Schwingen In Switzerland’s Top 10 Posts Of 2012

Since everyone seems to come out with a Best of 2012 list at the end of the year, I thought I would list my top 10 most viewed posts this year.

1. Everything You Don’t Need And Can’t Live Without – I don’t like to sit still, don’t nap and hate to be bored.  I realize that it doesn’t always make me the most relaxing person to be around, but it’s generally pretty entertaining.  When we had a free Sunday, I decided to go check out a little shindig they had going on in the cool Carouge neighborhood.  Unexpectedly, this post was selected for Freshly Pressed.
2. Tschäggättä Parade To Celebrate Carnival In The Lötschental Valley – One of the best things about Switzerland is its festivals.  This one was unlike anything I’d ever seen.  This was my first post to be Freshly Pressed.
3. More Pictures of the Versoix, Switzerland Ice Storm – Remember the picture of the frozen car?  Well, since it was taken in a suburb of Geneva, I couldn’t help myself.  I went to get the shot.  On a side note, it would have been smart of me not to wear high heals when doing so.  A couple of nice Swiss gentlemen helped me off the ice.  Yep, I’m an idiot, but the pictures are great.
4. Our Basement Bomb Shelter, Otherwise Known As Our Storage Unit – I’m glad other people are as intrigued by this phenomenon as I am.
5. Mt. Blanc, The Tallest Mountain In The Alps – I am profoundly grateful to have seen such beauty.
6. The Spaghetti Tree Hoax, Aka Happy April Fool’s Day From Switzerland – Hilarious.  Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself.
7. My Introduction to French Cinema, A List of Great, Entertaining and Fun French Films – While I posted this before Jean Dujardin won the Oscar, some of his comedies made the list.
8. Why Didn’t Hitler Invade Switzerland? – This was a hard one to write as it’s a difficult question.  I hope I didn’t screw it up too badly.
9. Another Cultural Difference…Men In Spandex – Sometimes, it’s the little things…
10. What The Heck Is A Bidet? – Please feel free to comment with any additional uses you can think up for a bidet.

 

Yes We Cannes-ed

We just returned from our whirlwind trip to the south of France over the holiday weekend.  While we didn’t do much relaxing (there wasn’t much time as we were busy sightseeing everyday), we managed to see an incredible amount in a long weekend.  I picked him up and we headed out of Geneva.  Being a holiday weekend, the roads were pretty crowded (translate this to mean we hit a giant traffic jam and took back roads through the middle of nowhere France for about an hour in the dark), but we made it to near Orange where we spent the night.  Driving late into the night had an upside, we woke up in the south of France.  We woke up to this beautiful view of olive groves in the morning.  Yeah baby!  Let the vacation begin.

After downing more café au lait than anyone should be allowed to drink, we were on our way to the Côte d’Azur.

Cannes is home to little film festival, the Cannes International Film Festival.  It is held for two weeks each May.  During this time, the city is packed with film producers, celebrities and paparazzi.  We decided to drive through Cannes and see what all the fuss was about.  Having faithfully watched Entourage on HBO and seen the Cannes episode, he wanted to hang with Turtle.

Cannes is built around the Bay of Cannes and its palm lined seafront drive.  We drove through Cannes toward the beach, passing tons of cafes, luxury boutiques and hotels.

We drove past the exclusive hotels lining the Boulevard de la Croisette across from the beach gawking.  We weren’t the only ones.  It took about an hour and a half to drive through the town.  It wasn’t calming, but we didn’t mind.  We were busy people watching.

Although celebrities like Eva Longoria, Sean Penn, Sasha Baron Cohen, Gerard Butler, Jennifer Connelly and Alec Baldwin were in Cannes, we only saw tourists gawking and film types barking into their cell phones.  I guess that’s not entirely true, we also saw a few bodyguard types in suits with earpieces.

We saw signs of ridiculous wealth everywhere.   Like Geneva’s Auto Show, there were some insane cars.  I especially enjoyed how this one was parked next to a “No Parking” sign.  I guess you can do that if you have a Rolls.  If you do get towed, you can probably afford to get your car out of an impound lot.

It was hard to get good shots of the harbor, but it was filled with enormous yachts.  Sorry these shots don’t do it justice.  We decided that the best place to stay in Cannes is on a yacht off the coast and away from the crowds.  If it is good enough for Puff Daddy (or whatever his name is now), it is good enough for us.

Although it wasn’t relaxing, the sheer scale and craziness of it all was a sight to see…once.

P.S.  Cannes sister city, not surprisingly, is Beverly Hills.   Too perfect.

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow…Or Just In Time To For It To Set

After a morning’s aborted hike in the mountains and the drive in a snowstorm, we’d lost hope that the weather would turn around or that we would be able to fit in a decent hike.

The weather in Switzerland is changeable  By mid afternoon, the weather Grindelwald had begun to clear.  By late afternoon, we’d taken our coats off.  What’s not to love?

Us…in front of some mountains

Related articles

• A Snowstorm…On Easter?!? (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)
• Les Incompetents Vol. 9 – Whimps In An Alpine Snowstorm (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)
• Paragliding, What Could Possibly Go Wrong? (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)

Our New Language…English (Or At Least Our New Vocabulary)

courtesy of Wallace and Gromit

Usually when we learn new words, they are inappropriate ones on other languages.  Sometimes we try to be polite travelers and learn words like “hello”, “goodbye”, “yes”, “no”, “please”, “thank you” and “cheers”.

Courtesy of photo pod and Picture Britain

In an effort to understand and fit in with other speakers here, he has worked on his English vocabulary.  Yep, that’s right.  English.  In truth, he’s been working on British English.

with the loo

New words he likes to use:

• Banger = sausage, used in the phrase bangers and mash (meaning sausage and hash browns)
• Chaps = they are not the pant covers cowboys wear, but are instead a couple of guys (sounds better when uttered by Michael Caine)
• Cheerio = Goodbye
• Fancy = exhibiting a fondness for something, liking someone or something
• Flat = Apartment
• Governor = a colloquial expression for boss
• Loo = Bathroom
• Quid = a unit of money equal to one pound (+/- $2)
• Proper = used as an intensifier
• Posh = fancy, upper crust

My Favorites include:

• Carry on = literal, but not used as much in the US
• Keen = Eager
• Knickers = Underwear
• Jolly = an adjective meaning very, as in jolly good fun
• Peckish = Slightly hungry, in the mood for a snack
• Toilet = Restroom, they do not say restroom because you don’t rest in there.  Likewise, they don’t use bathroom unless there is a bath in the room.

Courtesy of Take Me Out

Unfortunately for our IQ’s, we have watched some British reality TV.  It’s so bad it’s good.  Don’t judge.  It has provided us with some new words:

• Chips = French Fries
• Chippie/Chippy = a takeaway restaurant that sells fish and chips (see above)
• Chat up = Hit on
• Cooker = Stove
• Fringe = Bangs (the part of the hairstyle, not the verb)
• Gutted = disappointed and upset
• Redundant = Laid off
• Slap = Slang for makeup

Courtesy of Summit Entertainment

Thanks to the large number of British Gangster movies, we were already familiar with some of them.  Here are a couple of British phrases that needed no translation due to our excessive viewings of movies like: Layer Cake, Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Gangster No.1, Green Street Hooligans, The Bank Job and Eastern Promises.

• Blokes = Guys
• Bloody = a mildly vulgar word used to express anger, shock or for emphasis (For obvious reasons, we are only listing quasi-appropriate slang here.  For the other stuff, you will have to come here and ask him)
• Caravan = RV/motor home
• Cheers = an expression gratitude or parting, not just toasting
• Pissed = Drunk
• Sort = to deal with, as in “don’t worry, it will all get sorted out.”
• Tart = slang for a less than respectable woman
• Tarted up = made up to go out but looking slightly less than respectable

Courtesy learn-english-esl-resources-com

Here’s are some other differences between British and American English:

• Bancock Belly = Montezuma’s Revenge
• Biscuit = Cookie
• Boot = Trunk
• Bin = Breadbox
• Braces = Suspenders
• Buggy = Stroller
• Bunk = to play hooky
• Callbox/Telephone Box = Telephone Booth
• Closet = any small room
  

  Courtesy of aie.edu.vn

• Diary = Personal calendar, not someplace where you write the juiciest gossip
• Flyover = Overpass
• Footpath = Sidewalk
• Garden = Yard
• Hamper = a basket for food, used in terms like picnic hamper and Christmas hamper
• Hire = Rent
• Hood = the top of a convertible car
• Jumper = Tank top
• Lead = Dog’s leash
• Lift = Elevator
• Lolly = Popsicle
  

  Courtesy of aim.edu.vn

• Mackintosh = Raincoat
• Mate = Friend
• Mum = Mom
• Nappy = Diaper
• Plaster = Band-Aid
• Pudding = A heavy dessert or main course, not just a creamy dessert
• Quite = a term of agreement use to express reluctant agreement or disbelief; more like “not quite”, “not really”, “sort of, but not very”, or “hardly at all”.  Apparently, it must be uttered in an aloof, pretentious, manner so I don’t plan on using it anytime soon.
• Rubbish = Trash Queuing = Waiting In Line
• Rubber = Eraser
• Skip = Dumpster
• Spots = Pimples
• Stand = to run for office
• Straightaway = Immediately
• Suspenders = since they use the term braces instead, suspenders mean garters.
• Torch = Flashlight
• Trolley = Cart
• Tube = The London Subway
• Underground = Subway
• Waistcoat = Vest
• Wagon = Freight car on a railroad
• Wash up = to clean after eating food
• Winker = slang for a turn signal

courtesy of en.islcollective.com

Should you wish to further educate yourself, here is the link to the British Dialect Translator or the Dictionary of English Slang and Colloquialism (UK version).

Our Trip To A Local Movie Theater

We saw our first movie in a theater since moving to Geneva.  Switzerland is expensive and movies are no exception.  I read the series of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo books by Steig Larsson.  I watched and enjoyed all three Swedish films in the Millenium Trilology.    We saw the new version starring Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist and Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander.  I was surprised at how many big name actors were in supporting roles (Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård, Joely Richardson, Robin Wright).

When I first heard Hollywood was making a version, I was skeptical that they could remain faithful to the dark spirit of books, but still could not wait to see the movie.

We had no idea where to go see the movie.  We looked up movie times, listings and locations for Geneva. There are a fair number of movie theaters here. Thankfully, our friend Hokie had told us about a cool theater near old town, The Astor Film Lounge.

 

Courtesy of Astor Film Lounge

At a bit over $50 for two tickets, it was a little pricey. On the bright side, it was a bit fancier than your typical movie theater.  They gave you a complimentary drink, had stadium seating and a modern lounge where you could wait.

Although I didn’t order anything, I perused the menu while we waited for the movie to start.  You can order food and drinks from your stadium seat.  They had appetizer plates and Haagen Daas, but no popcorn. For a mere 4,140 CHF (around $4,500), you can have a nice bottle of wine, Chateau Petrus Pomerol 1987!

Movies Filmed In London

Avi:                     Eighty-six carats.

Rosebud:           Where?

Avi:                     London.

Rosebud:           London?

Avi:                     London.

Avi’s Colleague: London?

Avi:                     Yes, London.  You know: fish, chips, cup ‘o tea, bad food, worse

                           weather, Mary ____ Poppins… LONDON. (from Snatch)

It’s no wonder that some of the city seemed so hauntingly familiar.  After we returned, I looked up some of the places we saw to see what movies were filmed there.  Recent movies include: The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, Die Another Day, The Bourne Ultimatum, Elizabeth, The Man Who Knew Too Little, The Bridget Jones Movies, The Harry Potter Films, Sliding Doors, Bend It Like Beckham, Layer Cake, Love Actually, Closer, Match Point, Shaun of the Dead, Casino Royale, V for Vendetta, Sherlock Holmes, Run Fat Boy Run, Penelope, Children of Men, Eastern Promises, The Queen, Young Victoria, Atonement, The King’s Speech…

Willis Group Building Trinity Square was in Laura Croft: Tomb Raider. It was the mansion of villainous Manfred Powell.

Westminster Bridge was eerily deserted in 28 Days Later.

Whitehall from Trafalgar to Parliament appeared in V for Vendetta.

The stunning Millennium Bridge has been featured in tons of movies including: Harry Potter And The Half Blood Price, Bridget Jones Diary, and Love Actually.

Tower Bridge is easily recognizable in:  Sweeney Todd,  Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason and from about ten million other things.

The London Eye was seen in Run Fatboy Run, Wimbledon, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and Love Actually.

30 St. Mary Axe (dubbed The Gherkin for its resemblance to a pickle) was in Match Point and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

The Admiralty Arch (situated close to Trafalgar Square) was the heavily guarded checkpoint passed by Clive Owen in Children Of Men.

You saw Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square in Love Actually.

Of course, the Tower of London was featured in The Tudors.

The Royal Court’s of Justice were in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason.

Usually, I like to watch movies set in the destination before a trip.  Given that our tech system is not fully functional, we didn’t do that this time.  Before we go back to London, we will definitely rewatch some of the above films.