December 15, 2011

Trip 13: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Trip date: December 2-4, 2011

Amsterdam, the land of decriminalized soft drugs and a place where you can go window shopping for prostitutes at all hours of the day. Also, it's the land of close-together sloping homes and more canals and bridges than Venice

All in Attendence: Thomas, Pat, Gordon, Cesar, Mike, Mila, Mike H., and Kristen!

This was my first easy jet flight, believe it or not. It's also my first flight out of Basel Airport. On Friday, we creeped out of work early and took the train from Baden to Basel and took our flight (which was 1 hour late), arriving just shortly before 22:00.

The Amsterdam Schipol airport is directly connected to the city's trainlines. This is a European norm but impresses me to great lengths as a shitty-Calgary-transit native. The official language in Amsterdam is Dutch. From what I gathered throughout my weekend, Dutch is very similar to German. And it was with my own arrogance in my limited knowledge of the German language that I neglected to learn basic key traveling phrases unlike how I usually do. I was diligent in Poland, Bulgaria and Italy but I came to the Netherlands armed with only my "dank u wel".

"Everybody speaks English," that's the typical North American ignorance attitude, right?

Anyways, we took a tram to the far end of the city center and stayed at the Stayokay Amsterdam Vondelpark. It's a HI Hostel so it's a bit pricey to what I usually stay in but I made up the difference in stolen hard boiled eggs. There were idiot proof signs to show the way to the hostel (along with idiot proof directions from the hostel site). It's my third "stay okay" hostel (Venice and Paris being the other two). After dropping off our things, we set off to explore the city and (of course) hunt for the red light district.



We got some french fries and wandered around the cobblestone roads. The Christmas lights are up which adds to the overall spirit and atmosphere. I can't help thinking that Christmas and -30°C with wind chill go hand in hand so it's hard to believe the holidays are within a month when everywhere I travel has temperatures steadily above the the zero line. We got a few drinks in a bar and found the red light district for some window shopping.

Photos are prohibited there because the girls want to up hold anonymity. A standard rate of 50 euros buys you 15 minutes with these girls. The prices go up though, (for instance, if you want to take off her underwear, it's an additional 10 euros) but that's just how the goods-and-service business is sometimes. The biggest surprise for me was that these girl were top quality in the looks department. I don't know why I expected otherwise but these were seriously good looking girls. They pay "rent" on their window space and adjacent room so they're really just like any other entrepreneurs running their own small business.

It should also be noted that we walked by the "Occupy Amsterdam" camp. This is the second Occupy encampment I've seen on my travels (the other one being in Dublin).



The next day, I woke up earlier than everyone else. Why? Because after 19 months of brutal handling, my camera finally gave out. As I've said before, a broken camera is very comparable to a broken limb (in terms of emotional loss, not pain). So I set out at the mercy of Amsterdam's cute stores and boutiques in search of a camera store.

Two hours of wandering and three broken umbrellas later and I finally found one by the train station. I paid way too much for a new Canon but that's how it is sometimes. Afterwards, I went over to the New Europe Amsterdam tour meeting spot and did a walking tour around Amsterdam. Highlights include:
  • The Dutch use to have to pay tax according to the width of their homes. That's why all the buildings are so narrow.
  • Furniture is brought to the higher floors through a pulley system on the front of the buildings. Some buildings are slanted forward to give a wider berth to swinging furniture so it doesn't smash through the windows.
  • Poor foundation and slanted buildings = high market for people who sell crooked windows
  • There's an 84 year old lady working the red light district. She's in high demand and doesn't need to stand in a window anymore - you have to book her in advance.
Oh and to debauch a rumor that coffee shops will only cater to Dutch citizens in the nearby future - this is something that probably won't ever come to pass. I mean, so much of their tourism comes from their relaxed laws. So you're probably safe going. The mayor of Amsterdam himself ridicules the very idea of it.



After the tour, some of us went to Grey Area and then wandered around Amsterdam. Cue: poor in nutrition food (all you can eat spare ribs !?), more glühwein, hurting my foot on the cobblestone, stroopwafels and haze.

A word on Amsterdam drug laws: Just in case you didn't know, magic mushrooms and marijuana are still illegal in Amsterdam. It's illegal to sell it and consume it. How does that work? Well soft drugs are only decriminalized in the country. It's also fuels the tourist industry.

The next hazy day, I went to the Van Gogh Museum. It was a staggering 14 euros but it was nice to walk through a museum dedicated to one artist uniquely. It was really interesting because, in a sense, you could really see the progression of his work, aka him learning how to paint. My favorites were the Flowering Orchard series. On a side note, Starry Night Over the Rhone; Van Gogh's Chair; and Still Life: Vase with Twelve Sunflowers were not in this museum. They are found in the Museum of Modern Art (New York) and National Gallery (London).


After that, it was more wandering around the quaint cobblestone roads until the return flight to Basel.

Things I loved:
  • Insane number of bikes
  • Relaxed laws
  • Stroopwafels
  • French Fries + Mayo
  • How Dutch looks like misspelled German
    (Or does German look like misspelled Dutch?)
Things to do when I come back:
  • Take a trip out of the city to see Tulips
  • See windmills
  • Maybe see Anne Frank's house (which I heard is over crowded, over branded and over priced)

December 05, 2011

Sinterklaas

Have you heard of Sinterklaas?

No it's not Santa's European cousin. Instead of riding reindeer and eating your cookies, this holiday man expects you to shine your shoes on the night of December 5th. After a quick inspection of the shoes you leave outside your door (this man doesn't do a breaking-and-entering like his North American counterpart), he will leave small treats inside your shoes. Perhaps even a chocolate version of himself.

And if you thought elves were weird, the photo is of his sidekick in some German speaking parts of Europe (Belgium, Netherlands). In Switzerland however, St. Nick's companion is called "Schmutzli" and is not a black face jester but instead looks like an ominous monk.

See: Companions of St. Nicholas

November 27, 2011

Trip 12: Paris, France

Trip date: Saturday November 12 - 13 , 2011

Paris is the most visited city in the World. It's the capital city of France and it's the city of lights. It's known for its fashion, architecture, art, food and beautiful French people.

All in Attendance: Mike, Cesar, Kristen


Let me start out by saying, there is no way a person could enjoy Paris in a 36 hour period. We didn't naively assume we could do it either. Why did we so it? It cost over 1000 euros to fly from Calgary to Pairs. So even if we have to take 3 separate 36 hour trips to Paris - all transportation costing anywhere from 60 - 110 euros for both ways, we'll still be pocketing away more money in the end. Vacation days, although numerous, are still indispensable and it is always possible to arrange for transportation to and from Paris without taking days off of work.

We took a flight with Vueling which flew from Zürich to Paris Orly Airport direct which is infinitely more convenient than anything other possible airport. We took the Orly Bus into the city. We got off near the Denfer-Rochereau metro station and decided to wander around the city from there.

We stopped at a restaurant and got some breakfast. My mother makes this breakfast sandwich sometimes of bread with melted cheese and ham, served with a fried egg. She calls it a "croque madame". Imagine my surprise when I found out my mother wasn't trying to spruce up her breakfast sandwich with a fancy name and I did, in fact, eat a croque madame as my first french meal.

We took a stroll through the Jardin Luxembourg. We also wandered around the high class fancy haute couture shops before taking a walking tour around the city. We got a refresher on our Marie-Antoinette and Napolean history. France is really glamourous because they put such a high focus on aesthetics and the arts. It's also really nice because during Napoleon's rule, he raped and pillaged a lot of countries and took their treasures to be put on display in France - like the Egyptian Obelisk which now sits right where the guillotine that executed the last king and queen of France once stood.


After marveling the Arc de Triomphe which is encircled by a lawless-crazy-multilane traffic circle (we heard that some insurance companies don't even cover you on it) , we decided to opt for the cheapest and silliest dinner you can get in Paris: cheap red wine and fresh baguette sandwiches. The setting for our dinner? Why the Eiffel tower, of course.



The next day we took an early start. We had stayed in the Leo Legrange Hostel which is close to a metro station but far from anything else. The whole place also had an atmosphere similar to that of a drop in center due to it's sketchy loiters, haphazard decor and overall smell. It was 20 euros a night which is cheap for Paris but it is definitely worth it to book ahead and get something much better for the same price. At least they had fresh soft and tasty baguette for breakfast.

Sunday consisted of hopping on an off Paris’s crazy efficient and well-organized metro system. We had only a few short hours to sight see. We went to see the Basilique du Sacré-Coeur which is stunning in the Parisian morning light. We went to see Notre Dame de Paris which is another stunning cathedral. A little tidbit: Victor Hugo wrote a novel of the same name about a certain famous hunchback to give widespread attention to the cathedral to prevent it from being torn down. A few more quick spots all over town and suddenly 36 hours seems like no time at all.

We decided (in a heart wrenching decision) that museums will have to be seen the next series of Paris trips. Instead, we used our last remaining hour in Paris to visit the Père Lachaise Cemetery. What’s so special about a cemetery? Well beside it’s quaint and beautiful (and I suppose morbid) atmosphere, it is also the final resting place of Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde. I was positively bouncing at the thought of paying my respects to one of my favorite authors but unfortunately I was greeting with a sign about some sort of renovation nonsense. Oh well, that’s what the next trip is for right?



Paris is certainly worth all the hype it gets. The city is so beautiful (as are the people). Have I fallen under the naive pretense that my life would exponentially increase in glamor if I could only become Parisian? Certainly!

Things I loved:
  • Well dressed Parisian women
  • Dijon Mustard on everything
  • McDonald sells beer
  • De parler en français
Things to do next time:
  • The Louvre
  • Musée d’Orsay
  • Musée Rodin
  • Musée de L’Orangerie
  • Go to the Catacombs
  • Take a French cooking class
  • Go to Versailles

November 17, 2011

She's So

I have lost my iPod and instead I now just listen to Abbey Road on a Youtube playlist non stop at work.

Productivity has gone up and percentage of time spent on my distractions is down. We also get free fruit in the office at Christmas so vitamin levels are also up.

What a positive way to start the Christmas season.

PS. New word of the day is Weihnachtsmann which is the German name for "Santa Claus"

November 10, 2011

Do you even do any work?

Things I do to pass the time at work:
  1. Read a few articles on National Geographic
  2. View National Post's Photos of the day
    and the front page news
  3. Trip plan via Wikitravel and Tripadvisor
  4. Learn German
  5. Browsing for cheap flights on skyscanner 
  6. Browse my favorite cooking sites
    Baking Bites
    Joy The Baker
    foodgawker
    Smitten Kitchen
    food52
    Brown Eyed Baker
  7. Try to figure out how to code Tetris on VBA
    (Before you get excited, let me tell you that it's not going very well)
  8. Drink coffee and eat ramen noodles
  9. Post-it origami
  10. Working on my travel blog and my travel journal
  11. Attempt to find cheap over night trains
  12. Writing postcards
  13. Browse for festival clothes on etsy 
  14. Contemplate buying cheap books on AbeBooks
  15. Attempt to read about how a gas turbine engine works
  16. Actual work
Don't worry, I get all my deliverables done on time.

    November 09, 2011

    Trip 11: Florence and Pisa, Italy

    Trip date: November 4-6, 2011

    Florence (Firenze) is the capital of the Tuscany Italian region. It's known for it's renaissance art and architecture. Pisa, also in the Tuscany region, stands as a testimony that poor engineering can be just as celebrated as proper design.

    All in attendance: Kiyomi, Cristina, Cory, Gordon and Kristen

    Kiyomi, Cristina and Cory came to visit Gordon and I from Canada! They arrived on Thursday (Nov 3) and found out after a very expensive lunch that nothing in Switzerland comes cheap. So in the interest of saving money until we got into Italy, we had simple kebabs for dinner.

    After a night of sociables and catching up, we took the train to Milan (again!) by these crazy tickets Gordon found for 23 CHF on the sbb website. The train ride to Milan goes into the Italian portion of Switzerland and I had the pleasure of finally traveling it during the daylight (instead of in the middle of the night) and got to admire the beautiful scenery. We had a few hours in Milan, enough time to visit the Duomo again and get some standard over priced and subpar quality Milan food. Then it's back on the train for another 3 hours to arrive in Florence just before 10pm.



    Our hotel (Hotel Bijou, 20euros/night)was right by the train station and about a 15 minute walk from everything we wanted to see.

    We took a night time stroll to scope out a few places we wanted to visit during the day. We ate at Yellow Bar which was open very late, pretty delicious and not crazy over priced (most of touristy Italy usually is). I got pizza and gnocchi there and it was full of starchy goodness. Cristina is also fluent in Italian and it was a nice change to have someone around who could translate most things on the menu for you.



    The next day, we strolled around. We went to see the Florence Duomo which is incredibly grand from the outside. I thought the giant circular domes were really impressive. Inside of it, not too much to write home about. The high vaulted ceiling are pretty grand but it doesn't hold a candle to the gold detailing in the Rila Monastery or the marble detailing at the Duomo in Milan.

    We walked around the Florence area, taking all the beautiful architecture and peculiar statues. We went to the outdoor markets and I bought a really cute dress that I haggled down to 20 euros. We walked along the Arno river and I must've taken at least 40 photos of similar quaint Italian buildings along the water but it's okay to regularly indulge in your Asian tourist impulses. We also walked along the outside of the Uffizi Gallery. Unfortunately, with the time constraint of "Florence in a day", there wasn't really enough time to go see anything in a museum. A shame, for sure, but all the more reason to come back one day.

    Notable things we did miss include Michelangelo's David and Botticelli's The Birth of Venus.


    peculiar statues
    I particularly like one with the gun - I don't know if I've ever seen a statue pointing a gun before

    We lucked out and ended up eating good mid-range prince food for lunch and dinner. We bought a few drinks and had them on the steps of the Cathedral. Cory even played the role of a good romantic and bought roses for Cristina, Kiyomi and I. Oddly, the roses were actually white roses that were dyed red.

    The next day, Gordon and I left early in the morning and caught a train right before 8am for 5.90 euros to take us to Pisa, an hour away from Florence. I have heard from many people that they're is nothing to see in Pisa but the tower. Judging by our short and biased 1:30 stay in Pisa, I have to say that it's likely true.

    We walked to Piazza dei Miracoli from the train station. There was nothing notable to see enroute to the Piazza except the river. However, the tower and the Piazza were quite beautiful. I had hoped to grab a photograph of all the ridiculous tourists taking perspective photos of the tower but we had arrived pretty early and there were very few crowds there.


    Then it's some ridiculous 12 hour train ride home with a direct train from Pisa to Milan for 29.50 euros. On route, I noticed we passed through Cinque Terre which gave me a warm boost. Cinque Terre was the first trip out of Switzerland I took during my internship year only 3 short months ago.

    Oh, and as always, it goes without saying that trips to Italy guarantees two things: lots of tiny coffees and lots of gelato.

    Things I learned:
    • Florence enjoys making their buildings yellow toned
    • Warm fall weather to a Canadian is winter coat weather to an Italian
    Things to do when I come back:
    • SEE MUSEUMS (Uffizi, Bargello, Accademia Gallery)
    • Go on a wine tour 

    German Book Club

    This charming book about housing is the very first German book that I've plowed through. Irrelevant are the number of times I had to use Google Translator to get through it. The important thing here is that I'm working towards a day in the not so distance future where I can breeze through books of this skill level and perhaps move away from picture books.

    By the by, in case you don't know, German grammar can be a bit like putting words into a magic bullet blender (where you become frustrated in 10 seconds or less). They also have a tendency to combine their words into 20 letter strings of incomprehensible gibberishblahblahblah.

    They also have syllables that require you to spit on your neighbours to correctly pronounce them. However they do have this character, "ü", which is nice because then you have embedded smiley faces to encourage you while you struggle to read.

    November 08, 2011

    Europe's Days Off

    The "live to work" concept is definitely a North American invented burden (maybe the Japanese' as well). In Europe, there are no shortage of reasons why you can take a paid day off work. I know I think too many of these reasons are "too good to be true" or way to ideal but I guess one thing I learned over here is that wanting a life outside of work while doing well at your job can be a standard - not a dream.

    Wonderfully ludicrous reason why you get a paid day off in a European job:
    1. 25 paid vacation days
      (minimum of 20 in the EU but 25 at my job)
    2. Unlimited sick days
    3. Moving or rennovating? Take 2 days off to do it.
    4. Need to stay home with a sick kid? No problem!
    5. Maternity leave? Just take 3 years! You know what? You can even take 4.

      November 07, 2011

      Stadtbibliothek Baden

      The library in Baden is actually reasonably priced (20 CHF/year).

      Today I skipped over to the library to take out some German picture books for some Deutsch üben. The average picture to text ratio is 4:1.

      Hopefully one day soon I won't have to google translate every other word.

      November 01, 2011

      Trip 10: Milan, Italy

      Trip date: October 29, 2011

      Milan has been established as a fashion capital. It is also a major connecting point for airplane lines and train routes. I have been to Milan 3 times prior to this weekend en-route to other places but I have never seen the city.

      All in attendance: Claire, Kathryn, Carmen, Mila, Kristen

      You know you're life has done a complete 180° for the more glamorous when it becomes possible to go to Milan just for a "girl's day". Forget CrossIron Mills, Milan is now the go-to place for shopping and gabbing with the ladies.

      Because of my gleis7 pass, it costs me only 5.15 euros to get to Milan by train which definitely makes this an affordable trip. I stayed in Hotel Paganini again. Like all Milan accomodations, it was more expensive than necessary but it was quite close to the Corso Buenos Aires Street in Milan which is filled with little affordable shops, H&M and Zara.


      After scarfing down delicious baked goods from an affordable bakery (something the Swiss know nothing about), we went looking around the hectic outdoor market near Corso Buenos Aires Street. Everything from shoes to vegetables, hosiery to purses, scarves to makeup, dishes to coats was available to all at insanely low quality prices. In the midst of all the commotion, I lost the the group (how typical).

      We rejoined at the H&M where we browsed around for clothes. We went to Zara too which is in every way superior to its Canadian counterpart. Hopping around to this store and that and eating paninis and gelato brings us to the mid-afternoon of a rare non-hectic trip.



      We took the train to the Duomo which is an over-the-top beautiful cathedral in Milan. Us interns have a running joke that there's nothing to see in Milan besides the Duomo and that may be true but Milan sure knows how to put all its eggs in one stunning basket. It's a small fee to walk to the top (6 euros) and it is absolutely worth it. Parts were under renovation but overall, the cathedral is breathtaking. Italy never fails to disappoint.

      Well... except for this eye sore of a building I saw from the top of the Duomo. I call it "the after thought" for its obvious aesthetic shortcomings.

      We also got some small thread bracelets from a man outside the Duomo. Commonly warned on websites as a "tourist scam" but seen by Canadian interns as "the 50 euro cent Milan souvenir". You might even go as far to call it a right of passage for us Canadian interns in Switzerland.

      After some dinner at near the central station, and one missed train where we ran like maniacs, we made our way home. Once again, trenitalia has proven very forgiving for missed connections - thanks guys.

      Highlights
      • The Duomo and all its beauty
      • Gelato and new clothes
      • Finally, a trip where I'm not running around breathless
      • Delicious tiny Italian espresso
      • As always, a bunch of "Prego" 's is all you need to know to get by in Italy
      "Low"lights
      • Thinking passion fruit gelato would be tasty
      • The blurry-lack-luster persona my camera has permanently undertaken
      Things to do when I go back
      • The Last Supper painting
      • The Duomo is a single train ride from the main station so it's probably worth going again

      October 30, 2011

      Who's that messy intern?


      I have no idea how to convey an image of professionalism in the workplace.

      I wear loud coloured clothes and site cross-legged and barefoot at my desk.

      I use the fancy coffee machine so often that I'm just waiting for the day that someone has to have a talk with me about it.

      By now, everyone who regularly walks by my cubicle probably sees that I do minimum amounts of work and maximum amounts cooking blog browsing.

      Moreover, I keep my desk in a constant state of disarray which is common among engineers but definitely uncommon around the Swiss. Besides looking like a slob, I also probably give off the impression that I'm some sort of hoarder because I have a small stockpile of treats that I keep in my bottom filing cabinet drawer - just in time for the Winter frost!