Switzerland IX

Yesterday my holidays started. After classes in food chemistry and biology and a short meeting with a computer science assistent, I went back to Schaffhausen. In the train I met a friend, whom I hadn't seen in two years. He studied at the same university and made his master of science in mechanical engineering two years ago. Now he is going to Beijing/CHN for three years to work in a company there! He doesn't speak mandarin at all, but he intends to take a language teacher in China. Anyway... He already went to Beijing this November and he enjoyed it as hell. It was great fun talking with him! He even offered to guide me around in Beijing if I ever come to China!

Maybe in March 2006? ;-)

In Schaffhausen I met another two friends. So I invited them to drink coffee at an italian restaurant called Spaghetti Factory. It's pretty nice there, as you can sit next to the window and watch the people walking by, which is quite amusing!

So far for today...

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL

Took some pictures of the X'mas tree (decorated by Swarovski Jewellery) at Zurich mainstation and of the old town in Schaffhausen.

Switzerland VIII

1 day until holidays...
Christmas is near, no question. People rushing through the streets eagerly looking for presents, children singing christmas songs in the parks, wonderful decorated christmas trees and lovely christmas illumination can be seen everywhere.

Let's look back... One year ago, I was in Auckland. I clearly remember... Everything was so different. It was summer, the days were long and warm...

I enjoyed both kinds of christmas as I don't really like the swiss winter. But christmas without snow and coldness is like a waterbottle without water. Hope you know what I mean ;-)

This morning I boarded the Cisalpino Train in Schaffhausen to Zurich. This train departs in Stuttgart in Germany, enters Switzerland stops in Schaffhausen and Zurich and goes straight through the Alps to Milano in Italy. But it doesn't stop! It goes on and on to Verona and Venice... Maybe if someday the desire to go south is strong enough I wont get out the train until Venice... I would only pay for the train in Italy, so why not? :-)

Right, if you want to see Zurich in a beautiful christmas atmosphere, go to this blog where you can find a short lovely video! Or click on this LINK!

Above: Illumination at Zurich mainstation

Switzerland VII

4 days left until holiday...
And it seems we have white Christmas! After the storm on Friday it snowed the whole Saturday! After a while the sun came up and the snow partly melted. And this was a hugh problem! Why?
Because the water froze again in the evening and the streets were bloody icy!
I had to notice that when my friends an I were driving home after clubbing at 3am. Luckyly there were no other cars around at this time of the night so it didn't matter we were driving in the middle of the street...



The moral of this story is: Icy streets are dangerous! :-)

I made the pictures a bit outside of Schaffhausen this is why it doesn't seem urban at all here...

Switzerland VI

The weather today was just awful... There was a little storm out there with winds up to 100km/h (65mph). Besides, it rained all day... It was a day made for the gym. After classes in the morning from 8-12am I went to the gym at the "Irchel" campus which is not far away from the main campus. The gym at "Irchel" is much better, much bigger and less crowded than the main campus. Usually I do my exercises on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I need to keep in shape, especially now where you are tempted by christmas cookies and christmas cakes on every corner. So I pushed weights and weights and weights watching the storm outside...
After that I enjoyed an expencive rice sandwich with tuna inside...

One word to the sport facilities: There are no limits! You can do whatever you want: From Aerobic to Boxing, Climbing to Karate, Rowing to Cycling...
There are many facilities not far from main campus... Check out: www.asvz.ch

Switzerland V

I noticed I hadn't posted any pictures of my hometown Schaffhausen yet... Therefore here are some pictures made on Sunday evening and today. They show the fortress "Munot", which is the main sightseeing attraction in Schaffhausen (apart of the Rhine Falls in Neuhausen). It was built from 1563 to 1583 after the plans of Albrecht Dürer, a famous German painter, engraver and mathematician.
I hope a can make some pictures of the Rhine Falls soon...

Switzerland IV

On Sunday I went to Zurich with two friends from university. One friend is actually from Mexico but he went to a german school there, so his german is perfect. And I had to recognize that he even knew more about Zurich then I did. Okey, he came to Zurich in fall 2004, so no wonder... :-) Anyway... We strolled around and my friends showed me some interesting places. Quite amusing to be like a tourist in a city only 30 min away from your home.
Unquestionably the highlight of the day was a shop called GLOBUS.

On the ground floor there is a food shop with lots of exclusiv high quality products. And they always offer you tiny bits (this is to evoke the feeling in you: Wow, it's soooo delicious, I have to buy it...). So we could try Sushi (of course for free) as well as very expensive oil from Italy and some famous swiss chocolates...

I need to go one more time... :-) ...As soon as possible

On the pictures you can see Zurich's tallest buildings (the tallest of the four is 92m), some dried fruits (they are expensive; almost overpriced!) and a Starbucks Coffee at "Rennweg" in Zurich.

Switzerland III

On Tuedsay I didn't go to University because I participated in a research project to find out if human's memorize skills have a genetic component. Here is the full title of the project under the guidance of Prof.Dr.med Dominique de Quervain:
"Identification of genetic polymorphisms responsible for the variability in memory performance and decision making of healthy human subjects."
It was a nice alternation to the normal classes. Apart of that, I also earned some money: CHF 70.- ! It's not that much but for an hour and a half it's quite reasonable. Anyway... Before going to the university campus where the project was held, I went to Starbucks at Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich. For people who don't know Zurich: It's unquestionably the most famous but also most expensive street in Switzerland. Finance, Economy, Exclusivity, Quality are the synonyms used by the official homepage of the "Bahnhofstrasse". Right... So I ordered a "Frappucino Moccha", medium size. Okey, I need to admit, I normally don't go to Starbucks in Switzerland, in contrast if I'm travelling in other countries. Maybe it's clear now: I payed CHF 7.60! In other currencies:
4.90 EUR
5.80 USD
690 Yen
I mean it's crazy. And I need to repeat: It was medium size...

Anyway, the atmosphere there was amazing and therefore it's likely you can see me there another time!