Alex and Aurore's Visit.

This past weekend I had a pair of visitors: Alex and Aurore! They are friends from France who I met in Minnesota- I used to work with Aurore at the University of Minnesota. Aurore lives in Strasbourg, which is about 2.5 hours away, and Alex is in Grenoble, which is more like 5 or 6 hours away. In fact, because of the strikes in France, the trains weren't running, so Alex had an even longer journey. He had to drive a few hours to Geneva (in Switzerland) before he could catch a train to meet Aurore and I in Zürich!

They came in late and later on Friday evening, so we slept in on Saturday and had a late brunch before getting in the car (Aurore drove from Strasbourg) and heading to Stein am Rhein, which is a cute little town close to the Rhine Falls. We walked around the town and along the river for a while, and also purchased the necessary supplies for fondue, which I can now make quite skillfully, if I do say so myself.

Scenes from Stein am Rhein

We then crossed the border into Germany and visited the border town of Konstanz. The town was SUPER busy- all of the parking garages had absolutely no spaces open! This is a result of the high prices in Switzerland; many people go across the border to Germany to shop for groceries and other things on the weekends, usually saving quite a bit of money in the process. Probably half of the cars we saw in Konstanz had Swiss license plates! We wandered around the town and down to the lake, and we took a beautiful walk along the lake right at sunset before heading back home and having cheese fondue for dinner.

Scenes from Konstanz

Hello, man wearing a WISCONSIN SWEATSHIRT.

The weather took a significant turn for the worse on Sunday and Monday: both days were rainy, windy and about 40 F and sometimes sleeting, which is not conducive to walking outside and seeing Zürich, which was our plan. Both days we walked around Zürich: touring ETH (where I work), visiting the Fraumünster and the Grossmünster, wandering around the old streets, enjoying a coffee in Starbucks (my first time since I've been here!), admiring the view from Lindenhof, walking the Bahnhofstrasse, strolling by the Zürichsee, seeing the Niederdorf neighborhood, meeting our friend Sarah for tapas, etc. In general we could walk for an hour or two outside before retreating to somewhere warm for a while, but still managed to have a nice time together, despite the dismal weather.

Scenes from Zürich

View from the conference room in my building. Usually you can see the snow-covered Alps.

Grossmünster.

Fraumünster.

Walking by the lake.

View from Lindenhof.

Of course, it has been nothing but sunny since they left, but what can you do? It was a fun visit, and I'm looking forward to more, since we are relatively close to each other!

Rhine Falls and Graubünden.

I think it is high time for some catch-up blogging!

During the second half of Anne's visit to Switzerland, her dad came to spend a few days (he was traveling with his sister in Germany), so they were able to go on some day trips around Zürich and Switzerland while I was at work, and then we met up for dinner sometimes.

For Anne's last day, we went to Schaffhausen to see the Rhine Falls in the afternoon. The Rhine Falls are the largest waterfalls in Europe. The day was gray, but we were still pretty lucky, because it didn't rain. The waterfalls are quite large, and the water is a really pretty dark aqua. It was nice to walk around the falls and the town and to enjoy the fall colors and the waterfalls with Anne and her dad.

The falls from the top.

That weekend, I took the train to Lisbeth and Franz's mountain house in Cunter (in Graubünden) to visit Lisbeth for the weekend. The area is really beautiful- perched on the side of a valley with really great views of the mountains. Of course, the weather was not super great- it was raining/snowing most of the weekend. The snow didn't stay where we were, but the snow line was only about 200 or 300 m above us! I also came down with a bad cold, so it was actually nice to stay inside by the fire and sleep a lot. On Sunday, we did get out for a walk before I went back to Zürich.

Fall colors on the walk.

Snow on the mountains above us.

Last week was really busy at work, with lots of meetings, but I think that progress is being made. This past weekend, my good friends Alex and Aurore came to visit me from France, and we had some fun adventures- expect another update soon!

I heart Switzerland!

I would like to make an announcement:

I love Switzerland!

In fact, I love it so much that I will be moving to Switzerland early next year to finish my PhD work. The visa forms have been filled out, and I have a contract starting the 1st of February 2011!

Although there are myriad reasons for me to move to Switzerland (mountains, anyone?), the major reason that I am moving is for my job. I love my job here to the point where I no longer suffer from 'the Mondays'! I am incredibly excited about the opportunities that I will have here to develop and grow and learn as a chemist. ETH is really one of the best places in the world to do the chemistry that I do and to learn from others who are interested in similar subjects. The work environment here is really positive and stimulating, and I enjoy being part of a larger group and being in the same country (and building, even!) as my boss. Although it might seem trivial, the fact that I can see tree leaves out the window by my lab bench is also a huge positive...

Of course, I will miss my puppy, family and friends (not necessarily in that order), as well as my church and Minnesota in general. But the PhD is a huge investment of blood, sweat and tears, and I have decided that I may as well get the most development and learning out of it as I possibly can. I would never ever have expected this- moving to Switzerland has never been in my life plans- but it seems like this is the right thing at the right time, and I am really excited to see what these next couple of years will bring!

I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it.

    -Rosalia de Castro

In Lauterbrunnen with Anne!

Last weekend, my friend Anne came to visit me, which was fantastic! We spent the weekend in Lauterbrunnen, which is a small town in a beautiful valley in the Bernese Oberland.

On Saturday, we went up to the Schilthorn, which is a observation facility built on top of a mountain opposite from the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. One of its claims to fame (aside from the amazing view) is that one of the James Bond movies was partially filmed there. We took several cable cars up the mountain, and ended at about 3000 m, which we could definitely feel when we were walking around. The views were great, although the day was pretty hazy (hence, the pictures are a little on the hazy side). We took the cable car back down to Mürren and then hiked back down to Lauterbrunnen, which was a descent of almost 1000 m (our poor knees!) through some beautiful woods. I really love all of the fall colors!

Scenes from our hike and the Schilthorn

We love the mountains!

The Schilthorn with the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau in the background.

On Sunday we went on a jaw-dropping hike from Männlichen (via Wengen) to Kleine Scheidegg, on a path that basically wound right in front of the Eiger. It was so clear that we could easily see the Jungfraujoch perched on top of the Jungfrau. The path was really busy, probably because of the nice weather, but the views were absolutely amazing! Pictures really can't do it justice, but, trust me, in good weather, you really can't beat the Swiss Alps!

Video from the top of the hike

Pictures from the Sunday Hike

Lauterbrunnen valley, with Staubbach falls.

In Wengen.

Männlichen.

Oh, hello, Alps!

We were above the tree line.

Just as we were finishing our hike, the clouds rolled in. Perfect timing! We spent the evening walking around Interlaken, before heading back home the next day. I LOVE mountains and visits from friends!