Not Just A Ghost In The Machine – European Vending Machines

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Schwingen In Switzerland

This post comes with a warning for Americans (and any other country that doesn’t display items many Americans would feel are more mature or private in public spaces). Warning – While I took these pictures in the middle of a train station in Switzerland, but in the US (and probably other places) people consider these items to be more of an adult or private nature.

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We’ve noticed that vending machines in Europe contain some things that are um, well, a bit different than what you would see in American vending machines (or at least the ones not found in truck stops). Take a look below and see for yourself.

Yes, that is C-ICE, “Swiss Cannabis Ice Tea,” located above. It is made from black tea hemp bloom syrup (5%), and hemp bloom extract (0.0015%) that will allegedly give you a “fantastic natural feeling.” It allegedly has low levels of THC, but appears to be marketed more as a health drink. We didn’t try it, but the Top Gear guys did when they visited Romania.

Please note that the pack of lighters (above) is located adjacent to a kid’s candy bar. Also for kids is Buffalo Jr., a children’s energy drink. It doesn’t contain either Taurine or caffeine and is marketed as providing “an additional supply of energy producing L-Carnitine needed for an active life.”

Geneva Auto Show

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Schwingen In Switzerland

Many US cities have auto shows (Detroit, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Cleveland, Columbus, Portland, Minnesota’s Minneapolis/Twin Cities, Orange County (OC), New York, Miami, South Florida, St. Louis, Richmond, Los Angeles (LA), Seattle, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Silicon Valley). Click here for a 2012 auto show schedule and here for a list of Motor Trend shows. He has even been to the Detroit show several times. I’ve never been, so I was excited to see what it was all about. The Geneva Motor Show is held at Palexpo every March.

Last Friday, we had date night. I picked him up after work, but didn’t tell him where we were headed. Tickets to the Geneva Auto Show (officially known as the 82nd International Motor Show and Accessories) are half price after 4:00 p.m., so it was cheaper to go to the car show than to go to a movie! Although we know people who spent days there, a few hours was enough time for us to hit the highlights. He was pretty excited when he realized where we were headed and we had a really good time.

“You got cars, they got rims.” There were countless booths filled with rims.

The show isn’t just cars, there is also a hall full of accessories booths. From rims, to tools to garage doors, to car washes, it has just about everything auto-related you can imagine. Walking through that hall, he said it reminded him of a trade show.

These doors are made to be opened by your driver.

Since this is Geneva, there were luxury cars galore.

Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?

I loved the matte paint job.

BMW 6 Series Grand Coupe

Despite the hype about the new Bentley SUV, the only thing we liked about the car was its sweet rims. We predict you will see these on Cribs soon.

You can see their appointment to the queen in the top right corner. He liked the Aston Martins better.

The name is Bond, James Bond. Yeah, baby.

Car enthusiasts were jazzed about the new concept cars (also known as prototypes), cars made to showcase new styling or technology . Many of them were electric. While these are not yet on the market, they provide a glimpse into what what we’ll see in the future.

BMW i8 Concept Car

The American Car companies were there and they offered great value for the money, running much less than comparable European models.

Chinese automakers were also there. I’ve seen several SsangYong‘s around Geneva.

Some booths offered entertainment like foosball or a simulated driving game.

He was expecting to see more models, but apparently they only hire models in evening gowns and cocktail dresses for the press days and special events. The cars were the real eye candy. The sports cars were some of the biggest attractions; they just looked sweet.

Kids loved this car.

Many of the exhibitors restored or modified cars. I have never seen as many flip-up doors. It was like a giant episode of Pimp My Ride.

Some of the modifications were more useful.

You can buy cars at the auto show. Each of us decided on the three we wanted. His top three: Aston Martin (any of them), the Jeep Cherokee and the Tesla Sedan.

Being small, I love a small car. I wanted a Mini and any Lotus. Although I am sure this phrase has never been written, for my third, the Maybach edged out the Smart Car. The champagne in the back helped sell me.

Sorry Smart, you lost by a nose. If it is any consolation, I am more likely to buy you in real life since I can’t afford a Maybach.

Geneva Auto Show highlights automakers fight (cbc.ca)

2011 By The Numbers

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Schwingen In Switzerland

999 A conservative estimate on the number of times we have been lost (or at least taken wrong turns).

998 Pots of yummy, Swiss yogurt eaten. I know that this number is a bit low. We found the world’s best cottage cheese a couple of months in. It definitely hurt our yogurt consumption. We will try to do better next year.

45 The number of dollars paid in speeding tickets. Astoundingly, we have gotten fewer tickets than anyone we know. We were “lucky” enough to get ours in France so we paid it in Euros, much cheaper than tickets in CHF‘s.

40 Number (more or less) of cute pairs of heels in my closet here that have gone unworn due to large amounts of walking and heel eating cobblestones. What has happened to me?

30 Roughly, the number of times I have been honked at while driving. This works out to more or less one honk per drive. Not too shabby.

17 Number of languages we can watch tv in. They are: French, German, Italian, English, Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, Turkish, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, Arabic, Dutch, Russian, Mandarin and Thai. Unfortunately, we can only understand 1 or 2 of these.

15 The approximate number of emails he receives when I post pictures of him in “fashionable” attire. I get calls saying “what did you post about me because my email is blowing up”.

13 British TV Shows viewed (don’t judge): Top Gear, Grand Designs, Wallace and Gromit, Snog Marry Avoid, Take Me Out, How Clean Is Your House (it is extremely motivational to put on while cleaning), Horrible Histories, Gok’s Fashion Fix/Gok’s Clothes Roadshow, Sherlock (fantastic, a must see), Doctor Who, Jamie’s Great Britian, Time Team, History of Ancient Britain (History of Britain is better). We did not watch the royal wedding even though there is still excessive coverage of it on British TV.

12 Countries Visited: Denmark, Sweden, Spain, France, England, Scotland (him), Germany (him), Belgium (me), Switzerland, South Africa, Egypt, and the United States.

11 The number of hours our jet lagged, germ filled bodies slept upon returning to Switzerland (this was followed by several lengthy naps and another long night’s sleep).

10 Tours (Karlsburg, Burgundy, Cheese Factory, Cailler Chocolate Factory, Underground Lake, Tour of London, Toledo, Cullian Diamond Mine, Nelson Mandela’s Home, Soweto, unsure if safari’s count as an official tour.

9 “Exotic” foods we have eaten: bugs (South Africa), pigeon (England), crocodile (South Africa), horse (at home purchased from the local grocery store), gelatinized foie gras (France – definitely worse than the bugs), ostrich (South Africa), snails (France, bien sur), wild boar (Switzerland), quail (Spain) and duck (France).

8 The number of times he has taken the wrong train, tram or bus to and/or home from work.

7 The approximate number of times I grocery shop in a week (this includes visits to the Patisserie to buy bread). Before our move, I prided myself on being able to get by for almost two weeks on one shopping trip. Now that I carry everything home (and therefore buy less at a time), look for sales all over and try to buy the freshest, I have septupled my trips. Craziness.

6(ish) Fantastic, Unforgettable, Once in A Lifetime Hikes in Switzerland: Gruyeres Cheesemaker’s Path, La Saleve, the Matterhorn, Jungfrau, Lavaux, many around Geneva.

5 Meals eaten out at Geneva restaurants since we moved (due to their high cost and our unwillingness to bankrupt ourselves).

4 The number of snow tires that are currently on our car (also the number of regular tires currently in storage). Anyone ever heard of all season tires?

3 Family members who have visited; also the number of times the washing machine repairman has visited our miniscule washer.

2 Dogs given away (and are very happy with their new families)

1 Bridge jump, aerobed destroyed, and container shipped to Switzerland.

We Minded The Gap And The Rest Of How We Got Around London

Posted on November 27, 2011 by Schwingen In Switzerland

The fastest way to get from Heathrow* into the city is by train (15 minutes to Paddington Station).

Of course, we then took the Underground (London’s name for its subway system) to the hotel. Unfortunately, I got a bit lost and had to hop into a one of these to actually find the hotel.

Had to take a picture of this taxi because it had one of the guys from Top Gear on it.

London’s Underground is famous and a bit of a tourist attraction in its own right. London limits where cars can go, so it is also the fastest way to get around the city.