Meter the Stars

Zurich, Switzerland is officially the first large European city I’ve set foot on. Our plane from Hong Kong landed in Paris first, but I never really left the airport, so it doesn’t count.

From Davos, my dad and I took a train to Landquart and transferred to another train that was bound for Zurich. Naturally, the first thing I saw was Zurich Hauptbahnhof (Zurich HB) or the Zurich Main Station.

I was completely floored when I got off that train. I felt like a girl from the boondocks (of course I was, what am I talking about?!). I’ve been to huge train stations in the US before, but for some reason or another it was never really about the trains there. In Zurich HB, there are 20 platforms situated at the ground floor, and more on the level below that. It was just an amazing, amazing sight.

I was too awed to take photos of the trains. Sorry. :p

Not only were all the trains a sight to behold, but since it was Christmas time, they had a Christmas Market and a huge Christmas tree decorated with Swarovski jewelry and ornaments.

Exploring Zurich on our own was a little harder to do because the weather wasn’t cooperating with us, and we basically had no idea where to go. The skies cleared up eventually, and the city at night was absolutely gorgeous.

Alfred Escher Memorial outside of Zurich Hauptbahnhof

Christmas lights were hanging from the electrical wires that power the trams. There were so many that it made the city streets look like it was filled with stars… and you know me… I love my stars.

We also saw a singing Christmas tree in one of the squares near the station. We saw the set earlier during the day, and we didn’t really get it. When we came back later in the evening, the children’s choir was performing. It made me miss my dorky sister a lot. :(

There are a number of city tours to choose from, so we picked a guided tour called “Zurich and Surroundings.” It was a great tour care of Anna the tour guide, and Maria the coach driver.

Here are a couple of sights that I enjoyed on that tour:

Guild houses along the Limmat River

You could say that I was geeking out when I saw the guild houses. Other people in the tour were pretty “meh” about it. But since I learned a bit about guild houses in school, I was slightly awed at seeing some.

Grossmünster Church

St. Peter Church, Zurich

There are a lot of churches in Zurich, Grossmünster and St. Peter being two of the three major ones in the city. Fraumunster church is the third, but from where I was standing, it wasn’t a great place to take photo of it. You can actually see the spire of Fraumunster Church on my Guild houses photo. It’s the green pointy thing.

Lake Zurich by Night

Of course, the tours include visiting Lake Zurich. In this particular tour we visited it twice.

Tours can easily be booked from the HB tourist information center. This one cost about CHF45 per person, and includes a guided tour around Zurich, a trip to Felsenegg which gives you a panoramic view of the city, and a ferry ride across Lake Zurich.

Me being all artsy at Felsenegg

I was slightly disappointed that none of the tours included a stop or a drive by the FIFA HQ. Like I said, the weather wasn’t cooperating with us 100% and I don’t think my dad was about to let me drag him across the city through wind, rain, and snow just to see FIFA. It’s alright though, just another reason to return. :)

As for the food in Zurich, my dad and I got all cheap with the food and ate bagels and sandwiches during most of our time in the city.

I did get to taste some apple strudel with vanilla sauce or “Apfelstudel mit Vanillesauce” as it’s called. Yum! Yum!

After three days and two nights in the lovely city of Zurich, it was unfortunately time to say goodbye.

Ground crew de-icing the plane

We hopped on a train that was bound to the airport, and it was time for us to fly to *trumpet fanfare please!* London!

I admit that I’m not the most diligent of bloggers, but if anyone has read my previous blog entry, it’s plain to see that I’ve clearly been to Europe.

I’ve been working hard on the photos, and thinking up ways on how to write on everything that I’ve experienced. It’s taking a while, but don’t worry… I took down a lot of notes during this trip. :)

I was inspired by someone who recently contacted me, saying that they’ve read and enjoyed my blog and I should continue writing (even if I write so little in a lot of my posts). So this entry is a bit of a teaser of what I’ve seen during my trip and what I plan to share with everyone.

I’ve already written about Davos but there’s more of Switzerland to come. Expect a bit of Italy, France and London in the mix as well.

If the place called “Davos” seems to have a familiar ring to it, that’s probably because of the recently concluded World Economic Forum. They never really talk about the town itself when the Forum is going on, so I didn’t really know what to expect when I went last December.

All that World Economic Forum stuff goes on at the Kongresszentrum, or the Convention Center, which is located at the center of the city between Davos Dorf and Davos Platz… and of course I wouldn’t be saying this if I didn’t get to go inside.

Ohh… fancy ceiling. Teehee.

Davos is a municipality located in a valley in the Swiss Alps and is Europe’s highest city located at 1,560 m (5,120 ft) above sea level.

Not only do the Alps offer breathtaking views, it’s is also a famous skiing and snowboarding destination during the winter. It’s surrounded by six different skiing which are easily accessible through different lifts and funiculars.

I also learnt to snowboarding while I was there. I got an instructor from the Top Secret Ski and Snowboard Company (which cost me a small fortune… but in all fairness to the price, it was a private 1-on-1 session), and I’m still very much a n00b but I’d like to think I was a good student and I learnt quickly enough.

Surprisingly, it was a lot more tiring than I ever thought it would be. My instructor, Sirena, was a great teacher and was really patient with me when I wanted nothing more than to lie down on the snow. She also gave me this red juice-tea thing to drink (she didn’t know what it was called in English and was having trouble explaining it to me) which was really good, lol, just saying. Top Secret is located at Talstation Jakobshorn and has gear for sale and for rent, and has skiing and snowboarding courses everyday during the ski season.

Apart from the sports, there’s also the food. Switzerland is a land locked county and is bordered by France, Germany, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. Davos, in particular, is in the western part of the country, so as a result there’s a lot of German and Italian influences.

Sausage with curry sauce and fries

Apple strudel with vanilla sauce

Pesto Gnocchi

Cheese Fondue

Davos was a fun trip for me, and given the chance I’d definitely go back. It’s incredibly easy to get around the city since it has just two main roads, Promenade and Talstrasse, and if you have a guest card, the buses are free! Or you could walk. Do it. It’s good for you.

It’s not that difficult to go to, from Zurich you just need to take a train to Landquart, and then switch to another train headed for Davos. It’s a couple hours ride, but the trains are really comfortable and the views, to die for.

I know I’ll never be able to complete a 365 photo project without a theme. I’m starting one that has a theme of everyday things that make me happy.

Let me start of this adventure with a quote from Hafez of Persia:
“Ever since happiness heard your name, it has been running through the streets trying to find you.”

Happy Everyday
I love tea. More than tea, I love green tea. Happy Lemon’s Green Tea with Rock Salt and Cheese is just divine, and that creamy topping over the tea? Love it! Secretly, I wish that they would put more of the topping.

It’s Never as Simple as Black and White
I had an opportunity to observe and assist photographer Tom Epperson during a shoot where he jokingly said, “No gray card? You won’t get very far…” So I ended up purchasing one. Of course, in the studio where I spend most of my days has one. It was just forgotten that day.

Yes, I can hardly find the time to blog but I found myself at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium on December 2 AND 3 for the LA Galaxy Clinic and open training as well as their match versus the Philippine National Football Team, the Azkals.

I volunteered to be an usher for both days and in return, I got to usher… for both days. Several UFL teams were marshals for the event, and during the first day we were with Manhur FC.

Me and Jeh with Manhur FC, photo by Mike Esguerra
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