Score one for butter awareness

They spread it on sandwiches by the gallon. They slather it on pretzels by the kilo. But apparently, the Swiss are just not consuming enough butter. Their butter levels have become so dangerously low, in fact, that the Swiss Butter Council* has decided to intervene. To increase local butter awareness, the SBC has implemented an … Read more

Sion song

We spent the day before the cow fights in Sion, a lovely little Valais city not far from Martigny. The main attractions (beyond the charming downtown walking district) are multiple picturesque hilltop castles which overlook the city. Gluttons for punishment that we are, we hiked up to two castles (one of which is technically a … Read more

Links – 8 Oct 2007

The New York Times picks up the Swiss Black Sheep story (obviously inspired by me). Also, violence erupted at a protest in Bern over the weekend. Check out the latest edition of the Carnival of Cities. Looking for a fabulous night out in Zurich? I highly recommend this exciting art opening coming up on November … Read more

Not quite gladiators

It’s fall in Switzerland – you know what that means, right? Time for the farmers to start entertaining themselves (and others) with their cows. Not to be outdone by last year’s desalpes, this past weekend we headed west to watch Cows Fighting in Martigny. What’s that, you say? You’re not familiar with cow fighting? Well … Read more

On top of the duomo

I’m beginning to suspect that the bottom portion of the scaffolding on the front of Milan’s duomo is there for good. I believe it went up in 2003 or 2004, and it’s still in place as of last weekend, sporting ads for Marie Claire and Elle magazines. Perhaps the church is using the advertising proceeds … Read more

Glacier Melt

Last Sunday afternoon we headed down from Murren and went to visit the Trummelbach Falls. This is a series of waterfalls roaring through a mountain, runoff from the melting glaciers of the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau. It is truly spectacular. The dim lighting combined with our puny little camera made it impossible to capture even … Read more

Rome Gay Pride 2007

Nope, I didn’t go, but I wanted to share this great little video my friend Roberto made from his experience there. Sure makes Zurich’s Christopher Street Day look tiny! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJHGQdIoA50]

Bernese Oberland, oh how I will miss you

And now for a more beautiful side of Switzerland… this weekend found us back in one of our favorite destinations, Murren, where we stayed at the Hotel Eiger. We paid a bit extra for a ‘superior’ room, which was superior, I imagine, only in the fact that it came attached to a balcony with a … Read more