Tag Archives: River

But What Do I Know? My Favorite Posts Of 2012

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I listed the top viewed posts of 2012, but thought I would post a list of my favorite posts of 2012 too.

  1. Duomo’s Rooftop, A Sculpture Garden In The Sky – I just like the pictures.
  2. Dubai’s River, It’s Other Waterfront – I liked how different Dubai was from Geneva and loved its mix of cultures.  While you can see cool skyscrapers lots of places, there aren’t many where you can see the old wood dhows and the people from all over the world who trade on Dubai’s waterfront.
  3. Millennium Trilogy Walking Tour Of Stieg Larsson’s Stockholm – Part Two – I loved The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Men Who Hate Women in Swedish).  When we went to Stockholm, I toured the sites mentioned in the books.  Most of them were in the super-cool Sodermalm neighborhood.
  4. Mohawks Welcome But Not Required At The Groezrock Festival– We love live music and a European Music Festival is something to experience.  This one had a great lineup and was well worth the resulting fatigue (better described as exhaustion).
  5. The Toblerone Line, One Sweet Barrier– We looked all over Switzerland for this puppy.  Once we found it, we couldn’t stop seeing it places (Reichenbach Falls, near Thun, etc.).
  6. Why I Love Running– One of my favorite things.
  7. Weingut Otto Laubsenstein – Fantastic people + fantastic wine = unforgettable time.
  8. It Wasn’t Premeditated, Our Hike Up Rochers-de-Naye – A reader suggestion and one of the best views in Switzerland.  If you’re not up for hours of hiking straight uphill, you can always take the train there.
  9. The Shock Of Your Life – Culture Shock – I tried to keep it real.
  10. Les Contamines – Although we’ve done a lot of skiing, this was one of our favorite days because we spent it with wonderful fr

Aare Gorge, One Reason To Love The End Of The Ice Age

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We saw the mighty Rhine in Germany.  Several rivers feed into it, including the Aare (also known as the Aar).  The Aare is the longest river that both begins and ends entirely within Switzerland.  It flows from the  Aar Glaciers of the Bernese Alps and joins with the Rhine in Koblenz.  When they merge, it actually surpasses the Rhine in volume.  Seeing the size of the Aare close to its source, I’m not surprised.  It flows quickly and is ice-cold.  It’s snowmelt after all.

The Evil Genius wanted to stop by and see the Aare Gorge (also known as the Aareschlucht) while we were in nearby Meiringen.  We weren’t sure what to expect, but ended up being overwhelmed by it.  It is truly an amazing sight.

At the end of the Ice age, torrential runoff water from melting glaciers eroded a deep, narrow chasm.  Over thousands of years, the Aare’s tumbling waters continued to erode the limestone rock, further carving out the gorge replete with niches, caves and hollows.  In fact, the water gets its greenish tint from tiny particles of eroded limestone.  They don’t need to die it green for St. Patty’s Day (unlike the Chicago River).

We entered a tunnel carved from the rock and exited onto a metal walkway suspended over the rushing water.  At first, walking over the torrent was a bit unsettling.  It didn’t take long for amazement to take over.  Isolated in the valley, we only heard the rushing waters echoing off the walls.

The dramatic setting immediately impressed us.  Wandering along, we became even more awestruck.  Not knowing much about the gorge, we had no idea of its size and scale.  It is 1400 meters long (0.87 miles) and 200 meters (656 feet) deep.

At points, it is only 1 meter (3 feet) wide!

Before the walkway was built, the only way to see it was from a boat.  The gorge was unfamiliar and frightening. Legend’s about what was in the gorge abounded.  For example, in 1814 there was a report of a monster.  It’s body resembled that a snake, but with a round head and legs.  It allegedly had a  big mouth, sharp teeth, evil eyes, and made terrifying whistling sound.   Locals called it a “Tatzelwurm.”  We didn’t see any sign of this beast.  Apparently we are very poor mythical beast spotters.  We didn’t see any sign of the Loch Ness Monster when we were there either.

Eventually, the fissure widens a bit allowing you to see some of the cool things erosion has created.  There were several waterfalls.  The river widened enough to allow us to see rocks and rapids.  We even saw a cave that had been converted to military use in the buildup to the second world war.

We saw more evidence of Switzerland’s military preparedness.  I’m guessing  that wall and door inside the cave isn’t the work of the glacier and this use to contain something other than sand.  Just a hunch.

 Not surprisingly, the lack of direct sunlight and the icy waters combine to make it a good deal cooler than the surrounding countryside.  Who cares, the view is worth it.

Oh, and when you emerge.  This is your view.  What’s not to love?

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The Golem

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When we were in Prague’s Jewish Quarter, we saw the Old-New Synagogue.  I got very excited and started yammering on about the Golem of Prague. Someone asked, “wasn’t he in Lord of the Rings?”
Nope, that’s Gollum, although Tolkien may have been making an allusion to the Golem (which becomes dangerous and makes bad decisions when it gets a soul). I realized not everyone knows about the Golem, so here it goes.
The Golem is a character in Jewish folklore that is artificially created and endowed with life.  Huh?  In other words, it is an animated anthropomorphic being created entirely from inanimate matter.  Say what?
You know how Frosty the Snowman came to life one day.  It’s like that.
In the late 16th century, to protect Prague’s Jews from anti-semitic attacks, Rabbi Loew of Prague created The Golem.  He took clay from the banks of the Valta River, fashioned a man from it and said incantations to bring it to life.  Initially, the Golem was a big help, kind of like your own personal robot.
Unfortunately, the Golem could only follow orders.  This led to some strange outcomes as he would continue doing what he’d been asked to do until he was told to stop.  You can see how this could become problematic.  Eventually, the Golem ran amok and had to be deactivated.
The Golem has appeared in a vast array of works including: the Simpsons (Bart finds the Golem), Michael Chabon’s novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavailer and Clay (a great read) and in various editions of Dungeons and Dragons.  It even served as inspiration for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (which she started writing in Switzerland, not far from where we live).   The above statue of the Golem, looking astonishingly like Darth Vader.
 

A New Leader in Geneva’s Best Beach Competition

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It has been hot here. Really hot. Hotter than Charlotte. We don’t have air conditioning. To cool down, we went with our friends, Captain Finland and MC Roni (not their real names), to Jonction.  We brought a blanket and just chilled on the side of the Rhône. When we got hot, we went in for a dip. It is definitely the new frontrunner in the best beach competition.

Here is what we liked about it:

  • Super chill
  • If you are on the grass, you are right next to the river, not three blankets back.
  • You see trees.
  • The current is fun.
  • People are grilling.
  • You can play music.
  • Not too many kids
  • Free
Swans floated by us.
The Jonction where the Rhône and the Aarve meet.
If you come to visit, please bring us a raft, funyak, etc.
Very refreshing
People sunbathe on the docks, but we preferred the grass. It’s less crowded.
Some people came more prepared than we did
The graffiti added color
You climb out on the ladders

FYI – The clear waters of the  Rhône come from the Alps through Lac Leman (Lake Geneva). The Aarve also comes from the Alps, but via riverbeds.  As a result, it has sediment in it.  Jonction is so named because it is where the two intersect.  That is why in the picture above, you can see the clear blue mix with the cloudy water.