BMCC 2008 Switzerland Blog

Saturday, June 07, 2008

Peace and Quite in Chur, Switzerland

Written by: Shevarma Pemberton

Today marked the most rest that I have received in quite a while. Everyone was out on their excursions except for me and another colleague so there was nothing but peace and quiet. This time food was not served until noon and I was relaxed so I took out my sudoku puzzle book. All was right with the world.

A little later in the afternoon, Adrienne (my colleague) and I took the bus into Chur and went on an excursion of our own. We were pretty much wandering aimlessly along the streets for lack of a better activity, hoping to come upon something of interest. We were overjoyed to find a Natural Museum only to be disappointed at the fact that we would not be able to understand anything. Once again everything was in German. I am really frustrated by this language barrier issue. I was taught yet another lesson or at least made more aware of a simple fact: it is very important to be able to speak a foreign language. The more global we become the greater the importance.

After the disappointing blow, Adrienne and I went off to Migros, our supermarket, and picked up a couple snacks to get us through the weekend before heading back to the school. At the school we ordered a feast of pizza with nuggets and fries and chocolate mousse. There was a 30.00 CHF minimum for delivery and the total bill was 50.00 CHF. The order was a little messed up but the food was so good that I cannot complain.

After it all I was able to catch up on some work and make effective use of spare time. I went to bed a happy camper, looking forward to what will be in store for tomorrow.

Bernina Express to Tirano, Italy

Written by Sasha Munoz

Today was one of the most exciting days ever. Professor Blake-Neis, Elliott and I rode the Bernina Express into Tirano, Italy. We arrived at the train station by 8:00 AM with a departure time of 8:28 AM. We started to board the train and realized that maybe we should upgrade to First Class since we had Second Class tickets. We spoke to the conductor and for $19 CHF we upgraded to First Class. I am glad we upgraded because this made a big difference in our trip. The seats were leather and the leg room provided great comfort, considering that I have long legs and need to stretch. However, the train ride to Tirano was four hours long and amazing.

The view that I experienced through the panoramic windows was unexplainable. You would truly have to take the ride yourself in order to enjoy the experience. We arrived in Italy at 12:35 PM which is siesta time for the Italians; so we didn’t get to see much, but we did walk around and saw the locals and some closed shops. Sightseeing was a whole new experience considering that it is a whole different culture. We had lunch at a local Tirano Italian restaurant and thank goodness I took Italian 101 because that’s what got us through our lunch order. The food was great, very fresh and tasty. The meal was a bargain compared to the prices in Chur. We had lunch for $17CHF each. After lunch we headed back to the train station and took the 2:25 PM train back to Chur, which was another four hour train ride. Although we were on the train for a total of eight hours, I still could not get enough of the view.

Dinner “Disater” at Otello

We arrived in town at 6:29 PM and went to another Italian restaurant in Chur because we couldn’t get enough. We went to Hotel ABC to ask for a local restaurant, since we arrived in Chur and it looked like a ghost town. We were recommended to have dinner at Otello, an Italian restaurant. This was the worst mistake ever!!! We walked into the restaurant after carefully viewing the menu outside, and we were coldly greeted by one of the waiters whose name was “Melano”. We took a look at the menu once again inside and he came to our table to take our orders. We told him we wanted lasagna, a salad and a pepperoni pizza. Surprisingly according to them whom claim to be an Italian restaurant, a pepperoni pizza to them is a pizza with yellow and green peppers on it!!! Are they sure they are an Italian restaurant? We then ordered water and they charged us $2 CHF FOR GLASS SERVICE, in order to serve us water, which was absolutely absurd.

After having the supposedly Italian chef come out to discuss the pepperoni factor, the waiter had the nerve to never come back to our table! Talk about customer service negligence. I felt as though I was being discriminated against, because I noticed that the first waiter walked away from our table and a young African came to our table to continue serving us. He did an excellent job trying to make our experience better and I was appreciative of that but the dinner was already spoiled. It’s repugnant to see people’s attitude this way. But I bet he had no idea of who he was serving.

After we finished our dinner, I kindly told our kind new waiter who we were and that this experience was going to be shared with the world. Also, I told him that I was grateful for him trying to resolve the situation but his colleague had already spoiled my view towards the restaurant. He must have shared with the staff that we were attending SSTH and studying tour management, because they all waived goodbye to us as we exited the restaurant in the most an exciting manner. TOO LATE!! I will never go back to this restaurant and if I were you I wouldn’t either.

Please never eat here!!

.

EuroCup Weekend in Luzern, Switzerland

Written by: Asha Burton

I woke up in Luzern instead of the school and felt slightly relieved that I didn’t have to get up early for once. Gia, Adele and myself soon roused ourselves out of bed before 10 am to have breakfast in the hotel. We gathered our things and tucked in for breakfast. It was nice to see other foreigners (including Americans) getting ready for a new adventure as we were.

Breakfast of champions, Asha and Adele enjoying a bite, literally.

Once we checked out, we headed to the street market on the other side of the river. I noticed a museum and wanted to check out the exhibits. The girls were interested to so we headed in the direction. As we went inside, I noticed they had mini benches and stuffed animals to one side of the room. Adele pointed out a rack of small raincoats on the wall. I figured it was a kiddie museum, but was still into what it had to offer.

Adele giving the deer one big wet one.

A leopard in the museum

The boar hog a little on the funky side with Adele

Overlooking the river in Luzern

Adele looking at the array of items at the riverside flea market

After looking at the different animals and butterfly collections, we all ended up enjoying ourselves and had a good time. I then got a call from Sarah because she told me that Andy, Mark , and herself would be coming to Basel for the weekend. We already planned in our itinerary to meet up with each other once they arrived. We jumped a bus and headed toLuzern Rail Station. I was excited to see part of the group. I must admit that I miss them a little since we spent so much time together.

Adele. Mark, Sarah, Andy, and Gia in front of the Basel Zoo

One of the security guys at the zoo took our picture for us.(Adele, Andy, Mark, security man, Gia, Sarah, Asha)

Once in Basel, Euro Cup madness was already underway. I never saw so much red and white under one roof before, so the football madness was extremely infectious. After calling andtexting Sarah, we agreed to meet at Basel Zoo which was a 15 minute walk away. After about 19 minutes I heard Andy hollering my name at the gate.

In front of Basel rail Station for the coming games. (Asha, Gia, Sarah, Adele)

We all hugged and laughed at our fortunate weekend away from Chur. We agreed to go to France briefly, so we took a tram near the border. I asked at the border if it was okay for Americans and Nepalese to cross the border. They said okay and I screamed across the way to the others, “We’re going to France!”

The joke goes: How many Americans do you think can fit in a French phone booth?

(Andy, Sarah, Adele,Gia, Mark)

The gang in front of our next site inspection

We didn’t get very far but we checked out a patisserie and a winery. In both places the French people were very nice and patient with us, even with the language barrier. But in a meat shop, a french man could speak some English and had a nice chat with all of us. He helped with the purchase and was excited that we were from New York.

Collectively, we all had a good time being together to enjoy the experience. Soon, we walked and got our passports stamped to prove our 2 1/2 hours in France existed. We got back to the rail station and enjoyed a slice of pizza each.

Were taking a break after a not bad slice of pizza. ( Adele. Gia, Andy, Sarah)

Near the fan zone in Basel, Switzerland

Soon we had wave a dry teared farewell to the others and went back to Luzern for the backpackers hotel. After a little trouble finding the place, we eventually stumbled across the hostel. After hearing Elliot talk about hostels, I hope this wouldn’t be that type of situation. Once inside, I knew this hostel was legit. We checked in then dumped our bags on the bed in the room. I was beat tired but very hungry, so I roused the girls to get some food. Once we got outside it started to rain, but I wasn’t discouraged. I told them that we’re New Yorkers and we still find ways to get thing done.

We eventually got some food, then played pool at a local bar. Adele swears that she beat me. If you have to share the pool table with a bunch of raucous young people, it was easy to get distracted. We left sweaty but elated at a nice night out. As soon as we got back to the hostel, we ran for bed.