Episode 11: March 2006
Welcome back, Shorg readers! March was another great month in the land of chocolate and cheese. We start with the first weekend of the month, which brought with it the most important element of March: the weather.
We started the first weekend of the month innocently enough. Neal spent Friday night with a group of friends at a grappa tasting/appreciation night. The event was a birthday present for Neal’s friend, Peter Paul, and he returned the gift by inviting five other people to learn a bit about grappa. The tasting took place at the Grappa Club of Zurich. It sounds incredibly official, but it is basically a shop set up in a guy’s garage. Nevertheless, the “tour guide” put on a fantastic show, or so Neal told me. The man started by giving the group a history of grappa and an explanation of how it is made. He then dove into the tasting. He started with the younger grappas – the ones Neal preferred – and slowly made his way toward the aged grappas, flavored grappas, and unique varieties, such as dessert grappas. All told, the group tasted a number of grappa varieties, had a very nice time, and Neal learned quite a bit about a liquor that he used to have no appreciation for. Given that I have zero appreciation for grappa (too many memories of my friend Trish’s father’s brew), I treated myself to a facial and watched a DVD at home.
The next day, Neal and I took another pilates lesson – Neal sweated out the grappa from the previous night -- and we did some things around the house. Meanwhile, the weather outside was up to much more. Throughout the entire day, it snowed…and not just a little dusting of the stuff. Altogether, Zurich got about 30 centimeters of snow that weekend, which is the most the city has seen in 74 years. That night, we had organized a dinner with some friends in Zurich. We realized that a significant amount of snow had fallen, but we thought that Zurich would be able to handle it. This is, after all, perhaps the most organized country in the world. So, we dolled ourselves up and headed out for dinner. The walk to the tram station was quite treacherous, and we found it odd that none of the sidewalks or roads had been cleared. But, it was still snowing after all, so we cut the city some slack. We got to the tram station and waited…and waited…and waited! Given how notoriously on-time the Swiss transportation system is, this was very strange indeed. After about 15 minutes of waiting, some people who were walking by notified us that all trams and most buses had been canceled for the night due to the weather. What?! The impossible had just happened.
Undaunted, we decided to rough it ourselves. We called our friends and found out that they had made it into Zurich by car and were waiting for us at the restaurant. (Truth be told, they all carpooled in a Land Rover, so even a raging river would not have stopped them.) We walked home and Neal had the “pleasant” task of clearing away the piles of snow that had built up on the car. After about 15 minutes of clearing off enough to be able to see, we drove – very slowly – into town and met up with our friends for what was a very nice dinner.
That evening was Zurich’s Fastnacht – the celebration that marks the beginning of the Christian fasting period known as Lent. Those not native to Switzerland claim that Fastnacht is one of the few times during the year when the Swiss get a bit crazy. They party hard, are loud (even past 10 pm), and drink like fish. The celebrations typically involve a parade of some kind in which local bands dress up in ghostly themes – skeletons, mummies, etc. – and play music as they march through the city. Several towns across Switzerland have these celebrations, with each town claiming their party is the best. We mention Fastnacht because as we walked from the restaurant back to our parking spot, we came across the band performances for Zurich’s Fastnacht celebration. Sure, the snow stopped the trams and trains, but it could not stop Fastnacht! These dedicated Swiss were dressed up in their best costumes, covered with snow, and playing their instruments in the minus-10 degree weather. Now that’s dedication.
The next morning we woke up to blue skies and an absolute sea of white all around. The streets were covered in a thick layer of snow, and the trees and power lines were sagging from the weight of the snowfall. Those cars that were parked outside – like ours – were literally buried and the town looked like it had come to a standstill. The children, of course, loved it, and we saw several of them donning their heavy coats, grabbing their sleds, and heading for the nearest piece of land that had some sort of incline. Meanwhile, their parents cursed the sky and cleared the space around the cars enough to make it out for work the next day.
For some reason, Neal and I decided that it would be a great day to go to the Kunsthaus, Zurich’s art museum. The walk to the tram stop was very interesting, to say the least. I put on my winter “museum outfit” – a combination that was chic, yet practical. (Hey, this is Zurich!) Everything was going great until I took my first step outside and realized that the snow was up to my knees…literally! Every step I took was a bit of an adventure because the roads were icy and slippery, and I kept thinking that I was about to slip and fall on my butt. After moving about 10 meters in five minute, Neal came up with a solution. He piggy-backed me all the way to the tram stop! At least one of us was prepared.
Once we got to the tram station, we noticed that there was not the usual traffic there. So, we asked the train information office whether the trams were running on an abbreviated schedule due to the weather. Turns out that the trams were not running at all! Again, at this point we should have realized that our plan to go to the Kunsthaus was not meant to be…but instead we pushed on. We decided to take our only remaining option, which was to conquer the 45-minute walk to the museum. After another 10 minute of slipping and sliding on the sidewalks – me much more than Neal – we decided it would be better for me (and Neal’s back) if we stopped. Luckily, at the point we made this decision, we happened to be in front of a Spanish restaurant/bar that puts on a very nice Sunday brunch and, lucky us, they were open! So, we popped inside and enjoyed a nice brunch before walking very carefully back home.
The following weekend was relatively quiet. Having had busy working weeks, we were both pleased to be spending some quiet time at home to rest and take care of some necessary things like our taxes and wedding invitations. Speaking of tax, this was one activity that reminded me of how complicated my life has become now that I live overseas. (Neal is lucky – he does not yet know the joy that is filling an international tax form, but he will learn the pleasure soon enough.) It all started when I received an email from the firm that Dow has commissioned to help me with my tax returns. They informed me that they needed some information to complete my 2003 tax return. Surely, I thought, they must have the year wrong, but after some questions I found out that, yes, they were still completing my 2003 tax return! As ridiculous as that might sound, it is even more frustrating when you consider it in the context of how Switzerland calculates a person’s tax. Switzerland calculates tax based on a person’s worldwide wealth, which means that one has to declare the value of all assets, including stocks, bonds, real estate, insurance policies, and cash, regardless of the country they are located. Furthermore, the tax rate is tiered depending on a variety of circumstances, such as marriage and religion. One of the most unfair factors is marriage. There is a significant marriage penalty here – married couples can be charged a higher tax rate if the combination of their salaries puts them into a higher tax range than each individual was paying before marriage. Religion is another interesting factor. Upon receiving a permit to live in Switzerland, if you declare a religion, an additional percentage of tax is applied for your usage of the country’s religious facilities (e.g., churches). Far too complicated for me to try and figure out! So, my weekend was filled with wonderful tasks like trying to figure out all of my bank account balances and stock holding at the end of 2003.
The following weekend we embarked on an adventure that should have taken place in February. We had made plans with a group of friends to go paragliding in the central region of Switzerland. Unfortunately, due to poor weather conditions, the event got pushed back a few times. But the weather finally cooperated, and we set off on Friday after work for a town called Meiringen, which is a two-hour drive from Zurich. Meiringen, like its nearby neighbor Interlaken, sits in a valley that is surrounded by huge mountain ranges, which makes for an amazingly picturesque location. After arriving on Friday, our group had dinner and got to bed somewhat early to prepare for the next day.
Saturday was adventure day. The paragliders were separated into two groups – one at noon and the other at 3 pm. We stuck ourselves in the 3 pm group because we had to leave soon after to get back to Zurich, as Neal’s dad was arriving the next day from Budapest. Until noon, we snowboarded on the area’s many slopes. This was the first time that Neal and I went down a real mountain on our boards, and it was a bit painful in some areas but we managed pretty well. At about 11:30 am, we headed up to the restaurant at the mountain peak and met up with the first group of gliders. After some encouraging words, we met up with their instructors – all the jumps were tandem – and headed to a flat area a few meters away where the takeoffs would happen.
The whole paragliding adventure is interesting. It looks and is relatively harmless. Once you are airborne, you gently glide around on the updrafts of air that rush alongside the mountains. When the conditions are right, the professionals can stay in the air for several hours and can travel hundreds of kilometers. The trick, however, is to get off the ground! To do this, the instructor lays out the parachute behind you and then hooks you and him together to the chute. When the wind speed and direction is right, the two of you run down a hill to catch enough speed to get the parachute up in the air and capture enough air to pick you both up off the ground. In the winter, some people wear their skies and ski down the mountain, which actually sounds crazy but it makes it easier to catch enough speed to get off the ground. Easy, right? Well, it was for the first three adventurers, as they were all able to get off the ground on their first attempt and had a nice 30-minute flight.
At 3 pm, we repeated this process and joined our instructors at the top of the mountain. Unfortunately for us, the wind conditions were not as favorable as they had been earlier in the day. The wind was swirling a bit and sometimes nonexistent. Neal was the first to takeoff, but the wind conditions were not agreeing with him, and he and his instructor basically stood on the side of the hill for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, my instructor noticed that the wind was swirling a bit and took a bet that it would be better to launch ourselves off the other side of the hill. So, we organized ourselves in that direction and, true to form, the wind changed in our direction and we were cleared for takeoff.
The takeoff itself is a bit daunting. On the instructor’s cue, I started running as fast as I could. After a couple of seconds I felt a tug backwards as the instructor lifted the parachute into the air. At this point, we leaned forward and kept running down the hill as fast as possible until…I was kicking air! The chute lifted us gracefully off the ground and we were sailing 2,000 meters above the valley. It all happened so quickly. It was an amazing experience and the view was, of course, incredible. My instructor glided us over the valley and even tried to scare me with some fast turns and other tricks.
Meanwhile, at the top of the mountain, Neal and his instructor continued to wait for something to go their way. Having seen the success my instructor had, Neal’s pilot thought that he would give the other side of the hill a try, too. So, they rearranged themselves and waited again for the right wind conditions. The wind continued to swirl and be generally uncooperative. Finally, Neal’s instructor decided to take a chance. He told Neal to start running and the two of them were off. Neal said he ran has fast as he could. He felt the tug of the parachute coming up and then he continued to run. He said that he felt his feet come off the ground but then his instructor kept telling him to run. Before Neal knew it, the two of them came thudding back to the ground and slid down the hill in a nasty crash. They came to a stop about 10 meters down the side of the hill and had to trudge their way back up the hill in knee-deep snow, with all their gear in tow. Undaunted, the pair lined up for another attempt, but the wind simply would not cooperate. Unfortunately, Neal had to come down the mountain via the chair lifts instead of a parachute! Neal claims that he will not be denied and wants to give it a try again this summer. (Neal likes to include one more fact in this story to justify his crash. At the same time that Neal was trying to paraglide, the Swiss women’s national paragliding champion was also trying just a few meters away. Even she could not get off the ground in those wind conditions.)
The day after the paragliding adventure, I left for a work trip to the U.S. An hour later, Neal’s dad arrived into Zurich. He had been in Hungary for a work-related trip and chose to fly back thru Zurich so that he could pay us a visit. Neal’s dad was only in town for one day, and the two of them took things easy as Neal’s dad arrived with a nasty cold.
The next weekend, I arrived back from the U.S. Neal and I had a pretty relaxed weekend, with the highlight being our first visit to the Zurich zoo on Saturday. While Neal will tell you that the zoo is like any zoo around the world, I thought it was great and found that it featured a surprising number of animals from around the globe. What we’ll both agree on is that it was nice to have a walk outdoors for the day. That day the weather was a bit overcast but much different from the snow and cold that started the month off. We could walk around without our coats for the first time in a long time!
From the snow to the sun, the weather provided quite the backdrop for March. Nevertheless, we proved to ourselves that we can have a great time and new adventures despite what Mother Nature throws at us. Imagine what we can do if we actually have good weather all the time! Here’s hoping that is just what April gives us.
