your romantic hike in the Alps, and candlelight dinner for two with champagne. www.victoria-jungfrau.ch

A horse-drawn sleigh in the snowy countryside

Try sledding for a fun winter date

Prefer the outdoors? Sledding is always fun, but perhaps moonlight sledding is more romantic. Riggisalp has a well-lit 4km sledding run open every Friday December through March, and full moon Saturdays (29 December, 26 January and 23 February) from 18:30 to 21:00. Complete the evening with fondue at the Bärghuus Riggisalp or Restaurant Gypsera. Website in German and French. www.kaisereggbahnen-schwarzsee.ch Another romantic way to spend some time outdoors is to take a ride in a horse-drawn sleigh <RX FDQ HQMR\ DQ exhilarating tour of the snowy land-

(Š Gstaad Saanenland Tourismus)

(Š swiss-image)

scape or choose a moonlight sleigh ride as the perfect end to a day of skiing.

Here are two families who offer sleigh rides in the Gstaad region: Johann von GrĂźnigen www.gstaadschlittenfahrten.ch Walter Reuteler www.schlittenfahrten-reuteler.ch The cupcakes at Cupcake Dizziness are nice treat for your sweetheart, but for something more lasting, check out the Dizzy Boudoir <RXÂśOO Âż QG YLQWDJH inspired clothing and accessories for D Ă&#x20AC; LUW\ GDWH QLJKW RXWÂż W )RU D JLIW that keeps on giving, sign up for the Burlesque Workshop called â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Art of Teaseâ&#x20AC;? being offered in February.

For details about the workshop, send an email to: info@cupcakedizziness.ch With Valentineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day just around the corner, we hope this article will give you some ideas on how to keep your romance from going cold this winter.

Just one last tip in case you forget to book something unforgettable for 14 February: there will be a special 9DOHQWLQHÂśV 'D\ Ă&#x20AC; RZHU PDUNHW RQ WKH Bärenplatz from 7:00 to 18:00 this year, so even procrastinators can come out smelling like a rose.

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If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re ready to plunge into something new for date night, why not try wellness for two? Solbad & Spa in SchĂśnbĂźhl, for example, offers a spa day for two that includes entry into their warm saltZDWHU SRRO D SHHOLQJ Ă&#x20AC; RZHU SHWDO EDWK and oil massage topped off with a treat in their bistro. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no more relaxing way to reconnect with the one you love. www.solbad.ch

Contributed by Monika Teal

26

How an Art Museum Works Behind the scenes at Kunstmuseum Solothurn.

A

rt museums are an enriching way for us to become familiar with the aesthetics and history of a culture. They tell us who we are, what we value and what we fear. Art museums introduce us to intellectual, visceral and emotional worlds.

But there is another side to an art museum â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a side that must keep abreast LQ WKH ZRUOG RI Âż QDQFH SXEOLF UHODWLRQV and education of the arts. Take away the glamour and what you have is the business of art, mostly involving hard work but tinged with occasional excitement.

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Why Solothurn?

This seemed a good venue to show the basic workings of a museum, because of its size and the quality of its exhibitions. Together with his museum assistant and intern, Patricia Bieder, the museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s director Christoph Voegele explained how a museum functions.

This is one of the most respected museums in Switzerland. Despite being smaller than most city museums, it has a success story most art museums only dare dream of. Its art collection is world-class, ranging from Holbein to Van Gogh and CĂŠzanne, with an equally impressive list of Swiss artists â&#x20AC;&#x201C; including Jean Tinguely, Ferdinand

Kunstmuseum Solothurn

Hodler, Giovanni Giacometti and Cuno Amiet, to name but a few.

What makes this museum successful?

The most basic requirement for anyone dealing with art is a sensitivity to artists and the art world, and a passion for art. The members of the museum staff evidently have both enthusiasm and respect for the arts. But a museum also needs direction and focus. It needs to give the public what they want, and must also be able to seduce them into something new. This is a challenge for any museum. Works do not randomly come together to form an exhibition, and therein lies the real work.

Supporting their museum The people of Solothurn feel passionately about their museum and contribute generously to its wellbeing.

The museum houses and protects their art. Donations of precious art come from the DĂźbi-MĂźller Foundation, the Josef-MĂźller Foundation and the Max Gubler Foundation. Solothurn businesses make donations, while Baloise Bank SoBa offers generous support.

The people of the city and canton of Solothurn show the typical Swiss attitude, that a museum must be visited to be successful. They are a curious public, and like to be educated about themselves and their diverse Swiss history. The museum offers them a home for the long and very strong tradition of quality Swiss art.

How an exhibition comes together The staff must remain open to all possibilities. Once the direction for a show is found, the museum begins its practical work. First a loan is requested to fund the exhibition. Then proper insurance must be arranged to cover expenses while the work is in transit and as itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exhibited. There are bills to be paid by the Museum accountant. Contracts must be drawn up for the loan of the work. The Director must handle inhouse responsibilities for the collection

Kunstmuseum Solothurn Werkhofstrasse 30 4500 Solothurn Tel: 032 624 40 00 kunstmuseum@solothurn.ch www.kunstmuseum-so.ch Opening times: Tues-Fri, 11:00-17:00 Sat & Sun, 10:00-17:00 No set entry fee, donations welcome. (further information on the website)

and transport of works. There must be a detailed record with accurate coverage of the value of the art. Security must be arranged. Installations, performances, paintings and sculpture each have their own demands and needs. A maintenance team, security and technicians add to the smooth handling of exhibitions.

The list goes on and on. But a museum deals with history in the form of art, and history is never-ending. Its work is to protect art, educate the public, and be the bridge between the past and the future. There is a belief in art that successful work never shows the countless hours of stress and struggle involved in making a great work. Perhaps one can say the same for a successful museum.

Under the hard work of Mr Voegele, Ms Bieder and the staff, the Solothurn Kunstmuseum stands as an impressive HGLÂż FH (QMR\ WKH VHUHQLW\ DQG ULFKQHVV of its local, yet world-class collection.

Monika Teal is a professional full time artist and former university art instructor in the U.S. She has exhibited in galleries and museums internationally and is the recipient of many prestigious awards and honors. She maintains a studio in Switzerland and also gives private lessons to artists. www.monikateal.com queenart@mindspring.com

Contributed by Andrea Pilot

The Best Gipfeli in Bern

27

Ask at a Schweizer bakery counter for a croissant and you may be greeted with a smirk. n the German-speaking part of this country, bakeries sell Gipfeli and not croissants. In German, a Gipfel is the summit of a mountain. Add the diminutive â&#x20AC;&#x2122;iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and you are describing the little peaks at the ends of your bread.

Though both the Gipfeli and croissant come from the long tradition of buttery, FUHVFHQW VKDSHG EUHDG WKHUH DUH GHÂż nite differences between the two styles.

Gipfeli and croissants are both made from laminated dough. A thick slab of butter is enveloped in an equally thick slab of dough, and then alternately folded and rolled out until hundreds of buttery layers are created. When the dough is later baked in the oven, steam escapes from the melting butter and creates the airy rise in the centre of the crescents while maintaining the thin buttery layers.

A croissant is undoubtedly French, from its tender, sweet insides, to its QRQFKDODQWO\ Ă&#x20AC; DN\ H[WHULRU $ *LSIHOL truly Swiss, is a little harder to get to NQRZ 7KH RXWVLGH LV Âż UP FRQWRXUV precise and curved, but break through that crisp exterior and you are greeted with a slightly breadier texture, and the butteriness is subtle but intact.

For me there is no better sound on a Sunday morning than the crackle of a buttery Swiss Gipfeli. Complement it ZLWK D IUHVKO\ VSRXWHG 1HVSUHVVR DQG a smear of (UGEHHU .RQÂż â&#x20AC;&#x201C; perfection!

So who makes the best Gipfeli in Bern?

And where can you get it?

Get Gipfeli on Sunday at the main station

Of course, one of the barriers surrounding Gipfeli is ease of access. We all know Switzerland has some rather draconian retail hours, so my hunt for the best Gipfeli took me to the train station on a Sunday morning to see what I could get. Standing at the Treffpunkt, all the bakeries were within a 200m radius.

The criterion was simple: the Gipfeli VKRXOG EH Ă&#x20AC; DN\ EXW QRW VKRZHU WKH eater with tiny golden scales, as well as buttery, and crisp. I brought in an expert, Sam â&#x20AC;&#x201C; born in the Entlebuch and exposed not only to the sweetest, freshest butter from the best Emmenthaler cows, but also to the bakers who then twirled it into a perfect buttery GipfĂź.

I should also note here that Samâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s taste test was blind, while mine was not. In the interest of a fair result, his patriotic duty to choose Migros was suppressed.

CafĂŠ Eichenberger (1.40 francs): In terms of value for money, this bakery is a miss. The tiny buttery crescents were elegant, but hardly satisfying.

Coop bulk bins, BIO Gipfeli (85 cents): One bite into this small, dry Gipfeli prompted Sam to exclaim: â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is the health food one, right?â&#x20AC;? Dry, tasteless and dull, the low price is not worth the GHDUWK RI Ă&#x20AC; DYRXU Crobag (1.50 francs): The newest bakery in Bernâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main station selling croissants in the French tradition. I was sceptical, but curious to see if Sam could tell right away that it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a real Gipfeli. He couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t, but we both exclaimed how delicious it was. Crisp on the outside, with a tender, sweet inside. Though a bit pricier than some RI WKH RWKHUV DQG GHÂż QLWHO\ QRW D UHDO Swiss Gipfeli, it was delicious.

Reinhardt (1.40 francs): A delicious, EXWWHU\ *LSIHOL 1RW TXLWH DV FULVS\ DV some of the others, nor as big, but a good tasty crescent of bread.

The perfect Sunday breakfast

Migros (1.30 francs): A big, beautiful *LSIHOL ZLWK D JORULRXVO\ Ă&#x20AC; DN\ FUXVW Sam knew immediately where it was from, despite my efforts to disguise it by cutting it into pieces. It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t quite as sweet as Crobag, nor as buttery as Reinhardt, but it was big and crispy and satisfying.

As far as value for money is concerned, the Migros Gipfeli is your best bet.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s big and yummy and an excellent vehicle for jam, or fresh Swiss butter.

If yoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re dashing through the main station on your way to hiking or skiing in the Oberland, the Migros TakeAway also has the best hours, opening at 5:00 am Monday to Sunday. Apart from the main station, honourable mentions in Bern include Gipfeli from Glatz and Bohnenblust, a favourite of most of the natives I surveyed.

Andrea Pilot is a lover of the entire canon of Swiss baked goods.

Raised in Canada by a Swiss mother, she obtained a degree in humanities before going EDFN WR VFKRRO WR SXUVXH KHU Âż UVW ORYH baking and pastry. Since graduating, she has been trying to bake the perfect Mailänderli, coming to Switzerland in pursuit of secret family recipes and the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best butter.

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I

Contributed by Barbara Gnägi

28

After the Games is before the Games Bern International Business Cocktail 2013 at Swiss Olympic.

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very year the Berne Economic Development Agency (BEDA) hosts the Bern International Business &RFNWDLO 1H[W \HDU LW ZLOO WDNH SODFH on 14 March 2013 from 6:00 pm at the House of Sports in Ittigen – the home of Swiss Olympic.

The Bern International Business Cocktail (BIBC) is the most important networking event for the international business community of the Canton of Bern, attracting around 200 people every year. Participants consist mostly of executive leaders from Bernese and international companies, commercial attachés and ambassadors from the embassies, members of international schools and clubs in Bern as well as representatives from politics and administration. The idea is to facilitate personal contact with potential business partners or service providers in the Canton of Bern.

An event in the spirit of sports Each BIBC is held at a special location and has a current topic as theme. The upcoming event will be in the spirit of sport. The House of Sports, home of the Swiss Olympic association, presents the perfect location for this event. After this summer’s memorable Olympic Games, participants will take a trip down memory lane featuring the highlights from London.

Swiss Olympic As the name suggests, Swiss Olympic is the national Olympic committee and furthers international oriented competitive sports. The association also represents the interests of sports under private law in Switzerland with regard to public authorities, as well as national and international organisations. Swiss Olympic is also the parent organization of Swiss sport clubs. The 20,000 clubs nationwide count 1.6

million members and are pooled into 83 associated organizations. The association’s assignment is to motivate the population to engage in a regular sporting activity, thus establishing sports in society as a contribution to better quality of living and health. Furthermore, Swiss Olympic implements the Code of Conduct into the Swiss world of sports, which is based on Excellence, Friendship and Respect.

Program of the BIBC 7KH RI¿ FLDO SDUW RI WKH SURJUDP VWDUWV at 6:00 pm. The cocktail will be opened

by Andreas Rickenbacher, President of the Government of the Canton of Bern and Minister of Economic Affairs, together with Roger Schnegg, Director of Swiss Olympic. Following this Jean-Luc Bivier, President of Hublot SA, will talk about the activities of KLV 6ZLVV ZDWFK FRPSDQ\ LQ WKH ¿ HOG of sports. Gian Gilli, Sport Director, will speak about the Olympic Games in London. The networking cocktail will take place afterwards, when participants can inform themselves about Swiss Olympic and expat activities in the Canton of Bern. Instead of the usual guided tours, a surprised is planned.

From February 2013 additional information on and registration for the BIBC can be found on: www.berneinvest.com/ibc13 Be aware seats are limited, and participants must register to attend.

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www.berneinvest.com www.hausdessport.ch www.swissolympic.ch

The House of Sports

Contributed by Querida Long

Restaurant zum blauen Engel <

ou could easily walk right past this restaurant tucked into an unassuming building in the Länggasse quarter.

I was introduced to the Restaurant zum blauen Engel on a girls’ night out. It was cold and raining when we arrived, so we passed through the garden that would have been inviting in better weather and went inside. We were given a warm welcome and shown to our table.

The interior of the restaurant is absolutely charming. It’s a small space that feels cozy but not cramped, with low lighting punctuated by the warmth of FDQGOHOLJKW UHÀ HFWHG LQ RUQDWH PLUURUV Interesting details such as crystal chandeliers, exotic-looking antlers mounted above the doorway and antique posters keep the eye moving and give the decor a touch of whimsy without being kitschy.

The tables were simple with crisp white linens and silver candlesticks. We all agreed that the ambience would also be perfect for a romantic date.

The Restaurant zum blauen Engel won’t leave you spoiled for choice; the menu has only a few dishes on offer, but they are all freshly prepared from seasonal ingredients. Once we ordered, the meat-eaters were brought an appetizer of organic beef tartar, and the vegetarians got a lovely beet and fennel concoction. When our meals arrived, we all marveled at how beautiful the food looked.

The vegetarians in the group were delighted with their pumpkin ravioli with mushroom sauce. Those who ordered the seared duck breast with polenta and autumn vegetables were equally pleased. One lady, who ordered the pork loin stuffed with a prawn on a bed of Asian vegetables with a side of

(© www.zumblauenengel.ch)

A heavenly dining experience.

29

coconut rice, raved that her food tasted even better than it looked.

Although the dessert selections sounded tempting, we decided on a selection of house-made cookies to go with our coffee. After all, we can order dessert the next time we come. Hopefully the weather will be nice and we’ll sit in the garden.

Hello Switzerland is a great platform to introduce

The Restaurant zum blauen Engel is moderately expensive (CHF 70-100 per person), but definitely worth the price.

It’s a good idea to make reservations and walk or take public transportation from the main station because parking in Länggasse is scarce. Tip: lunch is less expensive, but equally delicious.

Restaurant zum blauen Engel Charlotte von Gunten Seidenweg 9b, 3012 Bern 031 302 32 33 www.zumblauenengel.ch

your goods and services to the growing international community in Switzerland.

Publish your advertisement here and reach English speakers in Switzerland!

For an advertising proposal or to become an official partner of our quarterly publication contact Lukas Hayoz +41 (0) 61 206 9053, lukas@helloswitzerland.ch www.helloswitzerland.ch

SWITZERLAND

The servers were friendly and attentive.

Our hostess recommended a white Burgundy wine for our aperitif, and we ordered a plate of antipasti to go along with it. We lingered over our apéro as we caught up with each other, and our patient server had no problem with us ordering in our own unhurried pace.

Compiled by Anitra Green

30

The FASC News Sheet A wonderful FASC weekend in Oberhofen It was a merry group that gathered at the Park Hotel in Oberhofen, on the Lake of Thun, in September â&#x20AC;&#x201C; just right for an FASC weekend with a central locaWLRQ PDJQLÂż FHQW YLHZ ZRQGHUIXO IRRG and service, banqueting room, a lovely garden and even a minigolf course. And we had it almost to ourselves. Fridayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brilliant sunshine and an informal dinner and impromptu disco, led by the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Bobby Dazzlersâ&#x20AC;?, set the tone for the whole weekend.

Saturday unfortunately was rainy, which threatened to cast a damper on our afternoon sports or anyone taking a boat trip. Luckily our sports organiser Claude is full of ideas, so we could play table-tennis, darts and horseshoethrowing outside, and a simple form of minigolf and a chocolate guessing game indoors â&#x20AC;&#x201C; all very light-hearted.

A superb gala dinner was followed by dancing to the music of Carla and Alex, and a huge tombola. Congratulations to Ann Byrne (ASC St Gallen) who won WKH Âż UVW SUL]H

Enjoying an apĂŠro in Oberhofen

On Sunday most people went to visit Schloss HĂźnegg nearby, a fantastic castle straight out of a fairy tale. But before that it was prize-giving time in the hotel lobby, starting with the winners of our Âż UVW DQQXDO ERZOLQJ FRPSHWLWLRQ, where ASC Basel was top. See the website for the complete list: www.fasc.ch/bowling Winners of Saturdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sports competitions were as follows: Indoor minigolf: team, ASC St Gallen; NLQJ 1LJHO &RRPEV $6& )ULERXUJ

queen, Joan Pert (ASC St Gallen) Darts: WHDP $6& )ULERXUJ NLQJ 1LJHO Coombs (ASC Fribourg); queen, Johanna Baumann (ASC Toggenburg/Wil) Table-tennis: NLQJ 1RUPDQ 7URXQFH (ASC St Gallen); queen, Vera Scheer (ASC Basel) Horseshoe-throwing: team, ASC Toggenburg/Wil; king, Bob Howis (ASC St Gallen); queen, Johanna Baumann (ASC Toggenburg/Wil) Chocolate guessing game: king, Volker Scheer (ASC Basel); queen, Vicky Bodmer (ASC Toggenburg/Wil) Autumn Council Meeting Representatives from all member clubs but one were present at this FASC Council meeting, held during the FASC weekend for the second time. After the successful Jubilee party in June, the meeting decided it would be a good idea to hold more joint events, and rapidly drafted a programme for 2013, including a ski weekend (see below), car rally, golf tournament, and of course the

FASC weekend in September, for which preparations are already in full swing.

Club representatives were able to swap ideas on various aspects of club life at four workshops, which proved even more useful than last time, so theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be extended in future.

We were delighted to welcome Imogen Wiles, Deputy Head of Mission and Consul General at the British Embassy in Bern. She not only took part but also presented the Maisie Bienz Cup to ASC Lucerne, one of the founders of FASC 80 years ago. This cup is awarded to the club that has been the most successful during the past year and done most to promote the aims of FASC, in memory of one of FASCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s longest serving council members.

Future events A ski weekend in St Moritz is being organized on the weekend of 8/10 )HEUXDU\ WKURXJK WKH JRRG RIÂż FHV of our treasurer, Francis Martin. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re staying at the Hotel Europa Champfèr, and if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to ski you can always go walking (with or without snow-shoes) or enjoy the delights of après-ski in the town.

Ten-pin bowling: annual FASC competition â&#x20AC;&#x201C; see our webpage for more information!

Advance notice: FASC golf tournament, 6 September 2013.

The FASC has 14 member clubs all over Switzerland offering a wide range of activities in English for people of all nationalities. www.angloswissclubs.ch www.fasc.ch

MAX UMIKER AG Your friendly local English-speaking garage!

16 St Jakobs St 4132 Muttenz 061 461 54 00 www.subaru-basel.ch

Contributed by Kurt Metz

Hot Spots for Cold Days

31

Some hot tips on warm places to go, with a difference. ooking for a few heart-warming alternatives during the forthcoming winter months; to putting your feet QHDU WKH RSHQ Âż UH RU WKH UDGLDWRU DQG keeping the blood circulating with the aid of one or two stiff drinks?

How about visiting the Tropenhaus at Frutigen in the Bernese Oberland?

The Tropical House is one result of the construction of the LĂśtschberg base tunnel linking Bern to Visp and the upper Rhone Valley. When digging the tunnel, almost 35km long, the miners came across a spring producing about 70-100 litres of fresh water a second at a constant temperature of 18C. If this relatively warm water had been allowed WR Ă&#x20AC; RZ LQWR WKH ULYHU .DQGHU QHDU WKH exit of the tunnel, it would have had a tremendous negative impact on the biosphere and the wildlife.

tage of being independent of bad or cold weather, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s now one of the top tourist attractions in the region. The eye-opening and interactive exhibition DERXW ZDWHU HQHUJ\ DQG Âż VK KDWFKLQJ LV IROORZHG E\ D ZDON WKURXJK WKH Âż VKHU\ and the jungle-like greenhouses, where small tropical animals live too. When you get hungry, two restaurants await you with products from the Tropenhaus and local specialities. There is also a shop, where one can buy fresh and dried fruits as well as vegetables produced onsite. Frutigen can be reached hourly on the LĂśtschberg-train from Bern, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just a ten-minute walk to the site. www.tropenhaus-frutigen.ch

The challenge was to cool the tunnel water down to the ambient water temperature of the river throughout the year. Rather than expending enormous amounts of energy in doing this, someone had the clever idea of using it to heat large greenhouses for growing tropical plants, fruit and vegetables, creating DW WKH VDPH WLPH D KXJH Âż VK IDUP IRU the endangered Siberian sturgeon. A nice â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and pricy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; by-product of raising WKHVH Âż VK LV FDYLDU DQG QDWXUDOO\ WKHLU Âż QH Ă&#x20AC; HVK IRU KXPDQ FRQVXPSWLRQ

A somewhat similar operation is the Tropenhaus in Wohlhusen, in the canton of Lucerne. The source for heating here is the compressor station of the international natural gas pipeline, running from Rotterdam to Italy right DFURVV 6ZLW]HUODQG %HIRUH WKH OLTXHÂż HG gas takes it journey through the Alps, it needs to be compressed to the maximum and then pushed up the gradients.

These processes produce heat, which is used to keep the air at the right temperature for over 100 tropical plants.

The Wolhusen site is slightly older than the Frutigen one and has no particular DQLPDO OLIH EXW WKHUH DUH Âż YH WKHPH islands and a tricky discovery game. www.tropenhaus-wohlhusen.ch

The LĂśtschberg base tunnel was opened in December 2007, and the Tropenhaus two years later. With the great advan-

Warm throughout the year is the Papiliorama at Kerzers, about midZD\ EHWZHHQ )ULERXUJ 1HXFKkWHO DQG

Papiliorama

Glassblowing at Hergiswil

Bern. Here literally thousands of butWHUĂ&#x20AC; LHV VZDUP WKURXJK WKH DLU UHVW RQ branches or nestle in the trees. The huge GRPH LV KRPH WR D QXPEHU RI UDUH Ă&#x20AC; \LQJ species and colourful birds one would otherwise never see or hear. www.papiliorama.ch Hot is the key word at the Glasi in Hergiswil, the glass manufacturer on the shores of Lake Lucerne just a few miles south of the city. Here glassblowing is an art, and the artists can be seen at their work throughout the week including Saturdays. If you are still looking for an original Swiss Christmas gift carefully and professionally made out of glass, this is the place to visit. www.glasi.ch All four places can easily be reached by public transport, and all but the Glasi are part of the RailAway specials with reduced fares and entrance fees. www.sbb.ch www.railaway.ch NOTE: Previous issues of Hello Switzerland mention these venues (Tropenhaus spring 2011; Glasi summer 2012).

Kurt Metz Communications consultant for the tourism and transport industries, irregularly publishing articles on topics he likes such as travelling, food and drink

SWITZERLAND

L

Contributed by the Hello Switzerland Editorial Team

32

Discover Switzerland: Museums Switzerland has more museums per capita than almost any other country in the world.

F

rom Jurassic fossils to life in Palaeolithic times; from glaciers and mountains to ethnography; from cheese and chocolate to vineyards, WDSHVWULHV WR WUDLQV ÂżQH DUWV WR PRGHUQ art â&#x20AC;&#x201C; housed in buildings ranging from ancient castles and antique mills WR SXUSRVH EXLOW PRGHUQ HGLÂżFHV Âą Switzerland has a museum for them all.

Perhaps a common feature running through all these museums, in whatever part of Switzerland, is a desire to make them accessible to the public, both locals and visitors â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and in particular to present them as a well-used venue where Swiss children can learn about their heritage and culture.

Passport to Swiss Museums This gives you free admission to 445 museums throughout Switzerland.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s available in an annual version for Swiss residents, and a monthly version IRU WRXULVWV <RXÂśOO UHFRYHU WKH FRVW RI the monthly Passport by visiting just three museums. With the adult Passport 3OXV \RX FDQ EULQJ XS WR ÂżYH FKLOGUHQ under 16 years of age with you for free.

Annual Passport holders receive a periodic newsletter listing all the newly associated museums and the temporary exhibitions.

SWITZERLAND

Swiss Museums Association With more than 750 institutional members, the Swiss Museums Association represents the interests of all museums in Switzerland and Liechtenstein in

encounters with authorities and the public. It promotes contact between museums, sets standards and serves as a forum for ideas and exchanges of experience.

Their latest app for the iPhone, Swiss Museums, is a multimedia guide giving direct access to 1095 geo-located museums, by name, by canton or by category. Useful information includes opening hours, nearby transit stations, and disabled access. Follow the link from the Swiss Museums Association website: www.museums.ch We present here each of our Editorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; personal choices of museums to visit in their area. To ring the changes, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re starting in Geneva and then moving around the Swiss regions in a counterclockwise direction.

French-speaking Switzerland Geneva Geneva has more than 30 museums for a visitor to choose from, ranging from the famous International Red Cross Museum (currently closed for renovation, due to reopen in 2013), to the Patek Philippe Museum with its extraordinary collection of watches.

The Martin Bodmer Foundation, comprising Library and Museum, is set in the prestigious neighbourhood of Cologny (on the south side of the Lake).

The collection includes â&#x20AC;&#x153;approximately 200 Western and 100 Eastern manu-

Precious manuscripts at the Martin Bodmer Foundation

(Š fondationbodmer.ch)

scripts, many of them rare or unique LWHPV´ $PRQJ WKHVH DUH ÂżUVW HGLWLRQV of many of Shakespeareâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s works, and ÂżUVW HGLWLRQV RI ERWK WKH *XWHQEHUJ %LEOH DQG 6LU ,VDDF 1HZWRQÂśV Principia Mathematica. Well worth a visit, and the view from the terrace of this museum overlooking Geneva is nothing short of spectacular.

Just outside Geneva you can visit CERN* to see The Globe of Science and Innovation. This building is 27m high and 40m in diameter â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or about the size of the dome of St. Peterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Basilica LQ 5RPH 2Q WKH JURXQG Ă&#x20AC;RRU WKH Universe of Particles exhibition â&#x20AC;&#x153;takes the visitor on a journey deep into the world of particles and back to the Big Bangâ&#x20AC;?. (*Centre EuropĂŠen de Recherche NuclĂŠaire, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, and home to the famous Hadron Collider) The Geneva Tourism website has an excellent explanation of all the museums under the one website. Check out the Geneva Pass, which allows entry to over 50 tourist attractions at preferential rates for 24, 48 or 72 hours. www.geneve-tourisme.ch Vaud Vaud has many famous museums across the entire canton, including the International Olympic Museum in Lausanne, the Château de Coppet (celebrated as the home of Madame de Stael), and the Swiss National Museum LQ WKH &KkWHDX GH 3UDQJLQV QHDU 1\RQ 7KLV FDVWOH GDWHV IURP and has a beautiful park alongside it, together with a kitchen garden. The museum depicts life in Switzerland in the 18th and 19th centuries. In March 2013 the museum will unveil a brand new permanent exhibition. www.musees.vd.ch The Toy Museum in La Tour de Peilz near Vevey is a must for both families

33

and adults. Here you can discover games from all over the world such as Mah-Jong from China, Awari from Africa and many more. There is a room purely dedicated to card games, and another with a collection of slot machines. www.museedujeu.com Valais Visitors to Sion have the choice of three museums to visit throughout the year: the Museum of Nature, the Museum of History situated in the castle perched on a vertiginous hill overlooking the Valais, and the Museum of Art. All of these museums also hold temporary exhibitions in a fourth building: lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Ancien PĂŠnitencier (old prison) in the heart of the old town.

This temporary space is an extraordinary venue and, in particular, one to view art. The prison has been kept in its original form, and the works of art are set in the old cells with the thick wooden doors and peepholes still in place. The current (temporary) art exhibition at this building runs until 6 January 2013 and is called Welcome to Paradise. This shows the work of an artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; colony in the Valais: the School of Savièse, which was named after a hillside village overlooking Sion and has become synonymous with the phenomenon of the colonisation of artists marking the entire Central Valais around 1900.

Among these artists were Ernest BiÊler, Raphy Dallèves and many more. The vibrant colour and richness of these paintings are a contrast to the austere

(Š swiss-image.ch)

and simple backdrop of the prison. For information on all three museums: www.musees-valais.ch Catherine

a stylish venue for the performance of chamber music. www.gianadda.ch

If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re passing through Martigny, perhaps on your way to Verbier or the Grand-St-Bernard pass, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget to visit the iconic museum housing the 3LHUUH *LDQDGGD )RXQGDWLRQ While planning to build a house to rent in early 1976, engineer LĂŠonard Gianadda discovered the remains of an ancient Celtic temple, the oldest of its kind in Switzerland. On 31 July of that same year, his younger brother Pierre died tragically in the aftermath of a plane crash while seeking help for his fellow survivors. LĂŠonard built the museum as a permanent memorial to his beloved brother, creating the Foundation as a cultural centre around the temple.

Italian-speaking Switzerland The picturesque canton of Ticino, with its balmy semi-tropical climate, boasts over 60 museums with two 81(6&2 :RUOG +HULWDJH VLWHV Monte San Giorgio and the three castles of Bellinzona). Because of the luminous quality of the light, the area was, and still is, a Mecca for artists. Ticinoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cultural institutions include museums GHGLFDWHG WR WKH DUWV Âą VDFUHG ÂżQH DQG modern; local produce such as chocolate $OSURVH FRIIHH DQG ÂżVK ZRUOG FODVV writers and poets like Herman Hesse; and all aspects of cultural life relating to the only Italian-speaking part of the Confederation. These are all listed on the Ticino website (also in English): www.ticino.ch

Since its inauguration in 1978, the Gianadda has presented an eclectic mix of art and artifacts: the permanent collections comprise vintage automobiles, the Gallo-Roman museum and the Chagall court, with a delightful sculpture park in the gardens. Temporary exhibitions have included the major Impressionists (many on loan from the Pushkin in Moscow); the current exhibition features works by Van Gogh, Kandisky and Picasso (until 25 1RYHPEHU DQG IRU QH[W \HDU DQ exhibition devoted to Leonardo da Vinci is planned. The ultra-modern exterior of the building belies the beautifully acoustic space indoors, which apart from its permanent displays is used as

A good example is the Museo Cantonale GÂś$UWH LQ /XJDQR Established in 1987, the museum houses a collection of works representing a cross-section of the history of art over the last two centuries, from local to international level.

In addition to the preservation, study and enlargement of the collection, the 0XVHXP LV DOVR LQYROYHG LQ VFLHQWLÂżF research. The number and quality of resulting exhibitions â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from painting to sculpture, photography, architecture and graphic art â&#x20AC;&#x201C; make the museum one of the landmarks of the cultural scene between Ticino and Lombardy. www.museo-cantonale-arte.ch

SWITZERLAND

International Olympic Museum in Lausanne

34

Perhaps one of the most beautiful locations for a museum is in Ligornetto, situated close to the Italian border below the southernmost end of Lake Lugano. Museo Vincenzo Vela is one of the most important artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; housemuseums to have been erected in 19th century Europe. It was conceived by the great realist sculptor Vincenzo Vela from Ticino (1820-91) at the height of his career, and transformed into a public museum after it was donated to the Swiss state. In addition to Vincenzo Velaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gallery of monumental plaster casts, it includes the bequests of the sculptor Lorenzo Vela (1812-97) and painter Spartaco Vela (1854-95), a remarkable collection of 19th century paintings from Lombardy and Piedmont, hundreds of autographed drawings, and one of the earliest private collections of photographs in Switzerland.

The collection is housed in a charming but impressive Italianate villa, surrounded by delightful parkland (a â&#x20AC;&#x153;natural discovery gardenâ&#x20AC;?) planted with yews, camellias, roses, lily ponds, cypresses, sweet chestnuts and oak trees. Designated as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;museum for everyoneâ&#x20AC;?, the Museo Vela is proud of its innovative approach to culture and education. One project dear to Vincenzo Velaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heart was to create an art school in his home, a place to train DQG EHQHÂżW WKH \RXQJHU JHQHUDWLRQ 7KH museum therefore focuses on establish-

Nietzsche House in Sils Maria

Museo Vincenzo Vela

ing a dialogue with schools, families, adolescents, tourists and visitors from all walks of life, as well as scholars and anyone interested in art. www.museo-vela.ch Romansh-speaking Switzerland The easternmost canton of GraubĂźnden lists no less than 105 museums. As might be expected in this very mountainous area of Switzerland, many of the smaller museums are dedicated to depictions of local rural life, customs and artefacts. The larger towns such as St Moritz, Davos, Chur and Klosters contain various art galleries, all listed on the website (English): en.graubuenden.ch Located in the idyllic village of Sils Maria, above St Moritz, the Nietzsche House has been open to the public since )ULHGULFK 1LHW]VFKH YLVLWHG 6LOV over seven summers from 1881. For him the surrounding landscape provided peace and quiet, and enabled him to concentrate. He worked on a number of books during this time, in particular

(Š www.museo-vela.ch)

part 2 of Also Sprach Zarathustra â&#x20AC;&#x201C; whose key idea of eternal recurrence came to him in a moment of inspiration on the shores of Lake Silvaplana.

This former holiday cottage houses a permanent collection of eclectic objects UHODWLQJ WR 1LHW]VFKHÂśV OLIH DQG ZRUNV as well as putting on temporary exhibitions modern art. www.nietzschehaus.ch Caroline German-speaking Switzerland Zurich area Belonging to the city of Zurich and located in a lovely park in Wollishofen, the Rietberg Museum specializes in non-European art. The permanent collection includes 1400 Indian miniature paintings, over 200 Luristan bronzes IURP WKH WKLUG WR WKH ÂżUVW PLOOHQQLXP BC, and a wide range of masks, from Cameroon, Japan, and Melanesia, as well as carnival masks from Switzerland. The collection of Chinese art, including Buddhist statues, funerary bronzes and Ming and Qing Dynasty paintings, is one of the most important in Europe. However, the museum is currently remodelling the Chinese galleries, so they are closed until midJanuary 2013. Like most museums, the Rietberg has far more works in storage than on display in the galleries, but all of its three-dimensional works, including jewellery, masks and statues, are in â&#x20AC;&#x153;visual storageâ&#x20AC;?, available to be viewed in glass cases.

By the time you read this, and until 10 March 2013, the exhibition entitled ChavĂ­n: The Arrival of the Gods in the Andes will feature the latest discoveries from Peru about the ChavĂ­n, called the mother culture of the Andes.

The restaurant is excellent and seems to attract its own lunchtime clientele; there is also a Japanese tearoom. www.rietberg.ch

Hirzel is a charming little town up the hill from Wädenswil whose claim to fame is being the birthplace of Heidiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s creator, Johanna Spyri. The school that Johanna went to as a young girl has been converted into a museum in her honour â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the Johanna Spyri Museum â&#x20AC;&#x201C; with pictures of her family and her former homes in Zurich, examples of many of the products that Heidi has inspired over the years, and versions of Heidiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s story into several of the dozens of languages it has been translated into.

This is not a museum you can spend the whole day at â&#x20AC;&#x201C; least of all because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only open two hours a week â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re looking for a little Swissness, this is a good place to start. www.hirzel.ch The Centre for Photography in Winterthur is two museums in one: The Fotostiftung Schweiz (Swiss Photo Foundation), focusing on Swiss photography from its beginnings to the present, and the Fotomuseum Winterthur, which has an international outlook.

The current exhibition (until 3 March 2013) at the Fotostiftung is Swiss photographer Andreas Seibertâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Huai He â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Colours of Growth. The dramatic photos taken along this 1000-kilometre river illustrate that Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economic growth is overshadowing and even destroying growth in nature. Two exhibitions are now (until February 2013) at the Fotomuseum: photographs

35

The Paper Mill

RI <RXQJ 3HRSOH IURP WKH PXVHXPÂśV collection, and Yto Barrada: Riffs, bringing together photographs, videos and sculpture in a subversive look at WKH SROLWLFDO VLWXDWLRQ LQ 1RUWK $IULFD Barrada herself is from Morocco. www.zentrumfuerfotografie.ch

macy, cartoons, the graveyard museum at Friedhof HĂśrnli; to the totally unexpected, like the Frog Museum in MĂźnchenstein and the Hoosesagg (trouser pocket) museum, which is just a showcase in someoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s front door. www.museenbasel.ch

Zug area The Kunsthaus Zug collection includes works from artists based in Zug and elsewhere in Switzerland, as well as other contemporary and recent European artists. From 8 December to 10 March 2013 it presents Alfred Kubin â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Last Adventure. A graphic artist and author, the Austrian Kubin was D SLRQHHU LQ G\VWRSLDQ Âż FWLRQ DQG DQ illustrator of books by such authors as Dostoyevsky and Poe. The exhibition of some 150 works showcases both elements of his career. www.kunsthauszug.ch Allison

One of the most charming is the PapiermĂźhle, the Swiss museum for paper, writing and printing. Housed in a splendid old mill next to the Rhine with a working mill-wheel driven by a small tributary, just inside the city wall (still intact at this point), it was recently renovated and revamped, with impressive collections not only of printing presses â&#x20AC;&#x201C; still functional â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but also printed works from the time printing ZDV Âż UVW LQYHQWHG ,WÂśV SURXG RI EHLQJ a working museum, and you can buy the products in the shop; it also holds courses in printing and making decorative paper, and special tours are on offer for school classes. The building itself is a museum piece: a superb, ancient half-timbered construction built as a corn mill and then used as a paper mill IRU QHDUO\ \HDUV Âż QDOO\ FORVLQJ LQ 1924. www.papiermuseumn.ch

Basel area Basel boasts more museums per square kilometre â&#x20AC;&#x201C; about 40 in 37 sq/ km â&#x20AC;&#x201C; than any other city in Europe.

7KH HPSKDVLV LV PDLQO\ RQ Âż QH DUWV DV H[HPSOLÂż HG E\ WKH Art Museum, the Beyeler Foundation, the Tingueley museum and so on. But thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not counting museums in Basel-Land like Augusta Raurica (Roman remains) in Augst, or in Germany like the Vitra design museum in Weil-am-Rhein, or in France like the Crystal Museum in St Louis. They range from the expected: natural history, historical, antique; to the unlikely: sports, phar-

Way out in Basel-Land at Seewen is the museum of musical automata (Museum fĂźr Musikautomaten), which started as a private collection in a barn. The collector Heinrich Weiss and his wife ZHQW DOO RYHU (XURSH Âż QGLQJ LQWHUHVWLQJ items, and the collection includes the long-lost Britannic organ, sister ship to the ill-fated Titanic. The museum is

SWITZERLAND

Kulturama â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Museum of Mankind offers an overview of evolution, from WKH Âż UVW VLQJOH FHOO RUJDQLVPV WKURXJK ammonites and dinosaurs, to presentday humans. The museum is very visual and in some cases, hands-on, which is helpful if your German is weak and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not afraid of dinosaurs.

The life-size models of early humans are particularly striking, as are the comparisons of human, bird and other mammal bones.

The museum always has a special exhibit, usually for several months or even a year. Until 17 March 2013 this is Neuromedia, an exploration of the relationship between art and science, featuring videos and interactive sculptures. www.kulturama.ch

36

SWITZERLAND

Zentrum Paul Klee in Bern

now in the hands of the Swiss confederation and housed in an air-conditioned building above the village. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest collections of Swiss music boxes, disc music boxes, musical timepieces and jewellery, and other mechanical musical automata.

The display of fairground organs in the reception area is so nostalgic it makes you weep, the singing birds are beautiful, and the automaton of a naughty boy trying to steal sweets is quite hilarious. www.bundesmuseen.ch

Museum of Bern (Bernisches Historisches Museum), with its impressive variety of permanent exhibitions from near and far dating from the Stone Age to the 20th century, as well as remarkable temporary exhibitions. One temporary exhibition in 2005 focused on Albert Einsteinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life in the context of world history and later became the Einstein Museum, which is located in the Historical Museum. Both museums offer audio guides in English. www.bhm.ch

Finally, if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re missing the sea, visit the Verkehrsdrehscheibe (transport hub) shipping museum, downriver towards KleinhĂźnigen, just short of Three Countries Corner. It started life as an exhibition called â&#x20AC;&#x153;Path to the Seaâ&#x20AC;? in the 1950s, and shows just how imporWDQW VKLSSLQJ LV WR %DVHO 1RW PDQ\ people realize Basel is Switzerlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only commercial port, importing a lot of mineral oil, building materials and so on via the Rhine. Even more fascinating to learn is that in 1936 you could take a ship direct from Basel to London!

There are lots of illustrations of the Rhine before it was channelled, Swiss ships and how they were constructed DQG VR RQ %XW SHUKDSV WKH ÂżQHVW SLHFH in the whole collection is a bone ship, an incredible and rare model made from bones and wood by prisoners from the 1DSROHRQLF ZDU HUD www.verkehrsdrehscheibe.ch Anitra

NB: The Einstein Museum is not to be confused with the Einstein House at Kramgasse 49 in the Old Town of Bern, which is where Einstein was living when he discovered the theory of relativity. At press time the Einstein House was closed until further notice due to severe water damage.

Bern area There are many museums in and around Bern, but nowhere is museum density higher than around the Helvetiaplatz.

Within a few minutesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; walking distance IURP WKH WUDP VWRS \RXÂśOO ÂżQG VHYHUDO interesting museums.

Immediately noticeable is the castle-like building that is home to the Historical

Just across the square, but housed in a building more easily overlooked is the 6ZLVV $OSLQH 0XVHXP The exhibitions, lectures and events in this museum look at the Alpsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; historical DQG FXUUHQW LQĂ&#x20AC;XHQFH RQ VRFLHW\ DUW tourism, science and other aspects of life. The Alpine Museum reopened in March after a renovation to give it a more modern feel â&#x20AC;&#x201C; relief maps and artefacts are now artfully displayed RQ WKH Ă&#x20AC;RRU DQG ZDOOV UDWKHU WKDQ LQ glass display cases. A new addition to the museum is the restaurant las alps which specializes in Alpine cuisine beyond fondue and raclette. www.alpinesmuseum.ch Opposite the Swiss Alpine Museum is the Kunsthalle, which exhibits contemporary art by local and international artists. In addition to displaying the art, the Kunsthalle also offers lectures and discussion groups to help visitors understand the art. www.kunsthalle-bern.ch

Heading away from the Helvetiaplatz RQ %HUQDVWUDVVH \RXÂśOO ÂżQG WKH Swiss 5LĂ&#x20AC;H 0XVHXP where you can discover the history of the sport of shooting; and the Natural History Museum where you can visit Barry, the famous St Bernard rescue dog who died nearly 200 years ago but whose legend is still very much alive. One block over, on Helvetiastrasse, the Museum of Communication is full of interactive exhibits examining the ways people communicate. www.schuetzenmuseum.ch www.nmbe.ch www.mfk.ch Of course not all the museums in Bern are located around the Helvetiaplatz. On the edge of town near Ostermundigen is the =HQWUXP 3DXO .OHH The wavelike building by renowned architect Renzo Piano is a work of art in itself. Inside the museum is dedicated to the work of one of the most famous artists ever to have lived in Bern, Paul Klee. Zentrum Paul Klee also features temporary exhibits from other artists, lectures, readings and concerts. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re feeling inspired, you and your children can create some artwork of your own at the .LQGHUPXVHXP &UHDYLYD www.zpk.org The work of another famous artist IURP %HUQ $GROI :|OĂ&#x20AC;L FDQ EH VHHQ at the Psychiatrie-Museum Bern on the grounds of the Waldau psychiatric FOLQLF ZKHUH :|OĂ&#x20AC;L ZDV D SDWLHQW ,Q addition to the art created by the mentally ill, you can see exhibits illustrating the progression of psychiatry through the centuries. www.psychiatrie-museum.ch Try the Museen Bern app for your iPhone to have the latest information on %HUQÂśV PXVHXPV DW \RXU ÂżQJHUWLSV Querida

Collated by the Romandie Team

Romandie Roundup

37

Allocated Seating on easyJet 1R PRUH UXVKLQJ IRU D VHDW RQ HDV\-HW IURP 1RYHPEHU RQZDUGV $W WKH WLPH of this magazine going to press, the company were set to roll out allocated seating across its network, including Ă&#x20AC;LJKWV GHSDUWLQJ IURP *HQHYD DLUSRUW 3DVVHQJHUV DOUHDG\ ERRNHG RQ Ă&#x20AC;LJKWV which now have allocated seating, should have received a communication DKHDG RI WKHLU Ă&#x20AC;LJKW WR OHW WKHP NQRZ what they need to do.

1RW DOO VNL UHVRUWV HQG WKHLU HDUO\ ERRNing discounts at the end of October â&#x20AC;&#x201C; some offers continue through until early December. For example, you can enjoy a 10% discount on a Portes du Soleil pass for any order made before 9 December 2012. If you have a favourite ski resort, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worth checking their website out for special offers and early season discounts.

Panto time again.

Oh yes it is!

Readers quick off the mark might be able to catch a performance of Sinbad the Sailor, the pantomime to be performed by the Geneva Amateur Operatic Society in Petit Lancy in *HQHYD DW WKH HQG RI 1RYHPEHU DQG RQ 1 and 2 December. www.gaos.ch

Visit Santa Claus on the mountain <RX GRQÂśW QHHG WR JR DOO WKH ZD\ WR Lapland to visit Father Christmas. %HWZHHQ 1RYHPEHU DQG 'HFHP ber you can take your family to visit him in his house, perched in a grotto DWRS WKH 5RFKHUV GH 1D\H DERYH Montreux (at a height of 2042m). The chance to meet Father Christmas is one of the many events organised by the Montreux Christmas Market. This

Père Noel at Rochers de Naye

market spreads right along the lakeside and attracts thousands of visitors each year. http://montreuxnoel.com

Books set in Romandie for Christmas gifts Looking for books set in Romandie for Christmas gifts? There are many to choose from, such as Hotel du Lac by Anitra Brookner, set in an unnamed town somewhere along Lac LĂŠman, or Frankenstein

by Mary Shelley, where much of the story takes place in Geneva. Henry Jamesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Daisy Miller IHDWXUHV ERWK 9HYH\ DQG &KkWHDX Chillon in the novel. And more recently, Murder in Geneva by local author D-L 1HOVRQ WHOOV WKH VWRU\ RI D \RXQJ IUHHlance writer who â&#x20AC;&#x153;specialises in history and who must solve a very old puzzle and a brand new murderâ&#x20AC;?.

Best Village in Romandie and Best Restaurants in Vaud Lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;illustrĂŠ, one of the weekly magazines in French for the Romandie area, recently ran a competition among its UHDGHUV WR ÂżQG RXW ZKDW WKH\ WKRXJKW

was the most beautiful village in Romandie. From the 35 villages nominated, the village of Evolène in the Val dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;HĂŠrens was declared the winner. To see the full article, go to the website and type in â&#x20AC;&#x153;Evolèneâ&#x20AC;? in the search button. <RX FDQ DOVR UHDG PRUH DERXW WKH YLOlage in English on page 43 of this issue. www.illustre.ch Lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hebdo magazine recently published the results of the best restaurants in Vaud according to the GaultMillau guide 2013. From the Auberge de lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Union in Arzier, to the CafĂŠ des Banques in Geneva, the results make interesting reading! To see the results of this survey visit their website and type in â&#x20AC;&#x153;GaultMillauâ&#x20AC;? in the search button. www.hebdo.ch

New Sports and Cultural Centre at Brillantmont School In October, Brillantmont School in Lausanne celebrated their 130th anniversary and at the same time, inaugurated a brand new sports facility called the Francoise Frei-Huguenin Sports and Cultural Centre. With the facility, students now enjoy a massive range of sports right on campus. Members of the public will be able to attend a series of events at the cultural centre throughout the year including a â&#x20AC;&#x153;Room to Readâ&#x20AC;? event on 18 December. www.brillantmont.ch

ROMANDIE

Ski Passes Discount

Contributed by Rashida Rahim

38

The Last of the Night Watchmen One of Hello Switzerlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s intrepid reporters climbs high into the tower of Lausanne Cathedral to find out about a unique tradition dating back six centuries.

I

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The quiet and solitude. The privilege of being alone in this huge building all night, where I work and sleep. And the idea that Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m perpetuating a tradition going back over half a millennium.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an honour to be able to hold a position that has virtually disappeared in Europe, but has been kept alive in Lausanne despite the ever-changing modernism of todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s society.â&#x20AC;?

tâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s night. The silhouette of a man with a dark, wide-brimmed hat and carrying a lantern is spotted from afar, pacing the belfry of Lausanneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s &DWKHGUDO $ EHOO WROOV DQG WKH ÂżJXUH moves slowly from corner to corner â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to WKH (DVW 1RUWK :HVW DQG 6RXWK KH ORZers the lantern and raises his hands to his mouth to boom: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Câ&#x20AC;&#x2122;est le guet! Il a sonnĂŠ le dixâ&#x20AC;Ś Il a sonnĂŠ le dixâ&#x20AC;? (Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the watchman: it has rung 10, it has rung 10) over the slumbering city.

7KLV FRXOG EH D SLHFH RI *RWKLF ÂżFWLRQ or the start of a crime novel.* Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what the watchman of Lausanne is licensed to do 365 days a year between the hours of 10pm and 2am, upholding a unique tradition dating back to 1405.

In those far-off days, the watchmen of Lausanne patrolled on foot, and then also surveyed the city from the lofty cathedral tower. The Cathedral watchman had the greatest responsibility, because of the clear vantage point over the surrounding area from the hill above la CitĂŠ. His duty consisted not only of lookout, but also extended to winding the bellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s counterweight and raising the DODUP LQ FDVH RI ÂżUH

ROMANDIE

1RZDGD\V WKH WUDGLWLRQ LV NHSW DOLYH by 54-year-old Renato Häusler: local philanthropist, lantern-maker, and part-time helper at an institution for the blind and visually impaired with mental disabilities. He and his band of six guets ensure the custom continues without fail. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not to say the role was never under threat over the years.

In 1880 a decree announced that the watchman would cease being on the ORRNRXW IRU ÂżUHV EXW ZRXOG UHPDLQ WR call time and rewind the bell mechanisms. Again in 1960, the whole city and media feared for their watchmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future when the city council automated the winding of the bellsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; counterbalance, and thus opted to reduce the

The guet shouting the hour (Š Dushana Häusler, 2011 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; photo courtesy of the Canton of Vaud)

hourly announcements from throughout the night to their current, more restricted hours.

Fortunately the time-honoured tradition UHPDLQV , PHW ZLWK /DXVDQQHÂśV RIÂżFLDO ZDWFKPDQ WR ÂżQG RXW PRUH DERXW WKLV mysterious role, and asked how he came to be entrusted with such a prestigious and unusual activity. Âł,Q RXU RIÂżFLDO ZDWFKPDQ 0U Willy Annen, was recovering from hip surgery. The responsibility for climbing the 153 steps to call time fell on volunteers. A friend of mine asked if I wanted to help out. I did, and once Willy returned many of the volunteers left but I was asked to stay.â&#x20AC;?

The hours are atypical, the weather can be unpleasant â&#x20AC;&#x201C; what brings you back night after night?

The watchmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s room is wedged between the massive bells of Marie0DGHOHLQH DQG &OpPHQFH +RZ GR you spend these hermetic hours? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I work on Kalalumen â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a project I started in 2005. I create candle-lit lanterns with the aim of providing a magical and enchanting atmosphere for shows, performances and weddings.

Over the years Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been commissioned to illuminate cathedrals, festivals and concerts â&#x20AC;&#x201C; in Switzerland and as far abroad as Monaco. I also listen to classical music and study the composers. At present Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m annotating the music scores of Beethovenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s symphonies to identify the inner melodies.â&#x20AC;?

Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been a watchman for 25 years â&#x20AC;&#x201C; what memories stand out for you? Âł7KH ÂżUVW LV WKH ÂżUH DW WKH Salle du Grand Conseil on 22 May 2002. After the last call at 2am, I went to bed â&#x20AC;&#x201C; there is one in the small room if we want to VWD\ Âą DQG DSSDUHQWO\ WKH ÂżUH VWDUWHG around 3am. I was completely unaware of the drama unfolding. It was only when I awoke and opened the small shutters to check the weather that I saw the immense amount of smoke, and the devastation taking place right by me. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The second was when all seven bells rang continuously from midnight to 2am on 21 December 2009, because RI D WHFKQLFDO IDLOXUH $W ÂżUVW , WRRN no notice, as the annual Christmas Midnight run had just taken place. I assumed the bells had been commissioned to ring to indicate the end. Then I thought they must have been booked

exceptionally to ring a full hour, but then they wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop! In the end I called the emergency services and the person in charge of the Cathedral, who WROG PH KRZ WR Âż[ WKH SUREOHP RYHU WKH phone.â&#x20AC;?

How is the torch passed from watchman to watchman? Could I become one? Âł2QFH , RIÂżFLDOO\ VWHS GRZQ LQ the post will be published and open to applicants. The most important qualities to have are punctuality, a good strong voice, and to know how to welcome visitors â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but alas, the position is for men only. Imagine the dangers the watchmen had to endure in olden times.

Conditions were hard, with the threat of bandits and brigands an ever-present danger. It was not a womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s job.

And even though times have changed and Lausanne may be open to a lady

watchperson, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not their decision to make but that of the Confraternity of European Watchmen.â&#x20AC;?

Although the role is the symbol of a bygone tradition that has all but disappeared in Europe, one that is being kept alive by the goodwill and support of the Lausannois people, together with the Watchman Association of Lausanne Cathedral â&#x20AC;&#x201C; there has yet to be a watchwoman. Who knows, perhaps one of our female readers in Lausanne with a passion for keeping up ancient practices, a deep respect for Swiss tradition, an alarm clock and a bit of gargling may one day be the female guet of Lausanne.

Details and information on Renatoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s project of light are available at: www.kalalumen.ch *Editorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s note: The Watchers by Jon Steele (2011) is a darkly Gothic thriller

based around le guet of Lausanne Cathedral.

39

For information about the intangible heritage of the Canton of Vaud (in French and German), as well as other photos relating to the guet of the Cathedral of Lausanne, see: www.patrimonie.vd.ch www.lebendige-traditionen.ch

Rashida Rahim British born but Bengali-Italian raised, Rashida Rahim is the eternal expat currently residing in Lausanne and despite being a technical trainer, has strong leanings towards all that is artsy-fartsy.

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ROMANDIE

Swiss Matura / International Baccalaureate

Contributed by Catherine Nelson Pollard

40

No egos on the mountain The life of a mountain guide.

With the winter season now upon us, and many readers aiming to venture into the mountains to pursue winter sports, Hello Switzerland interviewed Terry Ralphs, a mountain guide who lives and works in the village of Leysin in the Vaudoise Alps.

W

ith years of guiding experience behind him, Terry gives his advice on safety in the mountains, how to keep warm in the cold weather, how he passes on his guiding skills to other JXLGHV DV IDU DÂżHOG DV .\UJ\]VWDQ Âą DQG he also tells us about the sport of icefall climbing.

This is a two-part series on Terry Ralphs. In next yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Summer issue, Terry will tell us how to get the most out of the mountains in the warmer weather, how the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mountain Hutâ&#x20AC;? system works, which huts are suitable for family climbing trips, and which mountaineers he admires.

equipment. We travelled to the Peak District to do some basic, simple toproping: climbing a rock face with the rope always anchored above you. If you fall, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s usually only a few feet before the rope catches you, minimising the risk of injury.

what the client wants so that they can take that person to the correct place, and with gentle encouragement help them achieve their goal.

At college I was also encouraged to climb by an enthusiastic teacher. I then progressed to a mountaineering club at Leeds University, where we climbed in 6FRWODQG 1RUWK :DOHV DQG WKH $OSV

What standards should we look for in a guide?

Most importantly they should be a member of the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations ,)0*$ <RX FDQ RIWHQ VHH JXLGHV wearing these badges on their jackets.

The IFMGA is a globally recognised federation that upholds standards in guiding and ensures quality assurance. It is a legal requirement for all Mountain Guides in Switzerland to be IFMGA members.

ROMANDIE

Terry Ralphs

How did you get into climbing?

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m from Stoke on Trent in the UK, and from a young age I began to climb anything and everything, like playground walls. When I joined the Scouts, a group of us raised some money and bought some very basic climbing

After university, I knew climbing was the only thing I really wanted to do, but was aware it would be more of a lifestyle choice rather than a way of making money. Most mountain guides are in the profession purely for the love of it. So I went on to be an apprentice in a national centre for outdoor pursuits in Wales. Even though it was unpaid, it did teach me instructional skills on how to look after people in rock climbing and higher mountain climbing. This then led me to work as a freelance instructor for a trekking company based in the Himalayas for some six years. I consolidated a lot of skills during this time, learning about working with people and different kinds of mountains. I then joined the British Mountain Guide Training scheme to gain accreditation, which allowed me to work in regulated countries throughout the world.

Why use a guide for mountain sports?

The main reason is probably the obvious one: for safety and security. The guide lives and works in the mountains, so theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll know the best conditions and routes to take their clients for skiing or climbing. The other reason is to maximise your time. This is an essential commodity for todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s busy professionals, so the guide can help you make the most of your trip, whether for just a day or a full week.

What makes a good guide?

Egos are useless on the mountains.

A good guide is a calm one, who has empathy with the client. They listen to

The team in Kyrgyzstan

(Š T Ralphs)

Icefall climbing

(Š T Ralphs)

7KLV ÂżQDOO\ OHG PH WR ZRUNLQJ IRU ISM (International School of Mountaineering) based in Leysin. The work is adventurous, challenging and extremely rewarding. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m also involved with the local Leysin Mountain Guides bureau.

Training mountain guides takes up a lot RI P\ WLPH DV ,ÂśP WKH WUDLQLQJ RIÂżFHU for the British Mountain Guides. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been extremely lucky to be involved with the Mammut Mountain Guide Training Project in Kyrgyzstan. In a way Kyrgyzstan is like the Switzerland of Central Asia â&#x20AC;&#x201C; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 90% mountainous, has three peaks over 7,000m and many virgin (unclimbed) peaks. The Mammut Mountain Guide project, which started in 2008, aims to support the Kyrgyz Mountain Guide Association in training their guides. Mammut (the Swiss clothing company) have been very supportive of the project as part of their social responsibility approach to business. We hope the Kyrgyz Mountain Guide Association will soon be granted membership of the IFMGA. Could you explain the courses you offer in icefall or cascade climbing?

In winter most Alpine valleys have waterfalls that freeze. The sport involves climbing these waterfalls with two axes, crampons and ice screws. In good ice if you screw one of these into

the ice it may hold up to 1500 kilos in weight, but in bad ice it will pop straight out. So judgement of the ice conditions is very important in waterfall climbing â&#x20AC;&#x201C; you need to know the ice is ok to climb. It canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be too cold as the ice becomes too brittle; the best temperature is probably between -1 and -10C. Last winter was a really good one for ice climbing. There was one waterfall (Pisse Vache) near Martigny, forming in the Rhone valley and usually only appearing every twenty years â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it was superb.

41

Icefall climbing has become a very popular sport since the late 80s, and the tools to climb have evolved to such an extent that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s now much easier to climb. But the sportâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very popularity has brought its own problems. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re climbing, you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t follow in somebody HOVHÂśV IRRWVWHSV <RX KDYH WR ZDLW XQWLO WKH\ÂśYH ÂżQLVKHG DV WKH\ÂśOO EH KLWWLQJ WKH ice down from above. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s too dangerous to be below another team â&#x20AC;&#x201C; this results in a lot of waiting around or searching for other ice climbs. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a great sport

Terry gives Hello Switzerland readers some tips on mountains safety

Although technical ability is important, the major cause of most accidents is being in the wrong place at the wrong time, whether avalanche or rock fall. This usually this means you havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t done your research. Avalanches are difficult to predict: you have to be defensive on your approach, such as keeping off steep slopes. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d really recommend taking a ski technique and avalanche awareness course run by an IFMGA guide.

Getting to the top Accidents in the mountains can have many causes. Climbing any mountain, novice climbers have their eye on the top and they push hard because they are goal-orientated, using all their energy in the ascent. What they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t realise is they

need at least as much for the descent. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not unusual to take longer descending some mountains (e.g. the Matterhorn) than ascending them. Vigilance and concentration all the way down are essential, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very difficult when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re tired.

Then your decision-making can be flawed and you start taking short cuts. You need plenty of reserve for the descent.

Keeping warm in the mountains Have a good breakfast, carry a flask with a hot drink in your back-pack, obviously put on warm clothes, and keep the extremities warm: head, hands, feet. The trick is not to get cold in the first place: put another layer on before you need to, monitor yourself so youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not standing around in the cold â&#x20AC;&#x201C; whether ice climbing, skiing or simply being in the mountains.

If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re skiing with someone and they get cold, get them indoors as soon as you can. The danger is being unaware of the cold â&#x20AC;&#x201C; then you start getting the â&#x20AC;&#x153;hot achesâ&#x20AC;? which can be extremely painful. Keep moving all the time: donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just turn off the â&#x20AC;&#x153;engineâ&#x20AC;?, but keep it constantly ticking over.

Terryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website has links to all the relevant climbing and mountain associations, avalanche risk warning sites, up-todate Alpine ice conditions etc. www.mountain-guide.co.uk

ROMANDIE

Climbing For amateurs climbing with friends but without a guide, take your time trying to achieve your objectives: donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t rush into them. Make sure the conditions are correct and if theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not, always have a plan B more suitable for you. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re trying to get experience on the mountains, start off with the shorter routes well within your technical ability. The smaller routes give you that buffer so you have plenty of time to get to your destination and to safety, should you run into trouble. The key: lots of preparation and understanding the conditions.

HDV\ WR Âż QG WKDW VROLWDU\ H[SHULHQFH )RU most climbers, this is what itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really all about â&#x20AC;&#x201C; being high in the mountains above it all, and being in contact with nature.

42

Skitouring the Haute Route

(Š T Ralphs)

and probably one of my favourite, but you really need to know what youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing. +RZ GR \RX Âż QG OLYLQJ LQ Switzerland?

I like living in Leysin itself as it is a great place to be based in. It has plenty of traditional Swiss charm and a population of around 4,000. It also has the Leysin American School, the Kumon

Leysin Academy of Switzerland and the Swiss Hotel Management School.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a typical Swiss town but also has an international feel to it; thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plenty going on.

Leysin is still in an area where in winter \RX FDQ Âż QG ORWV RI XQWUDFNHG VQRZ and you can be very quickly immersed in nature. Bigger mountain resorts in Switzerland can be so busy, so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not

Catherine Nelson-Pollard is British, living in Nyon, and writes about expatriate issues for various UK and Swiss publications. She can be heard on World Radio Switzerland, Thursdays, 18:10, talking about expat life. www.catherinenelson-pollard.com Blogs: www.livinginnyon.com http://the-perpetual-expatriate. blogspot.com

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ROMANDIE

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Contributed by Catherine Nelson Pollard

The Beauty of Evolène

43

This year the magazine L’illustré ran a contest among its readers to find “le plus beau village romand”.

T

he village of Evolène in the Val d’Herens won the top prize for many reasons: its situation, its beauty, and the fact there are still many traditions that are kept alive in the village by its citizens. This summer the Romandie editor was lucky enough to watch the mid-summer fair parading through the village and she took some photos of the event. From the children going to school in the old school bus, to the gathering of the harvest, to mountaineers dressed in traditional climbing gear and the vil-

lagers dressed in traditional costume, it was a joyous event and one that readers VKRXOG GH¿ QLWHO\ ORRN RXW IRU QH[W \HDU if they are in the Valais.

For more information on the village, see: www.evolene-region.ch

Florimont : The school Catholic co-educational francophone day school, open to all faiths, Institut Florimont offers general education based on both the French (baccalauréat sections ES, L, S) and the Swiss systems (Swiss maturité and with option bilingual).

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ŚŝůĚƌĞŶ ǁŝůů ŐƌŽǁ ĂŶĚ ƉƌŽƐƉĞƌ ŝŶ ĂŶ ĞŶǀŝƌŽŶŵĞŶƚ ƚŚĂƚ ĞŶĐŽƵƌĂŐĞƐ ƚŚĞŵ ƚŽ ůŽǀĞ ůĞĂƌŶŝŶŐ ĂŶĚ ƌĞĂĐŚ ƚŚĞŝƌ ŽǁŶ ƉŽƚĞŶƟĂů͘ ĂƐŝůLJ ĂĐĐĞƐƐŝďůĞ ŝŶ ƚŚĞ ELJŽŶ ĂƌĞĂ ƚŚĞ ƐĐŚŽŽů ƐĞƌǀĞƐ Ă ǁŝĚĞ ĐĂƚĐŚŵĞŶƚ ĂƌĞĂ ďĞƚǁĞĞŶ >ĂƵƐĂŶŶĞ ĂŶĚ 'ĞŶĞǀĂ͘ dŚĞ ƐĐŚŽŽů ŽīĞƌƐ ďŽƚŚ ƉƌŝŵĂƌLJ ĂŶĚ ƐĞĐŽŶĚĂƌLJ ƉƌŽŐƌĂŵŵĞƐ͘ Ŷ ůĂƌĞŶƐ Ͳ sŝĐŚ ZŽƵƚĞ ĚĞ ůΖ ƚƌĂnj ϲϬ ϭϭϵϲ 'ůĂŶĚ dĠů ͗нϰϭ ;ϬͿ ϮϮ ϴϮϯ Ϯϲ Ϯϲ ŵĂŝů ͗ ŽĸĐĞΛŝƐŵͲƐĐŚŽŽů͘ŽƌŐ

ROMANDIE

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Compiled by the Zurich Team

Zurich Roundup

45 check out the Wedding Fair. Over 200 exhibitors showcase everything you need for your big day, from venues and FDNHV WR Ă&#x20AC;RZHUV DQG SKRWRJUDSKHUV DQG of course â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the dress! Last year, over 8000 people attended (and about 40,000 weddings took place in Switzerland).

12-13 January, Messe ZĂźrich. www.olma-messen.ch 1H[W XS LV WKH Holiday Fair, where you can get some great ideas for how to spend some time and money after or instead of getting married.

Airlines, hotels, tour guides, car rental companies â&#x20AC;&#x201C; all will be there to tempt you away from grey Zurich. The guest country is the Maldives.

31 January-3 February, Messe Zurich. www.fespo.ch

Zurichâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Christmas market

The weatherman decided to get Zurichâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s winter started early this year, with a big snowfall at the end of October. But the season really begins when all the Christmas markets open â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and there are plenty!

The biggest is the Christkindlimarkt in the main station, which is indoors and of course, easy to reach. Open every GD\ IURP 1RYHPEHU WR 'HFHPEHU it has about 150 stalls with food, clothing, jewellery, ornaments and toys from around the world. The centrepiece is the Christmas tree, reaching almost to the roof, bedecked with 7000 Swarovski crystal ornaments.

The market seems to spill out onto Bahnhofstrasse, although in fact the Bahnhofstrasse market is separate.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s illuminated with LED lights that twinkle above the street. Follow these to Uraniastrasse and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll come to yet another market, at WerdmĂźhleplatz.

This one has only a few stands, but its highlight is the Singing Christmas Tree. Members of different childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s choirs climb onto the tree-like structure

every evening at 17:30 and 18:30 and Saturdays and Sundays at 14:30 and 15:30 and give a Christmas concert.

From 7 to 23 December, continue along Uraniastrasse across the river and into the Niederdorf ZKHUH \RX ZLOO ÂżQG WKH oldest Christmas market in the city. Stalls FDQ EH IRXQG DORQJ 1LHGHUGRUIVWUDVVH and at the Hirschenplatz and Rosenhof.

Continue from there along the Limmat to Bellevue ZKHUH \RX ZLOO ÂżQG WKH â&#x20AC;&#x153;Charming Christmas at Bellevueâ&#x20AC;? market. This is a good place to get refreshments if you need some.

Kapital 7KH 1DWLRQDO 0XVHXP LQ =XULFKÂśV ongoing exhibition is perfect for anyone who is or would like to be rich. The exhibition focuses on merchant traders in 13th century Venice and 17th century Amsterdam, the earliest capitalists, whose practices are not too different from those of the present day. Until 17 February. www.landesmuseum.ch

Another market is a tram ride away: the third Wollishofer Wiehnachtmärt, at the end of tram line 7 runs from 30 1RYHPEHU WR 'HFHPEHU DQG KDV music and donkey rides, along with a candle-making stall and mostly handmade articles for sale.

Ready for Summer?

Summer is a good time for weddings and travel, and that makes January a good time to make your plans. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re getting hitched in 2013, be sure to

The Doge of Venice receives the Dutch Ambassador (17C)

ZURICH

Christmas Markets

(Š swiss-image)

Contributed by Angela Cipullo and Deja Rosa

46

MyGirlfriendGuide The best places to capture memories of your children around Zurich.

W

hether your latest Facebook proÂżOH SLFWXUH WKH FDQGLG &KULVWPDV card or grandmaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daily photo update, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wonderful to send your family and friends overseas adorable photos of your expat life. They love watching the little ones change and grow and sneaking a peek at where you live.

As if your kidâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expressions alone were not adorable enough, Girlfriend Guide caught up with childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s photographer Clare Breheny for some tips on bringing creativity and variation to your pictures.

Clareâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work is known for being natural and relaxed. As she told us: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The most important thing is to get the children and family interacting with each other and the place theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in. This creates a more genuine, natural situation. It helps the children ignore the camera (and stop putting on those silly faces) and prevents parents from having to ask them to smile one more time.â&#x20AC;?

Together, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve outlined suggestions for family-friendly outings and photo tips to help your special family day memories last a lifetime.

ZURICH

Scenic Delights All around Zurich are beautiful views.

Whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a family walk along the Kinderwagen-friendly Wanderweg or a strenuous uphill hike with a view from dadâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shoulders, a refreshing day may be spent exploring Switzerlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s SULVWLQH RSHQ ÂżHOGV YLQH\DUGV IRUHVWV and trails.

Clareâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s photography tips Â&#x2021; :DON EHKLQG RU DKHDG RI \RXU FKLOdren and photograph them interacting.

Remember to stand still while taking the picture, for a nice, sharp image. Â&#x2021; 7DNH ÂłVFHQH VHWWLQJ´ VKRWV RI WKH landscape and also zoom in for some close-ups of the kids. The combination works really well in a photo book. Â&#x2021; 8WLOL]H D KLOOWRS EHQFK IRU D IDPLO\

Clareâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s photography tips Â&#x2021; 8VH WKH OLQHV DQG VKDSHV RI WKH SOD\ areas to add a creative dimension to your photographs. Â&#x2021; 0RYH DURXQG WKH VWUXFWXUHV WR H[SORUH the different perspectives available to you. Be waiting at the end of the tunnel, crouch underneath the netting ...

Girlfriend Guide location tips Quartiertreff Enge, Kollerwiese Park, Planeta Magic Wadenswil Kinder City Volketswil Starbie Spielhalle Dietikon Kidsmeetingpoint Baar.

(Š Clare Breheny Photography)

JURXS VKRW <RX VKRXOG EH DEOH WR VHW your camera on self-timer and prop it up on the buggy. Or, use a gorilla pod, a small bending mini tripod that will grip your buggy handle or a nearby branch or SRVW 6HW XS WKH FDPHUD ÂżUVW VR WKDW \RX know what will be in the shot and then place the family members in the shot. Â&#x2021; 'RQÂśW IHHO \RX KDYH WR VLW LQ D OLQH for your group shot â&#x20AC;&#x201C; using layers and building a triangular shape with family members looks great (and kids always love standing on things and climbing on your shoulders). Â&#x2021; :KDWÂśV UHDOO\ IXQ LV ZDWFKLQJ WKH kids change and grow with the seasons.

Mark the calendar to visit the same spot each season and see how different everyone looks each time while admiring the fall leaves, winter snow, and spring blossoms.

Girlfriend Guide location tips Spend the day outdoors following the Planetenweg Trail: an educational and ÂżW MRXUQH\ DORQJ D KRXU QDWXUH WUDLO exposing forest paths, great views and a model of the solar system.

Play Areas Full of bright colors and plenty of activities to keep the kids entertained, play areas are great for taking photos.

Outdoors or indoors, capture the essence of play and your childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s joy in the simple pleasures of swinging, sliding, crawling and climbing.

Iconic Zurich Everyday shots are perfect, but if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re yearning to dive deeper into the Zurich scene, try these ideas: Â&#x2021; :KLOH WKH NLGV ZDWFK WKH GXFNV DQG swans on the Limmat, grab a shot with the FraumĂźnster and GrossmĂźnster in the background. Â&#x2021; 7DNH D ERDW WULS DORQJ WKH ODNH RQ D clear day to photograph the beautiful backdrop of the snow-capped mountains. Â&#x2021; +LNH RU WUDLQ XS WR 8HWOLEHUJ WR FDSture a surreal picture of your child right on top of Zurich. Â&#x2021; &DSWXUH WKH JUDQGHXU RI =XULFK Hauptbahnhof. Visit on a day when the sun is streaming through the high windows for some really dramatic shots.

Want more tips? Girlfriend Guide and Clare Breheny Photography have teamed up to provide 90-minute talks about how to take better pictures of your children â&#x20AC;&#x201C; with an iPhone or a '6/5 7R EH QRWLÂżHG RI HYHQW GDWHV info@mygirlfriendguide.com Angelica Cipullo DQG 'HMD 5RVH are co-founders of MyGirlfriend Guide, Zurich. Keep updated on hotspots in Zurich as well as stylish Zurich wellness, fashion and beauty tips and Girlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Nights Out and Ladiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Spa Weekends. www.mygirlfriendguide.com

Contributed by Olivia Coker

The Artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Reflection

47

Some personal thoughts on the exhibition entitled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Paul Gauguin: The Printsâ&#x20AC;?.

D

Gauguin connoisseurs recall his utterly unremarkable existential crisis, which prompted him, remarkably, to abandon KLV ZLIH DQG ÂżYH FKLOGUHQ DQG ODXQFK into the doomed career of a would-be primitive with teenage â&#x20AC;&#x153;bridesâ&#x20AC;?. He was perpetually haunted by his guilty conscience as a European sophisticate. All this is revealed in the prints as nowhere in his paintings or sculpture.

As wine breathes, these fortunate surface dwellers gaze out contentedly from their loci â&#x20AC;&#x201D; in Switzerland even art must be â&#x20AC;&#x153;contentedâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; auras glowing and pulsating with no offensive overlap.

The curators promise that in 2017, when WKH QHZ H[WHQVLRQ LV ÂżQLVKHG WKH\ ZLOO release a few more â&#x20AC;&#x153;acquisitionsâ&#x20AC;? from the vaults for exposure to daylight â&#x20AC;Ś in the proper space and time.

For now it is enough to relish the exquisite contrast this respectful Swiss immaculacy provides as a backdrop for the dark matter of the Paul Gauguin prints.

The visitor steps around a white pillar, to be enveloped suddenly by the *DXJXLQ ODLU ZDOOV SDLQWHG Ă&#x20AC;RRU WR FHLOing in deep terracotta, pine, and myrtle.

The unbroken, eye-level march of the 60 prints, mathematically distributed along the horizontal, is mesmerizing.

On the wall at the mouth of the cave, Gauguinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ghost has scrawled the theme of the exhibit: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Ĺ&#x201C;uvre dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;art, pour celui qui sait voir, HVW XQ PLURLU R VH UHĂ&#x20AC;qWH OÂśpWDW GÂśkPH de lâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;artiste.â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;For those who know how to see, the ZRUN RI DUW LV D PLUURU UHĂ&#x20AC;HFWLQJ WKH condition of the soul of the artist.â&#x20AC;?

A lady nearby says loudly to her elderly companion: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the DARK SIDE of Gauguin!â&#x20AC;?

True, Gauguin lovers revel in his lush colors. Most of these prints are dark,

Gauguin woodcut â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Noa Noa (1893)

some even dingy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; or of only one color, with simple, woodcut lines. But on closer examination, these are clearly the same subjects that later evolved into sculptures and paintings of more substantial proportions and hues.

As promised at the door, unobscured by the sumptuous Gauguin palette, these subjects and their interpreter are rendered transparent.

1R EXR\DQW FRORUV URPDQWLFL]H WKH meditations on the purity of nature YHUVXV WKH FRUUXSWLRQ RI DUWLÂżFH RU so-called civilization. Even the yellow %ULWWDQ\ VFHQHV LG\OOLF DW ÂżUVW JODQFH are spiked by expressions of longing, or the petty malice corroding everyday joy.

The sinister, indiscriminate cruelty of nature also stars in several prints, most notably in the Oviri, Tahitian for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Savageâ&#x20AC;?, a term Gauguin used to describe himself in his writings and self-portraits.

We take our artists as we do our families, unconditionally. If not for their XQIHWWHUHG PRUDO LWLQHUDQF\ Ă&#x20AC;DXQWHG DW WKH VDFULÂżFH RI WKHLU RZQ VHFXULW\ they would not have the freedom to articulate what we, the stalwarts of society, smother or conceal. They create guideposts, peeking up above the enigmatic paths ahead of us. Gauguinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ă&#x20AC;RXULVKHV UHĂ&#x20AC;HFW WKH IHUDO GHVSHUDWLRQ and superstitions tugging at our own souls.

This exhibition is highly recommended.

Entrance to the museum is reasonably priced at CHF 18.

Paul Gauguin: The Prints Kunsthaus ZĂźrich Until 20 January 2013 Opening times: Sat/Sun/Tues 10:00-18:00 Wedâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Fri 10:00-20:00 Closed Mondays Check out the website for concessions (also in English) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; for example, children under 16 go free: www.kunsthaus.ch

Olivia Coker is a freelance writer and speaker.

ZURICH

espite the diminutive structure of the Kunsthaus ZĂźrich, it is not shocking to see the curators bow graciously before vast, unblemished white walls. They gesture, almost imperceptibly with their eyes, to secret chambers, where a few select vintages from the art cellar are on offer.

Contributed by Mary Seidler

48

Expat Women Entrepreneurs An introduction to some very enterprising women in Zurich.

I

am seeing a new trend: the explosion of expat women entrepreneurs â&#x20AC;&#x201C; ZRPHQ ZKR ÂżQG D QLFKH KDYH D SDVVLRQ and set out to build a business around it. It makes me think of the Confucius saying: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your OLIH ´ ,W ZDV DW DQ ([SDW ([SR WKDW , ÂżUVW noticed the trend. The place was thick with women, launching and running their dream venture. My attention was caught, and I wanted to learn more.

ZURICH

At the exhibit table for Expat Exchange I met my old neighbor and friend, Louisa Schibli, the founder of this Swiss information website. Louisa had moved back to the States about seven years earlier, yet her website was thriving. I still have the pen inscribed with xpatxchange.ch that she handed me while our little boys played at the lake in 2004. Back then the Internet was just taking hold as a source for information. Louisa saw how expats could EHQHÂżW IURP WKLV QHZ WRRO DQG MXPSHG on the opportunity. She told me how she enjoyed sitting down with a cup of coffee at her home computer each morning to spend time working on the website. www.xpatxchange.ch At another Expo table, Assem Klammsteiner handed me a delicious soup sample. She talked about planning to open Simply Soup Restaurant-Takeaway, which she did in February 2012, as a fast food alternative in Zurich.

Simply Soup offers international soups made daily of only the freshest, seasonal ingredients for eating in or taking away. Based on her enthusiasm and complete devotion to serving superb soups, I think she found her dream, and ZH ZKR OLYH LQ =XULFK EHQHÂżW E\ KDYLQJ the option of unique soups. www.simplysoup.ch Fans of the Zurich Comedy Club productions and The IMPROVables shows have seen the talented work of

Kanal Shah, scarf-maker, at Expat Expo

the actress Sylvia Day, so when I saw a table introducing Junior Improv classes and workshops for young children, I was not surprised to see Sylvia. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Children are natural improvisers,â&#x20AC;? reported Sylvia. Through games, Junior Improv improves listening, concentraWLRQ FRQÂżGHQFH DQG RWKHU LPSRUWDQW life skills. Sylvia mentioned that these classes were launched with the goal of providing a fun place for her young son to learn together with other children. I admired her clever plan to combine her GHYRWLRQV WR DUW DQG IDPLO\ <HW 6\OYLD did not stop there. She now has a solo show â&#x20AC;&#x201C; described as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Carol Burnett PHHWV 61/´ Âą ZKLFK ZLOO UXQ 0DUFK and 16 at the TĂśpferei in Zurich. www.juniorimprov.ch www.sylvia-day.com Another table was displaying beautiful Indian textiles made by Kanal Shah.

Kanal learned the tradition of Batik from her mother, and is committed to preserving and sharing this craft. To this end, Kanal now markets her designs and teaches Batik courses. Coming from an academic background, she told me this was a big change, but she felt she must try being an entrepreneur to purse her passion and give herself freedom, or she would regret it forever. www.kanalshah.com

How do all these women become entrepreneurs in Switzerland? It turns out another woman entrepreneur, DĂŠsirĂŠe Steinmann, has made helping entrepreneurs her niche and now offers the VIP (Very Inspired Performers) Team Workshops to help start-ups and young businesses. This is a sevenmonth guided process, which teaches, supports and motivates participants to drive their business plans to success.

Tammy Fuery of FueryCoaching wrote: â&#x20AC;&#x153;The VIP course has helped me get my business off the ground in Switzerland in a way that I would have not been able to do by myself.â&#x20AC;? www.steinmann-international.com fureycoaching.com Who knew Switzerland would be such a fertile place for expat women to start a business? It just requires the vision WR VHH DQ RSSRUWXQLW\ WKDW ÂżWV \RXU SDVVLRQ DQG WKHQ WDNLQJ WKH ÂżUVW VWHSV Like the Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu (604-531 BC) wrote in The Way of Laotzu: â&#x20AC;&#x153;A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.â&#x20AC;?

Mary Seidler enjoys Swiss life in Thalwil with her family and Swiss dog, an Entlebucher Sennenhund.

Contributed by Allison Turner

Book Review

49

Behind Closed Doors by JJ Marsh

I

love crime novels and I love books set in places I know well, so I had high hopes for Behind Closed Doors â&#x20AC;&#x201C; DQG LW GLGQÂśW GLVDSSRLQW 7KLV LV WKH ÂżUVW book in what promises to be a series of crime novels featuring Beatrice Stubbs,

by Zurich-based JJ Marsh. ,Q WKLV VWRU\ %HDWULFH RI 6FRWODQG <DUG is in Zurich leading an international team investigating a series of murders that had previously been ruled suicides. $OO WKH GHDWKV ZHUH RI KLJK SURÂżOH PHQ who had made their fortunes in highly unethical ways â&#x20AC;&#x201C; victims, but far from innocent. Marsh intersperses the investigation with a recounting of how each murder actually happened, keeping the action fast-paced and, frankly, making me a little nervous that she lives so close to me.

Marsh also brings Zurich to life so well, from the sights to see to the early lunchtimes, that I had to double-check that Big Ben, the English tearoom she DGGV WR WKH FLW\ LV SXUH ÂżFWLRQ ,W ZRXOG EH DV ZHOFRPH DQ DGGLWLRQ WR RXU ÂżQH city as JJ Marsh is to the world of crime ÂżFWLRQ

JJ Marsh

An online review by Elizabeth Perrat from France is equally enthusiastic. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The plot is as intricate as itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inspired, and the conclusion daunting. The heroine is a refreshing change from the usual, tired-out detective hack. If you enjoy high quality crime novels, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be looking out for the next Beatrice Stubbs story.â&#x20AC;?

Behind Closed Doors by JJ Marsh (first published 2012) ISBN: 9783952397 Available as a print-on-demand from: www.amazon.com www.amazon.co.uk

For Kindle version see: www.amazon.com www.amazon.co.uk www.smashwords.com You can read more about the author on www.goodreads.com A thriller set in Zurich

ZURICH

Also at Orell FĂźssli or see: www.beatrice-stubbs.com

Compiled by Allison Turner

50

Zug / Lucerne Roundup Christmas in Lucerne Lucerne is lovely at Christmastime!

Enjoy the markets in the train station, at Hirschenplatz and at Franziskanerplatz.

Or take a guided stroll through town, in the evening when itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all lit up for Advent, to learn about local Christmas customs. Meet every Saturday in December at 16:00 at Jesuitenplatz for a tour in German, or request a private group tour any day, in English or several other languages. Also not to be missed is the 75th Lucerne Sternsingen. On 23 December, follow a choir through the old town as they sing traditional Christmas songs. It begins at 17:30. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Live on Iceâ&#x20AC;? returns to Europaplatz (the plaza in front of the KKL Luzern).

Skating is free for all and is lit up by the work of internationally renowned light artist Gerry Hofstetter. Remember, when the background is beautiful, even falling looks elegant! Until 2 January.

Sleep in an Igloo

The boats on the lake donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sail as often in the winter as the summer, but donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t think that means that winterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not a great time for a cruise. The city lights look spectacular when seen from, and UHĂ&#x20AC;HFWHG LQ WKH ZDWHU

When itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cold and snowy out, make the most of the snow by sleeping in it. Several locations in Switzerland, including Engelberg-Titlis, offer an overnight you wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget: sleeping in an igloo. Since seals and even

Engelbergâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Iglu-Dorf

ÂżVK DUH VFDUFH LQ WKH $OSV \RXÂśOO EH served cheese fondue instead. Unlike traditional Inuit villages, this one has a sauna and a warm whirlpool. When the weather is right, night-time snowshoeing is also part of the programme. www.iglu-dorf.com

Fasnacht time in Zug

ZUG / LUCERNE

Easter comes early next year, so Fasnacht will be from 7 to 12 February, with parties and parades. The unique Zug element is Greth Schell, an old woman who carries her drunken husband home through town in a basket on her back. Call out â&#x20AC;&#x153;Gret Schellebeiâ&#x20AC;? to her and her seven jesters, on the Monday of Fasnacht week.

â&#x20AC;Śand Lucerne

Fasnacht in Lucerne

(Š swiss-image)

Same dates, different traditions.

Lucerne wakes up at 5:00 on Thursday, and parties and parades almost non-stop from then until Tuesday night, when it KLWV LWV FOLPD[ <RXÂśUH HQFRXUDJHG WR dress up and join the action and fun.

Contributed by Sarah Moore

Feeling foxy?

51

Discover a different way to explore Lucerne. like surprises and I love Lucerne. So, when the opportunity arose to take part in an intriguing â&#x20AC;&#x153;great raceâ&#x20AC;?-style adventure through this beautiful city it was not to be missed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Foxtrailâ&#x20AC;? is a paper chase that can take you on foot, by boat, up the funicular, and via several other forms of transport through one of a number of different trails in and around the city. Armed with a series of clues, small groups meet at a central location and set off LQ VHDUFK RI WKHLU ÂżUVW WDUJHW ORFDWLRQ With a little discussion and head scratching, this should yield enough information to allow you to reach the site of the next clue and so on for each subsequent one. The chosen trails can vary in length, but all are well-devised and planned. The clues are challenging

enough to keep you on your toes, but never so cryptic that the chase is at risk of becoming frustrating. This fox may be wily, but heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s never downright mean and he certainly knows some beautiful areas of Lucerne.

Our groupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cunning and steady legwork took us to parts of the city we never knew existed â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a lovely urban park hidden behind a museum; a funicular railway on the edge of one of Lucerneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s suburbs; a ghostly building with a hidden past; a hillside stroll with stunning mountain views, and then a plunge down into a forest alongside a watercourse before being led back down into the old town for the last few clues.

This was not the Lucerne you would ever know as a tourist, or possibly even after living here for some years.

The 20 October Foxtrail Paper Chase in Lucerne was one of the regular events Packimpex organizes all over Switzerland. All are welcome; for information about upcoming events see: www.packimpex.ch/events

Having successfully tracked the fox (have I mentioned that we were the ÂżUVW JURXS EDFN" ZH JDWKHUHG IRU DQ apĂŠro and a comparison of the trails.

The groups were made up of expats of various nationalities and lengths of residency in Switzerland, who very quickly bonded through the shared experience and the opportunity to compare notes.

Provided youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re armed with a comfortable pair of shoes, a bottle of water and a desire to see a city in a very different way, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Foxtrailâ&#x20AC;? is a great way to play tourist in your own town.

Foxtrail is the most thrilling paperchase in Switzerland, always making you think outside the box. Operating in various regions of Switzerland, the Foxtrail-fox does everything in his power to cover up each of his tracks.

These consist of one deviously devised task after another, each successful solution enabling you to close in on him. No matter which trail you follow, Foxtrail will create a different experience every time. Entire enterprises, clubs and societies, flocks of tourists, as well as private groups â&#x20AC;&#x201C; all will be baffled because of the persistently enigmatic clues thrown up by the cunning fox.

The fun of the Foxtrail

Sarah Moore recently moved to Lucerne from Australia and is mum to three boys.

6KH KDV ZRUNHG LQ WKH ÂżHOG RI FOLQLFDO research for 14 years as a project manager and medical writer.

ZUG / LUCERNE

I

Contributed by RenĂŠ Welti

52

Rigi Kaltbad â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The View from the Top A panoramic hike and a spa â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the perfect winter combination.

The Alpine winter wonderland seen from Rigi

T

ZUG / LUCERNE

he sign-posted trail from RigiScheidegg (1661m) to Rigi-Kaltbad (1453m) offers you a constantly panoramic view of the surrounding Alps.

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a pleasant hike along a wide and level trail, following the old train tracks that once connected the two peaks.

If and when there is snow, the trail is machine-packed daily so you can easily ZDON LQ \RXU QRUPDO KLNLQJ ERRWV <RXU panoramic view extends from Mount Saentis in the East to Mount Titlis and the Central Swiss Alps, and from there to the Eiger, Moench and Jungfrau in the West. Using binoculars, you can

One of Rigiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cogtrains

even see as far as the Black Forest in Germany on a clear day.

Once you arrive at Rigi-Kaltbad, you can enjoy the Mineralbad & Spa, designed by internationally renowned architect Mario Botta and newly renovated in July 2012. Soak up the revitalizing, mineral-rich and balmy indoor/outdoor waters, heated to 35C, and including herbal steam baths and saunas.

Health-seekers from all over the world have been coming to the healing waters of the Kaltbad, or â&#x20AC;&#x153;cold bathâ&#x20AC;? mineral springs, since the early 1400s. A brief historical synopsis helps to explain the VLJQLÂżFDQFH RI WKH SODFH ,Q WKH WK century three nuns, now known only as the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Three Sistersâ&#x20AC;?, having had enough of the misogynist ruler of their Arth YDOOH\ YLOODJH Ă&#x20AC;HG DQG IRXQG UHIXJH on Mount Rigi. There they nursed and worked with the local farmers. After their deaths, water suddenly began WR SRXU RXW RI D ÂżVVXUH ,Q PHPRU\ of the pious sisters, the site became a place of pilgrimage, where pilgrims bathed in the pool of water now called the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Springs of the Three Sistersâ&#x20AC;?. The tradition was to immerse oneself three times, and then recite the Lordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Prayer DQG +DLO 0DU\ ÂżYH WLPHV UHVSHFWLYHO\ In 1552, a small chapel was built on the

VLWH DQG LV VWLOO LQ VHUYLFH WRGD\ 7KH ÂżVsure continues to be the natural source of water for the Mineralbad & Spa. Helpful Mount Rigi region links: www.rigi.ch www.mineralbad-rigikaltbad.ch How to get there The Mt. Rigi region is easy to get to from all Swiss cities. The train journey from Zurich, for example, takes only PLQXWHV <RX FDQ DFFHVV WKH DUHD from the train station at Arth-Goldau, or by boat from Lucerne to Weggis or Vitznau. From here you can ride on Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oldest electric cogwheel train, dating back to the 1870s. The area also boasts its own recently renovated aerial cableway. www.rigi.ch RenĂŠ Welti American/Swiss, LV D 6ZLVV FHUWLÂżHG hiking guide, lives in Lucerne and runs native Englishspeaking guided day walks, hikes and bike tours from Lucerne that Trip Advisor rates # 1 in the Lucerne, Tours category. A guided Mount Rigi panorama hike & spa tour is offered daily through March. www.echo-trails.com

Compiled by Caroline Thonger

Ticino Roundup

53

Christmas Markets

Locarno on Ice Every year the Piazza Grande in the middle of Locarno is converted into a huge ice-rink. Opening on 1 December this year, it will remain a permanent Âż[WXUH LQ WKH WRZQ FHQWUH XQWLO January. A full program of events is on offer, including live music â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and the appearance of Babbo Natale, the Italian version of Santa Claus. Of course the rink looks most spectacular at night, under the Christmas illuminations. www.locarnoonice.ch

Risottata One of the most important parts of the Carnevale celebrations is the creation of a huge Risottata, or pot of rice. In the past, Shrove Tuesday was the day when a meal was traditionally served to the poorer citizens of the parish. Until the end of the 19th century rice was considered a luxury and rarely served in the family. It was a meal for weddings, and thus a special treat. Today the charitable aspect has disappeared, but the tradition still remains of huge vats placed outdoors, with enough

Risottata in Carnevale week

food for everyone. Varying from place to place, the traditional dishes served can include gnocchi, polenta, or risotto with luganighe, locally made little sausages.

Full details of Carnevale events around Ticino can be found at: www.ticino-events.ch

FAI comes to Switzerland FAI stands for Fondo Ambiente Italiano, the Italian Foundation for the Environment but usually referred to in (QJOLVK DV WKH ,WDOLDQ 1DWLRQDO 7UXVW 7KLV QRW IRU SURÂżW WUXVW ZDV IRXQGHG in April 1975 in order to contribute to the protection, conservation and enhancement of Italyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s artistic legacy, natural heritage and landscape. FAI came about as the result of a concept proposed by Elena Croce â&#x20AC;&#x201C; daughter of the great philosopher Benedetto Croce â&#x20AC;&#x201C; who wanted to see an Italian HTXLYDOHQW RI WKH 1DWLRQDO 7UXVW 8.

The list of FAIâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s achievements over the last nearly 30 years is impressive indeed: 40,000 square metres of historic buildings and nearly 3.5 million square metres of landscape protected; more than â&#x201A;Ź 67,000,000 raised and invested in restoration projects; and ÂżYH PLOOLRQ YLVLWRUV WR WKHLU SURSHUWLHV There are now 80,000 FAI members with 111 delegations across 20 Italian regions. They have over 7,000 volun-

(Š swiss-image)

teers throughout Italy, with more than 500 corporate sponsors contributing funds every year.

In the wake of the newly inaugurated FAI International with connections to similar organizations worldwide LQFOXGLQJ 81(6&2 FAI Switzerland ODXQFKHV RQ 1RYHPEHU LQ Lugano. We will be updating our readership on the impact of this organization on Switzerlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cultural heritage in a future issue of the magazine. More information at: http://eng.fondoambiente.it

Carnevale in Ticino During the week of Shrove Tuesday (or Mardi Gras), Ticinoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s towns all vie for attention as the best venue for carnival celebrations. One of the most famous takes place in Bellinzona. Following the form of carnival celebrations in northern Italian cities, this carnival goes back to the 1860s, complete with Ă&#x20AC;RDWV DQG FRQIHWWL .QRZQ DV Rabadan, next yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s vibrantly colourful annual carnival in Bellinzona takes place 7-13 February. Every year the King and Queen of the Carnival are chosen, together with their courtiers. Stunning costumes, parades through the streets, bands, and special childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s events all form part of the seven days of celebration. www.rabadan.ch

TICINO

With Christmas approaching, during the month of December large towns and small villages are full of stalls, music, lights, tantalizing odours of biscuits and hot wine, decorated pine trees and glittering windows. The squares and old centres in Ticino dress up in their ZLQWHU ÂżQHU\ LOOXPLQDWHG E\ WKRXVDQGV of tiny lights and stars. A warm and enchanting atmosphere pervades the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, complete with Christmas music and the scent of appealing delicacies made in the local tradition. Whichever market you choose, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll have the opportunity RI ÂżQGLQJ RULJLQDO KDQG PDGH SUHVHQWV for your loved ones.

Christmas markets in Ticino are called mercato di Natale or mercato natalizio. www.ticino.ch

Contributed by Caroline Thonger

54

Monte VeritĂ A utopian colony founded above Ascona in 1900 has now become one of Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s foremost venues for scientific symposia.

S

ipping a tiny cup of excellent Italian espresso, I wait on the elegant terrace and gaze out over the lush gardens.

The hill can only be accessed from the centre of Ascona up a narrow, steep and winding road, but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s well worth the effort. From this high vantage point, the autumnal haze cannot hide the stunning views of Lago Maggiore and the islands of Brissago. Behind me is the distincWLYH IDoDGH RI D PDJQLÂżFHQW H[DPSOH RI the Bauhaus style of architecture, the hotel and conference centre known as the Fondazione Monte VeritĂ .

)RU WKH ODVW \HDUV 0RQWH 9HULWj KDV EHHQ WKH RIÂżFLDO FRQIHUHQFH FHQWUH IRU the ETH in Zurich â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. 20-25 highOHYHO VFLHQWLÂżF FRQIHUHQFHV DUH KHOG here every year, and in the past these KDYH DWWUDFWHG YDULRXV 1REHO 3UL]H ZLQners as speakers.

The building is also venue to smaller symposia and seminars, as well as being available to private individuals for weddings, banquets and receptions.

The season runs from April to the end of October, with most of the facilities shutting down over the winter months.

TICINO

The Foundationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s wide-ranging cultural program, open to the public, focuses RQ WKH KLVWRU\ RI 0RQWH 9HULWj LWVHOI together with an account of its unique

location as well as of the people who came to visit.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve come to meet Lorenzo Sonognini, the Foundationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s irrepressibly cheerful young Director, who took up his current position only a year ago. We sit on the terrace, looking out over the lush gardens, while I ply him with questions.

Signor Sonognini has an interesting background. Hailing originally from Valle Verzasca â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a picturesque hidden valley above the tiny Lago di Vogorno north of Locarno â&#x20AC;&#x201C; he completed his studies in environmental sciences at the ETH in Zurich. He then went on to gain an executive MBA, and managed his own consulting company for the next ÂżIWHHQ \HDUV $PRQJ KLV PDQ\ VNLOOV KH lists being an auditor for standards in management systems (ISO-900), under the International Organization for Standardization. At the same time he NHHSV ÂżUPO\ FRQQHFWHG WR KLV URRWV DV President of the Ethnographic Museum in his native Verzasca.

So what made Lorenzo Sonognini switch to hotel and conference management? â&#x20AC;&#x153;The post of Director was announced in the press,â&#x20AC;? he tells me. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And a friend of mine persuaded me to apply.â&#x20AC;? He wrote the application letter and promptly forgot about it, only to be amazed some time later when he was LQYLWHG XS WR 0RQWH 9HULWj IRU WKH VXE-

Monte VeritĂ â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bauhaus hotel with Jean Arpâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sculpture

Director Lorenzo Sonognini

sequently successful interview. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was a daunting prospect,â&#x20AC;? he smiles,â&#x20AC;? but I decided to try it out for a year.â&#x20AC;? Twelve months on and despite the many challenges of the job, his initial enthusiasm shows no sign of waning.

How Monte VeritĂ was started Before being given a conducted tour around the hotel, conference facilities and beautiful grounds, the Director gave me a potted history of this fascinating location.

Utopia 0RQWH 9HULWj ZDV WKH VLWH RI DQ H[WUDRUdinary utopian community, founded over 100 years ago in 1900. The name, invented by one of the communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s founders Ida Hofmann, was an allusion to the myth where â&#x20AC;&#x153;truthâ&#x20AC;? is revealed on mountaintops. Seeking refuge from industrialised culture, anarchists DQG DULVWRFUDWV FDPH WRJHWKHU WR ÂżQG an alternative way of life based on freedom, simplicity and new spiritual values. They practised sun-therapy and naturism, advocating a symbiosis with nature that included being vegetarian.

Rejecting the rule of authority, capitalism and sexual taboos, the colony became a magnet for the convergence of ideas, movements and experiments.

Visitors During the twenties and thirties, Monte 9HULWj DWWUDFWHG DOO NLQGV RI IUHHWKLQNers and rebels, but in particular artists DQG GDQFHUV 1RWDEOH DPRQJ WKHVH were: Rudolf von Laban, who established a â&#x20AC;&#x153;School for Artâ&#x20AC;?; dancers Mary Wigman and Isadora Duncan; Alsatian artist and sculptor Jean Arp; Swiss and German expressionist artists; writers DH Lawrence and Franz Kafka; poet Hermann Hesse.

The Baron and the Bauhaus In 1926 a German nobleman called Baron von der Heydt, banker to the former Kaiser Wilhelm II, acquired 0RQWH 9HULWj +H FRPPLVVLRQHG German architect Emil Fahrenkamp to build a hotel on the site in the Bauhaus style. The Baron was one of the greatest collectors of contemporary, Oriental and primitive art. Fascinating examples of his extensive collection can be seen throughout the hotel. After going through various phases, following the Baronâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death in the mid-sixties, the hotel was donated to the Canton of Ticino. But his ghost is said to walk about the hotel to this very day. His ZLOO VWLSXODWHG WKDW 0RQWH 9HULWj VKRXOG remain a location where major cultural HYHQWV RI LQWHUQDWLRQDO VLJQLÂż FDQFH WDNH place.

Completed in 1992, the comprehensive renovation work (but with improvements to the conference facilities extending well into the new millennium) has remained entirely respectful to the Bauhaus style of the original architect. Switzerlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ICOMOS committee, made up of experts from various sectors including heritage and tourism, have awarded the building the title of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Historic Hotel of the yearâ&#x20AC;? for 2013.

Japanese tea garden

Monte VeritĂ today Hotel My head reeling with images of naked sun-dancers in the 1900s, Director Sonognino then took me on a conducted tour of the hotel itself, and then the gardens. Inside, the restaurant is modern but very stylish and consists of various areas. Apart from an Ă la carte section, a lounge bar and the panoramic terrace Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d already experienced, the hotel boasts a banqueting hall capable of seating 400 people â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s even a dedicated space in the gardens for VSHFLDO HYHQWV )RU WKH ODVW Âż YH \HDUV WKH hotel has also run a restaurant on Isola Brissago, famed for the excellence of its cuisine.

Conference Facilities The various seminar rooms provided by the hotel bear witness to the echoes of the past â&#x20AC;&#x201C; among them the Eranos, Fahrenkamp, Van der Heydt and Mandala Rooms. All these are spacious, light and airy, and well furnished â&#x20AC;&#x201C; some of them adorned with artifacts from the Baronâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Oriental collection.

There is also an amphitheatre: this is an ultra-modern auditorium seating 120 people in comfort, and provisioned with state-of-the-art audiovisual and simultaneous translation equipment Museums 1R OHVV DQ LPSRUWDQW SDUW RI WKLV FHQWUH are its museums and archives, located in the gardens. These include the permanent exhibition by Swiss curator and art historian Harald Szeemann (who died in 1966). Entitled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Die Bruste der Wahrheitâ&#x20AC;? or â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Breasts of Truthâ&#x20AC;? (after the many-breasted goddess Diana), the exhibition is dedicated to the rediscovered history of Monte 9HULWj

The energy path

One of the seminar rooms

The Gardens Six years ago a project was inaugurated FDOOHG Âł7HD &XOWXUH RQ 0RQWH 9HULWj´ One of the villas (called Lorelei) was converted into a teahouse, and Europeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only green tea plantation was created, together with a Zen garden where visitors can sit in contemplation, surURXQGHG E\ YHUGDQW ZRRGODQG <RX FDQ take even courses on the Japanese tea ceremony.

0DQ\ SHRSOH FRPH WR 0RQWH 9HULWj simply to walk among the Baronâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s imported species of exotic trees from China, Japan and the Far East. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget to experience the Energy Path winding through the grass: itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s believed to promote physical and mental wellbeing.

As it says in the brochure: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Monte 9HULWj LV WKH LGHDO UHWUHDW IRU UHĂ&#x20AC; HFWLRQ exchanging ideas, research, analysis, introspection, creativity, activities, or simply relaxing in a natural setting steeped in history.â&#x20AC;?

Fondazione Monte VeritĂ (museum / conferences / hotel / restaurant / gardens) Via Collina 84, 6612 Ascona Tel: 091 785 40 45 www.monteverita.org

TICINO

Eranos One of the movements started at Monte 9HULWj LQ WKH V ZDV FDOOHG Âł(UDQRV´ This was an intellectual discussion group, meeting annually and dedicated to the study of psychology, religion, philosophy and spirituality â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a set of principles that persuaded Carl Gustav Jung to collaborate with the group.

Much of his research into images of archetypes was carried out at Monte 9HULWj

As your Competence Centre we support you in following areas:

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International Human Resources Management Expatriate Management / International Assignment Contracts Coordination Social Security / Retirement Consultancy Information „Free Movement of Persons Switzerland – Europe” Operational support and trainings in all topics

govAccess GmbH, Forchstrasse 239, CH-8032 Zurich / www.govaccess.ch / Tel. +41 (0)44 388 71 77

Contributed by Anitra Green

Best of Both Worlds in Braunschweig

57

A city of contrasts, with a mediaeval centre and a hi-tech environment. hile Braunschweig, or Brunswick as it used to be known as, probably wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be at the top of your list of tourist destinations, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a super little city with a lot of charm. I was fascinated by the city centre with its exciting mix of very old and very new architecture, cheek by jowl with more classic buildings.

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a good reason for this: it was DOPRVW Ă&#x20AC;DWWHQHG WRZDUGV WKH HQG RI the last war, and, as in other cities, the good burghers of Braunschweig found it important to rebuild as many of their beautiful old half-timbered, mediaeval houses as they could.

7KH\ÂśUH WUXO\ PDJQLÂżFHQW ,Q WKH pedestrian precinct in the centre, a fabulous place for keen shoppers, is a wonderful building that was probably a rich merchantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s house, with painted wooden carvings decorating the beam ends at each level (it must be four or ÂżYH VWRUH\V KLJK LWÂśV QRZ D VKRS IRU ladiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; clothing. Another lovely building with a superb gateway to the system of courtyards within is a studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; home: the façade may be the same but WKH DFFRPPRGDWLRQ LV GHÂżQLWHO\ PRGern, and tailor-made for student life.

The old squares are still there, with their lovely fountains: thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a fruit and vegetable market on the Kohlmarkt (cabbage market) on Wednesdays and Saturdays, where you can also get

The old bronze lion

ÂżVK DQG IUHVK Ă&#x20AC;RZHUV (YHU\ZKHUH in unexpected corners, are modern sculptures and bronzes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; amusing, unexpected, and a huge contrast to the old buildings. And there are so many DWWUDFWLYH KRVWHOULHV LWÂśV GLIÂżFXOW WR choose. We reserved a table in one of the most popular, Mutter Habenicht (Mother Have-not), which was packed, but the generous portions of food (try their special fried potatoes) and the beer were excellent, the service friendly, and the atmosphere delightfully rustic and cosy.

Braunschweig has a long history. The ÂżUVW PHQWLRQ RI WKH FLW\ ZDV LQ WKH WK century: it was a logical place to build a settlement, situated on the crossroads of the north-south and east-west trade routes on the River Oker, which was navigable. The river was eventually diverted to form a ring round the city centre; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still there, and boating round it is a popular pastime in summer.

There are also a lot of cultural events, an aspect I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stay long enough to explore but intend to on a future trip.

The lion, which is the emblem of Braunschweig and adorns its coat-ofarms, is everywhere. An impressive bronze of the Braunschweig lion keeps watch on the beautiful main square in front of Dankwarderode Castle; in fact itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a copy, and the original is in the museum as it dates back to the 12th century. It was commissioned by one of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most eminent rulers, Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, who was a power to be reckoned with.

Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a charming story about Henry and a real lion, which is supposed to have left its claw marks on the wall of the cathedral; you can still see them!

Braunschweig with its population of a quarter of a million or so has another claim to fame as well. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the site of Germanyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oldest technical university, founded in 1745, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest research centre for all types of

Traditional inn in Kohlmarkt

technology, covering aerospace, agriculture, viruses, truck technology and so on. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s home to the national institute for natural and engineering sciences, and the highest technical authority for metrology and physical safety engineering in Germany. In fact itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the most R&D-intensive area in the whole European Economic Area, investing a remarkable 7.1% of its GDP in research and technology. The whole district is home to a wide range of industry, including VW in nearby Wolfsburg, which is a generous sponsor of many projects in this region.

How to get there/around: by highspeed train (ICE); the main station is just outside the city centre. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an excellent public transport system, including trams through the centre. www.braunschweig.de

Bronze cats

EUROPE

W

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Going On In Switzerland December Basel: Christmas market on BarfĂźsserplatz & MĂźnsterplatz. Until 23 December. www.baslerweihnacht.ch Locarno (TI): Locarno on Ice â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a huge skating rink becomes a permanent feature in the town, illuminated night and day. Until 6 January 2013. www.locarno-ascona.ch Basel: exhibition of works by Edgar Degas at the Beyeler Foundation in Riehen, until 27 January 2013 www.fondationbeyeler.ch 1 DECEMBER Basel: international exhibition of minerals and fossils, everything from collectorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; items to jewellery, at Basel trade fair, Hall 4. Also on 2 December. www.mineralien-basel.ch Basel: Mother Goose, pantomime performed by the Basel English panto group at the Scala. At 14:00 & 19:30, also on 2 Dec at 13:00 & 17:00. www.baselpanto.org Basel: last performance of Oscar Wildeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lady Windermereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fan in the &HOODU 7KHDWUH 1DGHOEHUJ E\ WKH *D\ Beggars (Basel Universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s English Seminar drama group). www.gaybeggars.ch 1 DECEMBER Ticino: Christmas markets take place all over the Lago Maggiore region Until 31 December.

1-2 DECEMBER Bern: Advent concert in the MĂźnster.

Saturday at 20:00 and Sunday at 15:00.

2 DECEMBER Zurich: Samichlausschwimmen in the Limmat River. What could be more refreshing than a December dip in the river? Start at Pier 7 (near Bellevue) at 14:00. www.samichlausschwimmen.ch

2-9 DECEMBER Bern: Make your own candles on the Waisenhausplatz. www.kerzenziehen.ch 5 DECEMBER KĂźssnacht am Rigi: Klausjagen â&#x20AC;&#x201C; this WUDGLWLRQDO 6W 1LFKRODV 'D\ 3DUDGH KDV it all: tall lantern headgear, cowbells, whips, and of course the good saint himself. www.klausjagen.ch 6 DECEMBER Basel: comedians Patrick Monahan and Loretta Maine at the Kuppel, presented by the International Comedy Club, 20:00. www.internationalcomedyclub.ch Locarno (TI): Mercato di Natale (Christmas market) in the old town. www.ascona-locarno.com 7-9 DECEMBER Geneva: The Escalade. Commemoration of the heroic victory of the Genevoise over the invading French Savoy troops on 12 December 1602. Historical parade in 17th century costumes. Genevaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s big winter weekend festival. www.escalade.ch

drawn from life. Exhibition runs until end-March 2013. www.centrepoint.ch Bern: English Christmas Carol Service at the Heiliggeist Church. Begins at 19:30.

16 DECEMBER Basel: traditional Christmas Carol service, with GlĂźhwein afterwards. At the Pauluskirche, 18:00. www.anglicanbasel.ch Zurich: Silvesterlauf â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 16,000 participants of all ages and levels run various distances through the old town of Zurich, many in funny hats or costumes. www.silvesterlauf.ch 23 DECEMBER Ascona (TI): Corsa di Natale â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a fun run for all: students and children, families and singles, active and retired, able-bodied and handicapped. www.usascona.ch 26-28 DECEMBER Bernese Oberland: Trychlen in the Oberhasli is a very old custom of chasing out the old year with a rhythmic march to the sound of drums and cowbells. www.haslital.ch

8 DECEMBER Basel: procession of Santa Klauses through the city centre on HarleyDavidsons, ending at 15:00 on Marktplatz with presents for children. www.basel.com

31 DECEMBER Bern: 1HZ <HDUÂśV (YH SDUW\ DW WKH BierhĂźbeli. www.bierhuebeli.ch

8 -9 DECEMBER Bern: Christmas market at the KĂśniz Castle. Saturday, 10:00-19:00 and Sunday, 10:00-17:00.

Zurich: 1HZ <HDU 0DJLF RQ WKH /DNH of Zurich. The area from Limmatquai to %XUNOLSODW] ZLOO EH FORVHG WR WUDIÂżF IRU D festival of music, food and drink. After PLGQLJKW ZHOFRPH WKH 1HZ <HDU ZLWK ÂżUHZRUNV www.silvesterzauber.ch

9-10 DECEMBER Bern: Tattoo im Zelt, a Scottish music parade straight from Edinburgh. www.daszelt.ch 13 DECEMBER Basel: Artwall vernissage, 18:30 at Centrepoint, â&#x20AC;&#x153;An Artist in Baselâ&#x20AC;? with works by Cornelia Ziegler, well-known for beautiful, often humorous pictures

2013 1 JANUARY Interlaken: Touch the Mountains openair concert. www.touchthemountains.ch 4 JANUARY Zurich: Poetry Slam. A celebration of the spoken word. Pfauen, 20:30. www.schauspielhaus.ch

6 JANUARY Nyon: Galette de Roi (King Cake) &KkWHDX 3OD]D $Q HYHQLQJ WR VDPSOH traditional cakes made to celebrate the (SLSKDQ\ ,I \RX DUH OXFN\ WR ÂżQG WKH hidden toy in the cake, you get to wear the gold crown. www.nyon-tourisme.ch 10-13 JANUARY Lausanne: The Village Players present Blue/Orange by Joe Penall at the CPO, Croix dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Ouchy. www.villageplayers.ch 12 JANUARY Basel: premiere of Tchaikovskyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Eugen Onegin, a new ballet by wellknown British choreographer Richard Wherlock. At Basel Theatre, 19:30. www.theater-basel.ch

21 JANUARY Basel: Swissbau, building and property fair held every two years, until 25 Jan. www.swissbau.ch

With famous soloists, chorus, dancers and orchestra. Sung in German. 20:30, Palazzo dei Congressi. Presale of tickets in local stores (eg Coop and Manor), and: www.ticketcorner.ch

21-26 JANUARY Grindelwald: World Snow Festival and Ice Sculpture Competition. www.grindelwald.ch

31 JANUARY Zurich: Art on Ice returns, with music

23 JANUARY Zug: CH-uckles presents English stand-up comedy. Acts TBA. Theatre Casino Zug, 19:45. www.chuckles.ch

February

26 JANUARY Biel/Bienne: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Treberwurst Festivalâ&#x20AC;? in TĂźscherz, Lake of Bienne, sponsored by the Swiss American Society Bern.

Pre-register: am.schaer@bluewin.ch Chateaux dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Oex: 35th International Hot Air Balloon Festival. Balloonists (aerostiers IURP DURXQG WKH ZRUOG Ă&#x20AC;\ their balloons in this exceptionally beautiful part of Switzerland. Until 3 February. www.chateauxdoex.ch Basel: Vogel Gryff, traditional event in .OHLQEDVHO ZLWK D GDQFLQJ *ULIÂżQ /LRQ and Wild Man (see page 23). www.vogel-gryff.ch

1-2 FEBRUARY Lugano (TI): Carnevale â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Campetto la Piana, Davesco-Soragno. Two evenings of gastronomic delights and disco music.

Hot food served by Re Ciuchin e Regina SciepasciĂźcc (the King and Queen of Cooking in local dialect). Friday 19:000200, Saturday 11:30-19:00 www.lugano-turismo.ch 1-3 FEBRUARY Bern: MariNatal, a fair for marriage, celebrations and birth www.bernexpo.ch 1-9 FEBRUARY Gstaad: Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad music festival. www.sommets-musicaux.com 2-12 FEBRUARY Geneva: *UDQG 7KpkWUH Âą *HQHYD 2SHUD presents La Traviata by Guiseppe Verdi. www.geneveopera.com

16 JANUARY Bern: Brave New World as performed by the American Drama Group Europe, 15:30 and 20:00 at the Theater am .lÂżJWXUP ZZZ WKHDWHU DP NDHÂżJWXUP FK

Bern: The Bernese Chopin Society welcomes Claire Huangci from the USA to the Auditorium Martha MĂźller in Zentrum Paul Klee to play works from Mendelssohn, Bach and Chopin. 17:00 www.bernischechopin-gesellschaft.ch

18 JANUARY Basel: Museum night, open door at all local museums 18:00-02:00. www.museumsnacht.ch

27 JANUARY Basel: exhibition of the late works of the famous Swiss artist Ferdinand Hodler, at the Beyeler Foundation in Riehen. Until 26 May. www.fondationbeyeler.ch

7-12 FEBRUARY Bellinzona (TI): Rabadan â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a week of colourful parades and costumes, in celebration of Carnevale (see page 53). www.rabadan.ch

30 JANUARY Lugano: More than 50 million people have seen Andrew Lloyd Webberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Phantom of the Opera 1RZ D VSHFtacular new production comes to Ticino.

8-9 FEBRUARY Locarno (TI): La Stranociada â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a typical Carnevale procession and celebration, taking place in the old town. www.locarno-ascona.com

Horgen ZH: Burns Supper. 4-course menu and ceremony, whisky-tasting and live musician. Hotel Schwan, 19:0023:00. Also in Lucerne, 19 January, Hotel Schweizerhof. www.thewhiskyexperience.com

6 FEBRUARY Basel: Gatherings4Spouses meeting at the Bottmingerschloss, 09:15-12:00. www.mytown4you.com

SWITZERLAND

January

59

60

8-12 FEBRUARY Fribourg: Traditional pre-Lent Festival held prior to Ash Wednesday in the historic Old Town. www.frigbourgtourisme.ch

22 FEBRUARY Basel: MUBA, annual consumer fair in Basel, with fashion, food & furniture, household & health, the Tower Run, special guests and many other attracWLRQV $OVR LQFOXGHV WKH WK 1DWXUH IDLU (from 28 Feb), and Basel Holiday Fair (until 24 Feb). Until 3 March. www.muba.ch

15 FEBRUARY Basel: Ferienmesse (holiday and travel fair). www.baslerferienmesse.ch

11 FEBRUARY Zug: Greth Schell. Pity the old woman with the drunken husband as part of Zugâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fasnacht celebrations.

Zurich: ZĂźriCarneval Zurich was one of the last Swiss cities to embrace the carnival spirit, but theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re making up for lost time. Until 17 February. www.zuerichcarneval.ch

12 FEBRUARY Ascona (TI): Carnevale con Risotto â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the traditional way to celebrate carnival in the Ticino. www.locarno-ascona.com

15-16 FEBRUARY Gstaad: 7KH WK DQG Âż QDO +LJK )O\ Festival featuring extreme winter sports, pyrotechnics and loud music.

ZZZ KLJK Ă&#x20AC; \ FK

14 FEBRUARY Bern: 9DOHQWLQHÂśV 'D\ Ă&#x20AC; RZHU PDUNHW RQ the Bärenplatz, 7:00 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 18:00.

17 FEBRUARY Liestal (near Basel): Chienbäse, traditional torch procession through the town centre, 19:30 (see page 23). www.chienbaese-verein.ch

Zurich: Cocktails & Cupcakes. Tastetest some of the best cupcakes available LQ =XULFK DQG Ă&#x20AC; LUW\ FRFNWDLOV DW WKLV Girlfriend Guide Valentines Day event.

Come alone, with girlfriends, or with your V-Day date for â&#x20AC;&#x153;dessert before dinnerâ&#x20AC;?. 18:30-20:30 www.mygirlfriendguide.com 14-16 FEBRUARY Bern: Fasnacht in Bern. www.fasnacht.be

18 FEBRUARY Basel: Fasnacht, starting at 4 in the morning, until 21 February. Procession Mon & Wed afternoon, Guggemusik concert Tues evening (see page 23). www.fasnachts-comite.ch 20 FEBRUARY Zug: CH-uckles presents English stand-up comedy. Acts TBA. Theatre Casino Zug, 19:45. www.chuckles.ch

Zurich: Salsafestival Switzerland.

Workshops, shows and the chance to dance. Kongresshaus, until 24 February. www.salsafestival.com

Global Innovation Index The GII recognizes the key role of innovation as a driver of economic growth and prosperity, and acknowledges the need for a broad horizontal vision of innovation applicable to both developed and emerging economies.

Switzerland remains in the number 1 position in 2012.

Next in the top 10 rankings are Sweden, Singapore, Finland, the UK, the Netherlands, Denmark, Hong Kong (China), Ireland and the USA. More information, in the form of expert articles and analysis: www.globalinnovationindex.org

Art on Ice

SWITZERLAND

31 Jan-3 Feb: Zurich (Hallonstadion) 5-6 Feb: Lausanne (Patinoire de Malley) 8 Feb: Davos (Vaillant Arena) Tickets available online from: www.artonice.com www.ticketcorner.ch

Voluntary Organisations & Groups American Citizens Abroad The voice of Americans overseas: a QRQ SURÂżW QRQ SDUWLVDQ DOO YROXQWHHU organization that represents the interests of Americans living and working outside the U.S. ACA, 5 rue Liotard, 1202 Geneva.

022 340 0233 info.aca@gmail.com www.aca.ch British Residentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Association of Switzerland (BRA) Regional activities in Basel, Berne/ 1HXFKDWHO 5RPDQGLH 7LFLQR =XULFK www.britishresidents.ch British-Swiss Chamber of Commerce ,QGHSHQGHQW QRW IRU SURÂżW RUJDQLVDWLRQ based in Zurich, with chapters in Basel, Berne, Central Switzerland, Geneva, Liechtenstein, London, Ticino & Zurich. info@bscc.ch www.bscc.co.uk Day Away Association For Women Sponsors breakfast seminars addressing life issues from a biblical perspective, with seminars in Zurich, Berne, Basel, & St. Gallen. www.dayaway.org Federation of Anglo-Swiss Clubs An association of English-speaking clubs all over Switzerland, with a wide range of social and cultural activities. www.angloswissclubs.ch

Moms In Prayer International An interdenominational, Christcentered prayer ministry for women desiring to pray for children and schools from preschool to college/careers. www.MomsInPrayer.org www.momsinprayer.ch Toastmasters International Meetings in Basel, Berne, Geneva, Lausanne, Zug & Zurich. English as a mother tongue not required. www.toastmasters.ch

Basel

Centrepoint For English speakers of all nationalities including local Swiss. With an English book library, conversation groups in seven languages and plenty of events for the 800+ members.

061 261 2002 info@centrepoint.ch www.centrepoint.ch Connexions Social Events Club Organises social events and activities for English-speaking adults of all nationalities in the Basel region. www.connexions.ch

American Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club of Basel $ QRQ SURÂżW VRFLDO DQG SKLODQWKURSLF organization with about 160 members.

Maintains library at Centrepoint with over 5,000 English-language books. www.awcbasel.org

English Seminar Choir Open to all singers. Rehearses on Tuesdays, 12:15-13:45, in the Grosser +|UVDDO (QJOLVK 6HPLQDU 1DGHOEHUJ Basel. www.esc-basel.ch

Anglo-Swiss Club Basel The ideal meeting place for crosscultural exchange, meetings usually on Thursdays. www.asc-basel.ch

English-Speaking Cancer Support Group Contact: Sue Style 0033 389 07 30 34 s.style@hrnet.fr or Alwyn Hinds Merk 061 481 4767

Basel Childbirth Trust BCT For English-speaking expectant parents and families with young children. For more information, contact: membership.bct@gmail.com www.baselchildbirthtrust.com.

Basel Cricket Club Weekly training sessions on Thursdays at the Gymnasium MĂźnchenstein. www.baselcricket.ch

Gymboree Play & Music programme for newborns and children of up to 5 years old in Basel, Berne, Geneva, Zug and Zurich. www.gymboree.ch.

Basel Irish Club A meeting place for Irish people and friends of Ireland. www.baselirishclub.com

Hash House Harriers, Switzerland Popularly known as the drinking club with a running problem, with kennels in Basel, Berne, Geneva, Interlaken, Lucerne and Zurich. www.harrier.ch

Boy Scouts of America For boys of all nationalities, 11 to 18yrs.

Meetings, 19:00 Wednesdays (termtime), International School of Basel, Reinach. Steve Crump, scoutmaster, steven.crump@bluewin.ch

Morris Dancing Group Meets on Wednesdays in the Halle au blĂŠ in Ferrette.

Squire: Pete Sandbach peter.sandbach@roche.com Contact: Lizzie Gleaves 0033 389 07 86 01 lizzie.gleaves@wanadoo.fr www.chamerion.ch/ferrette-morris Open Door Zwingerstr 20 4053 Basel. For English speaking families with young children.

061 361 171 www.opendoorbasel.ch Professional Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Group, Basel $Q DIÂżOLDWH RI &HQWUHSRLQW ZLWK RYHU 130 members. Meets on the last Monday of the month. www.pwg-basel.ch

SWITZERLAND

Switzerland

61

62

Rugby Football Club Basel Founded in 1975, now has 150 members including juniors and women. www.rugbybasel.ch Savoyards: Gilbert & Sullivan Society For all G&S enthusiasts, with regular meetings, singalong evenings, visits. info@savoyards.ch www.savoyards.ch Scottish Country Dance Group Meets every Tuesday at the Bettenecker School in Allschwil. www.scdgb.ch Semi-Circle Baselâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s English-language amateur drama group, with regular readings and productions twice a year. www.semi-circle.ch

Bern American Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club of Berne Founded in 1949, with a current membership of around 150 women. www.awcbern.org ASK: All Special Kids Berne Chapter of the Geneva-based non-funded, volunteer parent network, to support the families of children with VSHFLDO QHHGV DQG OHDUQLQJ GLIÂżFXOWLHV www.allspecialkids.org

SWITZERLAND

Australia-New Zealand Contact Club +ROGV LQIRUPDO VRFLDO HYHQWV IRXU RU ÂżYH times a year. tritt.bizland.com/anzcc

BERNnet A network of English-speaking professionals with a wide range of expertise in English-language services, media, and technical skills. www.bernnetwork.ch Canada Club of Berne For singles and families who are from or have lived in Canada. www.canadaclub.ch The Caretakers English-language amateur group. http://thecaretakers.ch

Swiss African Forum (SAF) An innovative voluntary association on African Integration working within FKDULWLHV RUJDQLVDWLRQV DQG 1*2V www.saf03.ch Swiss American Society Berne (SAMS) â&#x20AC;&#x153;For fostering close contacts between the United States and Switzerland.â&#x20AC;?

Doris Miesch, VP â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Administration Rue des GenevrĂŠs 17, 1784 Courtepin d.miesch@bluewin.ch

theatre

English Club Biel Meets usually on Wednesday. www.englishclubbiel.ch English Speaking Club of Berne A meeting point for English speakers in Berne. Club bar open Thursdays & Fridays from Eight till Late.

031 381 6364 (bar nights only) www.englishclub.ch English Speaking Playgroup/School Founded as a playgroup for English speaking children, the group offers classes and examination courses for children aged 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 18 years old. www.esp-bern.ch info@esp-bern.ch Fribourg Expat Womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Group A new club with lots of activities and free membership. Visit http://fribourgexpatwomansgroup.com kerri@ fribourgexpatwomansgroup. com

Berne Dancing Bears American Western Square Dance Club. www.squaredance.ch

Friends of ISBerne An extension of ISBerneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Parent Teacher Committee to develop a deeper connection with the community. www.isberne.ch

Berne Cricket Club For everyone who enjoys playing and/or watching cricket. http://berne.play-cricket.com

International Club of Berne For people from all corners of the world with English as the common language. wd@bluewin.ch Rugby Club Berne With teams for men and women. Plays at the Allmend. www.rugbybern.ch

Swiss-British Society Berne Meets about once a month for cultural HYHQWV ZLWK D %ULWLVK Ă&#x20AC;DYRXU Contact: Regina Walter-Fuchs rewal@gmx.ch SwissEnglish Services Combines business promotion with networking in the English-speaking community. www.swissenglish.ch Upstage English-language amateur theatre group. www.upstage.ch

Romandie American International Club of Geneva The AIC is a community of Englishspeaking people living around Geneva who are enriched by diverse backgrounds and interests, and connected by a common language.

022 910 25 80 admin@amclub.ch www.amclub.ch American International Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club of Geneva (AIWC) With 700 members from 50 different nations, speaking over 10 languages.

11 Route de ChĂŞne, 1207 Geneva 022 736 0120 www.aiwcgeneva.org American Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club of Lausanne With its own clubhouse at Avenue Eglantine 6, 1006 Lausanne 021 320 2688 www.aiwc-lausanne.org

English Cancer Association 21 ch. de Saussac, 1256 Troinex 022 300 2967 info@cancersupport.ch www.cancersupport.ch English-Speaking & Anglo-Swiss Club Lausanne Social club for all English speakers, with a wide range of activities.

Case Postale 541, 1001 Lausanne 021 802 2858 www.esc-lausanne.ch Geneva Amateur Operatic Society The largest English-speaking amateur musical society on the continent, with three to four major stage productions each season. www.gaos.ch Geneva International Cricket Club Plays at the sports stadium at Bout-deMonde. www.gicc.ch Geneva English Drama Society Holds three or four full stage productions per year, staged playreadings, workshops and social events. www.geds.ch Geneva Scottish Country Dance Club Meets on Thursdays, beginnersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; classes also offered. www.genevascdc.com Geneva Writersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Group Started in 1993, GWG brings together over 175 English-language writers from 40 countries. Its objective is to encourage all forms of creative writing in English. Workshops, critiquing, masterclasses, and readings. Publication of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Offshootsâ&#x20AC;? anthology alternating with the GWG Writersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Conference. info@genevawritersgroup.org www.genevawritersgroup.org

International Club Lausanne Social club offering 2-3 activities per month. Contact: icl@urbanet.ch http://home.worldcom.ch/icl

DigiFotoCH Activity and discussion group for anyone who has an interest in digital photography. www.mydigifoto.ch

International English Speaking Club of La Chaux de Fonds For English speakers of all nationalities, meets weekly. www.iesc-cdf.com

The Elizabethan Singers Perform English music from 1600 to the present day. Director: Roland Johnson.

044 713 2194 www.e-singers.info

International Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club of Nyon &DVH 3RVWDOH 1\RQ membership@iwcn.ch www.iwcn.ch

English Speaking Club Zurich Meets several times monthly, with a regular â&#x20AC;&#x153;open houseâ&#x20AC;? on the last Tuesday. www.escz.ch

Neuchatel International Club Âś7KH 1LFÂś LV D VRFLDO FOXE IRU ORFDO (QJ lish-speakers of all nationalities, with full programme of events for families and singles. www.thenic.ch

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Expats-in-Zurichâ&#x20AC;? Discussion List A discussion list and resource center for expats living in and around the canton Zurich. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ Expats-in-Zurich

The Village Players, Lausanne Amateur theatre group.

P.O. Box 7561, 1002 Lausanne www.villageplayers.ch

) , 7 6:,66 A multi-cultural forum for members to maximize their potential.

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Zurich

International Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club (IMC) Weekly round table at the Mariott Hotel, monthly meetings with speaker and dinner. www.zimc.ch

American Club of Zurich Welcomes all US and Canadian citizens living in the Zurich area. For more details, call 079 243 5681. www.acz.ch

American Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club of Zurich With over 400 members in the greater Zurich area and its own club house at Schoentalstrasse 8, 8004 Zurich.

044 240 4455 www.awczurich.org Asian Ladies Club of Switzerland Frequent social, cultural and other activities for Asian ladies and others ZLWK DQ DIÂżQLW\ IRU $VLD www.alc-swiss.ch Boy Scouts English speaking Scout Troop for boys between 10 and 17. Meets on Wednesday evenings at 19:00. For more information call Chris Fuchs, 041 760 5822.

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International Club Winterthur A lively club with 150 members from more than 20 nations. www.internationalclub.ch Irish Club of Zurich Monthly meetings. Contact: irish_in_zurich@yahoo.ie Living in Zurich (LIZ) English language orientation course covering must-know topics for newcomers.

Contact: 044 240 4455 for details Professional Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Group of Zurich The PWG is an in-person networking platform for women who live in and around Zurich. www.professionalwomensgroup.com

SWITZERLAND

Anglo-Swiss Club of Fribourg Meets monthly on Thursday/Friday.

Contact Reidar Magnus 026 481 5928 www.angloswissclubs.ch

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Rugby Club Zurich Regular training for men, women and juniors at Allmend Brunau Zurich. www.rugbyzurich.ch

Zurich International Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Association (ZIWA) Over 700 members from 65 nations. www.ziwa.com

Lucerne International Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club Holds monthly luncheons, cultural and sports events and special projects for charities. www.iwcl.net

Swiss Friends of the USA (SFUSA) Swiss-American Society to promote cultural and business relations. Holds monthly lunch meetings with speaker. www.sfusa.ch

Zug/Lucerne

Rugby Club Lucerne Training sessions on Tuesdays and Thursday at the Allmend, at 19:00 for women and 19:30 for men. www.rcl.ch

Swiss American Chamber of Commerce 1RQ SURÂżW RUJDQLVDWLRQ KROGV UHJXODU meetings in Zurich, Geneva & Lugano. www.amcham.ch Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Activity Club For families of all nationalities, with playgroups and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Learning Tree Cooperative Schoolâ&#x20AC;?.

Winterthurerstrasse 18, 8610 Uster 043 305 9250 www.wac.ch Zurich Comedy Club Meets on Monday for play-readings; regular performances. info@zcc.ch www.zcc.ch

SWITZERLAND

Zurich International Club Zurichâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest expat community. www.zhic.org

Anglo-Swiss Club Lucerne Meets fortnightly on Wednesday.

Contact Robin Lustenberger 041 310 2912 www.angloswissclubs.ch English Theatre Group of Zug Produces musicals, pantomines and plays, also other entertainments for special events by arrangement. www.etgz.ch International Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club of Zug Over 250 English-speaking members from around the world. Weekly â&#x20AC;&#x153;Stammtischâ&#x20AC;? on Thursdays at the Parkhotel, Zug, and many other events. www.imcz.com International Mums & Kids Club Zug The IMKC meets weekly at the Christlicher Treffpunkt in Baar, and also organises outings and family parties for traditional celebrations. www.imkc.ch

Rugby Club Zug Practice sessions at Unterägeri. info@rugbyclubzug.ch www.rugbyclubzug.ch Swiss American Society Lucerne Over 300 members from all over central Switzerland, who get together for events and outings several times a month. info@sasl-lucerne.ch www.sasl-lucerne.ch Zug International Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club The ZIWC offers a full range of activities with â&#x20AC;&#x153;Stammtischâ&#x20AC;?, outings, special interest groups, workshops, seminars and parties info@ziwc.ch www.ziwc.ch

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