Zurich Switzerland

Most of our Christmas vacation was in the Swiss mountains skiing the slopes.  But the trip into the mountains was rather long, so we decided that on our way back we would include a short stop in Zurich to break up the travel.

Zurich, known as the portal to the alps, is the central location to all the train networks and the international airport.  This gives tourists easy access to all the Swiss Alps and allows Zurich to be a hub and tourist destination.  It is also the largest city of Switzerland, but not the capital.  It houses the stock exchange, two of Switzerland's major universities, and a large number of national and international companies' headquarters, museums, theaters and so much more.  Therefore, it was an ideal location for us to stop to explore on our way home.

Our hotel was walking distance from the train station, which made things very convenient.  So, we walked to the hotel, put our bags away and headed out to explore.  Now it was evening time so there was not much time for site seeing.  But we had time to get a lay of the land and grab a bite to eat.  We found that walking around the city was very easy and the sidewalks were not crowded at all.  We figured out our surroundings and headed in for the night.

The train station

Old town -near our hotel

This looked like a great place to stop

But they did not serve food

Exploring the town

Next morning we had our route picked out; we wanted to see the museum, a couple of chocolate shops, climb the steps in the tower of an old church and see old town.  So off we went with map in hand to explore.  Our first stop was Grossmunster Church. 

Grossmunster Church is a 12th century Romanesque ex-cathedral church with a lot of rich history:

It is said, by whom I am not sure but it's in brochures and on the web so I am sure that it is true, that Charlemagne founded Grossmunster after his horse stopped over the graves of three Christian martyrs.  These three Christian martyrs were the martyrs who refused to renounce their faith and fled Southwest Switzerland to escape the mass execution that was happening.  But they were captured in Zurich and executed there for their faith by beheading in 286 AD.  Apparently, after the beheading the martyrs picked up their heads, climbed to the top of a hill, dug their own graves and buried themselves.  It was on that site that Charlemagne found their graves and began the construction of the church in 1090 in honor of the martyrs. 

This church has seen modifications and restorations throughout the years, which is typical.  Today this church has two massive three-story towers, one tower you can climb to the top, which can be seen throughout Zurich.  Otherwise, it is a simple church with amazing architecture, a bronze door with panels of biblical scenes, some frescoes, stained glass windows, and a statute.  We found that it was a beautiful church with a really cool tower to climb.

Grossmunster Church

A view of Zurich from the North tower (200 steps up)

More of the city

It was windy up there

Our decent down the 200 steps

Half way down we found a nook for a photo opportunity

The boys love climbing the 200 steps into the North tower.  They then hung out on the balcony areas taking in the view and the wind.  I, on the other hand, was holding onto every railing to make sure I would not accidentally tumble down the stairs or over the edge of the balcony.  I found that height to be a little scary.  This fear provided the boys with even more entertainment.  So they enjoyed pointing how high up we were in the tower and making jokes about falling.  Oh the torture of it all, but for the love of family I stayed till the bitter end.  But look at the picture of our descent, because you will notice that I am leading the pack down the stairs....too funny.

Next we were off to the Kunsthaus Art Museum.  This museum has a nice collection of art from many different world known artists:  Monet, Rembrandt, Picasso, Van Gogh, Canaletto and a huge collection from Edvard Munch.  This museum had a brochure/booklet that challenged the children to find paintings in various locations and then explained some of the artists time periods.  That was a great way to educate and get kids interested in art.

Photo opportunity while walking to the museum

What an amazing piece displayed prior to the entrance to the museum

Van Gogh

Monet

We only took a few photos inside the museum.  They had a very large exhibition of impressionism art paintings from various artists.  Impressionism is my favorite art form.  The boys had fun working through their booklet to see who could find the paintings first.  We were glad that we chose that museum and spent the day checking it out.  The rest of the day was filled with window shopping, seeing the city and of course the amazing chocolate shops.

The Chocolate Shop

Inside the shop.... yummy

A floating Circus

Unique buildings

Great sites

Overall, Zurich was a nice stop that broke up the long trip home.  We were glad that we took time to see the city and its sites.  It was a short stop, but we appreciated the time that we had to walk around.

Traffic Differences and Construction

Living in Turkey is very different.  This country has significant cultural and everyday life differences.  I am not saying it is wrong or right, I am just saying that it is very different here.  The one difference I have written the most about is the traffic and every day driving behaviors.  It is hard to understand what we are witnessing everyday when driving, and even after two years I still am amazed.  I refer to traffic as; the almost organized chaos.

The driving culture is very self-centered.  The drivers here are only concerned about getting from point A to point B and everyone else should yield to their destination.  Again, this is how they have been raised and don't know a different way of thinking.  This type of thinking gives them an inability to be patient for traffic delays or jams AND causes them to make what you and I would consider as odd driving decisions.

Traffic Jams

As with most places traffic jams are significant at varying times.  Yet, I am astonished at what I see people do in order to get their vehicle ahead of traffic jams.  Daily, I deal with vehicles making extra lanes of traffic, yet they will only have to merge later on down the road due to parked vehicles, road construction, traffic lights, etc which causes worse traffic delays.  Still, they stack their cars into a nightmarish space of inches between vehicles in order to get ahead a few blocks and not have to wait for that moment.  Astonishingly, I have also seen vehicles drive down sidewalks to get around traffic jams. AND at other times, I have watched cars drive in the opposing lane to get around traffic jams, causing the opposing traffic to break -again causing worse delays.  All of these behaviors are so counter productive.  Their driving actually makes the traffic jams worse and last much longer had they been patient, stuck with the normal traffic lanes, took turns yielding to one another, or stayed in their driving lanes.  Even though I am just astonished at what I see everyday, this is normal to them and they don't know any different way of driving.

Minor traffic jam

Look up the hill at the parking that limits the driving space

The silver car is passing us up a hill and we're not even in a traffic jam.

Look at the parking on both sides of the road

They park any way they want...  even double parking

Again all the parking problems make driving conditions difficult

Double parked on both sides of the road

Stopping

If for any reason you need to stop: to drop people off, pick someone up, ask for directions, or look at a map, you simple turn your hazard lights on and stop at your current location.  There is no need to pull over to the shoulder, find parking, or get out of the way of on coming traffic.  It is understood that when you put your hazard lights on you will need all other drivers to give way to your need and wait for you to take what ever time is necessary to complete your task on the road or highway.  Again, I am not saying it is right or wrong, but it is very different and causes traffic jams and delays.

A taxi is dropping off his fair

Traffic is stacked and trying to get around it

 

Another example of stopping to drop someone off and not pulling to the curb

Note: the taxi because it is common for cars to drive in the middle of lanes

so they can maneuver between lanes to get around traffic

 

The car in front of me turned on his hazard lights and stopped

The white vehicle on the left side is stopped as well

Then there are vehicles double parked, which does not leave us much room to drive

Traffic Rules

Traffic lights are not to tell the traffic to stop....   OH No!  It is just advice and the driver can choose to obey the light or not.  I am not kidding.  Many times I watch cars drive through the red light causing the green lit traffic to give way or get in an accident.  Some drivers barely even give a California stop for the red light, but that is just the way it is here.

Driving the wrong way down the road or in reverse is very common.  The culture here is that you just put your hazard lights on and people should give way to you as you drive the wrong way or in reverse.  They drive this way, because it allows the driver to get from point A to point B the easiest and quickest way possible.  This type of driving applies to highways also.  I have been scared a few times coming over a hill or around a corner to see the reverse lights and hazard lights of a vehicle that is driving in reverse on the highway.  Evasive maneuvering has come in handy at those times.   AND that is just their way of driving and is normal to them.

White vehicle on the right has their hazard lights on and is driving in reverse

NOTE: the direction to where this vehicle is driving, is an entrance ramp to the highway

Traffic lanes don't mean anything in this culture.  When you want to turn left or right you just make that turn regardless of the lane you are driving in: left, right or middle.  Remember drivers use whatever lane is easiest and fastest for them, which will in their perspective get them the farthest ahead of traffic.  There is no forward thinking about having to get in the right hand lane to make the right turn.  When it is time to make the lane change or turn, the driver makes that change regardless of the lane they are driving in.  This causes other drivers to have to yield to their maneuvering, because most of the time they are turning from the outermost lane, crossing in front of other drivers to get to their destination.   I have seen a few accidents due to this form of driving.

Accidents

With such driving norms and behaviors we have seen our share of traffic accidents.  BUT even as a police officer working in the City of St. Paul, I have never seen so many one car accidents with several of them being significant rollovers.  Note:  Almost all intersections have a roundabout system with lights at every section of the roundabout, which is not your normal roundabout system that exists throughout Europe.  Also, Ankara is a very hilly city and I am referring to mountainous steep type of hills.  The combination of roundabouts with hills, their driving culture and their inability to drive slowly causes their unique and frequent car accidents.  Note:  I think a few traffic officers would love to come over here to reconstruct and figure out some of these unique one car accidents-  Hmm.

Example of a roundabout

Notice the lights at every section

Typical street road and it is steep hill

AND this is not uncommon when driving on side streets

This really is a road ?!?!

If ever involved in a traffic accident you must call the police and you CAN'T move your vehicle.  The police MUST see the accident and the crash site in order to decide who is at fault.  This rule is a must and applies to all vehicles no matter where the accident occurred and it does not matter if you are blocking all lanes of traffic.  The police feel that all other traffic must find an alternative route to their destination, because they need the vehicles positioned in their original collision positions in order to ascertain how the accident occurred.  If you move your vehicle you are automatically at fault and get a ticket for both being at fault and for moving your vehicle.

Lessons learned

As I drive around town I drive defensively in a different manner.  I try to take into account all the unique driving behaviors.  I watch for drivers who have their hazard lights blinking, because they are going to affect my way of driving.  When at an intersection, I need to look in all directions for all the different driving practices.  Needless to say, I drive defensively in a very different manner.  Again, this type of driving is so odd to me, but so normal to their culture.

Construction

Construction is always happening throughout the city.  One day you drive down a road and everything looks good and the next day the road is closed.  They decide without any announcement that they are going to repave the road or change/rebuild a road.  Thus the road is closed with concrete barriers, because any other barricade would only cause drivers to move the barricade sign to allow traffic to continue driving down the road being worked on (which I have seen happen).  There are no detour signs showing you an alternate route to get to your destination.  You have to drive around and figure out an alternative way on your own.  AND no they don't know how long the road construction will be or how long the road will be closed.  It is just closed and some day it will reopen.  One time, this type of ill informed road construction added 45 minutes to my driving route.  I kept running into dead ends or other road closures when trying to get the kids from their school.  This type of road construction sure can make life interesting.

Sometimes during construction they don't shut the road completely down.  I am amazed how close vehicles are able to drive near the construction site, equipment, and the construction zone area in general.  But because there literally is no other road available for the drivers to get to their destination they allow a partial road opening for people to drive on.  I have watched people drive close to gaping holes in the ground and large construction equipment and thought to myself - Oh my gosh this is scary.  One wrong move and the city would be sued for the injuries sustained.  Because when I say close, I mean vehicles and people can get really close to the construction site.  For example;  I had to drive right next to a construction zone where large equipment had dug into the ground about 10 feet.  Only part of the road was left, but the road was open and they allowed drivers to drive down the partial road.  So I continued to follow traffic and noticed that there was only about a foot for driver error driving down that road.  One wrong move and any vehicle could just drop right down into the large hole that they had dug and were still working on.  I am not exaggerating about this scenario.  I drove very slowly and could not believe how close we drove next to an anchored crane, dump trucks that were actively gathering dirt, the general construction equipment and this large gaping hole.  It was just odd and scary at the same time.  YET this is very common and normal.

A very large crane anchored in the middle of the road

There are no cones, no warnings, no person directing traffic

And traffic can drive around it

As you can see everyday driving, road construction, and building construction in general is very different here.  Their cultural differences dictate their behavior and the choices  that they make in all those situations.  Again, I am not saying it is right or wrong but different and makes our life interesting while living abroad.

Zermatt Switzerlnd

Christmas vacation 2013 may be our last Christmas living with such easy access to so many different countries.   Therefore, we wanted to leave the kids with a lasting impression of Europe.  Reed, being an avid skier, has always dreamed about skiing in the Swiss Alps.  Since we're a family of skiers with a love for outdoors, the Swiss Alps sounded perfect.   Zermatt, Switzerland was rated as the top destination for a skiing vacation when we were researching Switzerland.  Thus, Christmas 2013 was all about skiing in Zermatt.

History about Zermatt

Zermatt, Switzerland was a little farming village surrounded by many large mountains with twenty- nine of their mountains soaring over 13,000 feet high.   As a matter of fact, Zermatt is home to nine out of the ten highest mountains in all of Europe with the Matterhorn being the highest mountain of that group at 14,692 Feet.  These mountains are what first drew people to Zermatt around the 1860s.  Mountaineers from all around the world came to conquer and climb the well known mountains in Zermatt.  Consequently, tourism began and Zermatt grew into a popular destination during the summer months.  The winter months in Zermatt were not a tourist destination until around 1928, when Zermatt began expanding tourism by luring people to ski those mountains.

Today, Zermatt is home to the highest ski lift in all of Europe, it has the largest summer skiing in the Alps, it has the longest winter skiing season in Europe, and it has the longest ski run (13KM).  As you can see, Zermatt came a long way from being a little farming village to one of the world's top tourist destinations all year round.

Our Vacation

Traveling to Zermatt was an all day event.  We had two flights and then a train ride into the mountains.  When we landed in Switzerland we found that their railway system was very confusing.  They spoke little English, which made things even more difficult.  Eventually, we were able to find the platform to catch our first train, but it took a lot of asking and redirecting to get to the correct one.  Once on the train, we knew we would have to transfer, but again the specifics were rather confusing.  An American couple was sitting near us.  They could hear our conversations and our dilemma.  The man worked for 3M and was living in Germany.  He told us he that they were going to Zermatt for their vacation.  He and his wife understood all the train logistics and were willing to take us under their wing to help us through the process.  They were very kind to take our family of five along with them through the process of transferring trains.  WHEW...  We made it to Zermatt.

When we got off the train, the first thing that hit us was the beauty of this quaint village.  The scenery was just incredible; all the mountains in the background were impressive.  This village has banned all gas-powered vehicles to keep their village free from noise and air pollution, which is pretty unique.  Being free from such pollutions makes you really notice and feel connected with the nature around you.

The view right outside our hotel window

After some rest and unpacking, we went to explore the village and get all the necessary ski equipment.  The ease of walking around the city and the friendly people made the day fun.  Our favorite restaurant was the Brown Cow Pub.  This restaurant had the best burgers and beer.  Of course the kids did not drink the beer, but loved the enormously thick juicy burgers. 

A horse carriage 

A Church in the middle of the village

We found a Santa for the boys

This hotel offered an outdoor ice bar

The village

Walking around the village....   Look no cars!

Skiing in Zermatt

The boys only ski about once a year.  Reed and I signed all the boys up for a few skiing lessons to acclimate them to skiing and the terrain.  They all loved their instructors and had a great time during their lessons.  As a matter of fact, when Connor was sick with Strep Throat his instructor called to check on him and see if he was getting better.   Awww, that was so kind of his young instructor to have such compassion.  It definitely made Connor's day to feel that he was missed.

Sam and his instructors

Nate on the mountain waiting for his instructor

Connor before meeting with his instructor

After the boys had a couple of lessons, it was time for them to ski with dad.  Snow came in the night before and continued throughout their ski day.  Unfortunately, Connor had a fever and was very sick.  Reed, Nate and Sam went out skiing and had a blast.

The boys heading out to ski

Taking a little break

Sam got stuck in the deep snow

Reed had to fetch him out...

And Nate got stuck trying to ski off the groomed path

As the boys were skiing, Connor and I were at the Doctor's office trying to figure out his illness.  I had learned through Facebook that several of his classmates were sick with Strep, so I had a feeling he also had Strep.  The nurse saw Connor first and took a small vial of Connor's blood.  She then put the vial in a machine, which tested it for the presence of a bacterial infection.  I was amazed by this blood test and had never heard of such a test.  It is a simple test and I wonder why it is not performed in America.  Think about it: what an easy way to inform doctors when a person needs antibiotics instead of guessing.  In the end, Connor tested positive for a bacterial infection and positive for Strep.  We immediately got antibiotics and were on the road to recovery.  Poor kid was sick on Christmas day, but he got better and was able to ski with dad on a different day.

Connor skiing with dad

Matterhorn Glacier Paradise

We planned one day to venture up to the highest peak near the Matterhorn.  Reed and the boys were skiing and agreed to meet Connor and I at the top of Matterhorn Glacier Paradise to take in the incredible view.  Connor was taking his antibiotics, but still weak.  He did not want to miss out on this adventure, so I bundled him up and we slowly made our way to the cable car that would carry us to the top of the mountain.

Matterhorn Glacier Paradise is on the top of Klein Mountain.  We rode in an enclosed lift that passed several skiing on and off locations for about a half an hour.  The last portion of the ride to Glacier Paradise was in a very big cable car that was a fifteen-minute ride straight up Klein Mountain.  I had never been in such a device and it was pretty cool watching us progress up to the mountaintop.

The Cable car docking

We got out of the cable car, walked through a very long tunnel and met up with Reed and the boys.  After that long scenic ride up the mountain, I could not wait to see the dramatic view that I had read so much about.  We stepped outside and could not believe the incredible landscape; the bright sun illuminating these enormous mountains.  We saw the Swiss, Italian, and French Alps all together in this one area.  It is hard to explain how small we felt viewing all these amazing mountains but it was unbelievable.  We were glad that we took the time to make the side excursion, even though the wind was at high levels, which prohibited the boys from skiing down from our location.  We all took the cable car down to the first stop where the boys (Reed and Nate) got out to ski for the day while Connor, Sam, and I transferred to the enclosed lifts to ride down the mountain and head back to the hotel.

The tunnel through the mountain

Family pose in front of the mountains

Amazing- These Mountains are just enormous

BUT this is only a small portion of the scenic mountains

Picture from the same area, we wanted to include the Matterhorn

What a wonderful Christmas vacation in Zermatt.  We were there for almost a week and had a blast skiing, eating good food, going on excursions, and being together.  The Swiss Alps were everything we read about and more.... magnificent!