Mark’s Adventures

Itinerary for Monday, June 16: Trip to St. Moritz and Hotel Laudinella

6 – 6:15 am Wake Up Call

7 – 7:18 am Breakfast (Please bring everything you need for the trip downstairs. There will be no time to go back up)

7:20 am Head outside to bus station

7:29 am Bus departs from Passugg, alte Post to Chur Train Station

7:42 am Arrive at Chur bus station, walk over to Track 10 for train to St. Moritz

7:58 am Train departs to St. Moritz (ETA: 9:58 am, Duration 2 hours and a half)

9:58 am Arrive at St. Moritz

2:04 pm Train departs to Chur (ETA: 4:03 pm, Duration 2 hours)

4:03 pm Arrive at Chur (Bus departs at 4:05 pm, which will be hard to get unless we run, next bus departs a hour later.)

4:10 pm – 4:40 pm Free Time in Chur to go to Migros and get things.

5:05 pm Bus departs from Chur to Passugg, alte Post

5:15 pm Arrive at Passugg, alte Post (SSTH)

6:00 pm Dinner

Things I Have Learned:

1. Things don’t go as planned. No matter how detailed your itinerary is, things are bound to change.
2. Weather impacts and alternates your plans.
3. Have a back up plan and schedules of earlier and later transportation options.
4. Remaining calm and patient when things go awry is the best solution because it allows you to keep your group calm and results in a better outcome.
5. Learning from your mistakes help you to improve your future itinerary.

Today has been quite a day. I went with Prof. Blake-Neis, Elliott, and Sarah to Basel. Once we arrived we went to the Botanical Gardens, which looked like some-one’s backyard. After that we walked around, had a wonderful pre-fix lunch at an Italian restaurant, and then went to the shops. We then traveled to St. Louis, France for a quick tour and returned to Chur. I usually go into more detail on the exploration but I feel I must speak of the action taken against me in an H&M department store in Basel. I was racially profiled.

We went to H&M to look around. I went upstairs with Elliott to see what they had. I tried on a hoodie, a vest, and a black pair of sunglasses. I didn’t like the way anything looked so I didn’t make a purchase. We then met up with Sarah and Prof. Blake-Neis to head off to the next shop. We were going to the next shop when two very tall men ran up to me and stopped me dead in my tracks. At first, I thought they were going to grab me and throw in the back of a van or rob me. They said something in German which I obliviously didn’t understand. When I said something, they told me to come with them and showed me security ids. Since I worked in a store, I knew right away they thought I had stolen something. They rushed upstairs of H&M and to the back office. They opened my bag and emptied it out. They took my jacket to pat down. After a few minutes they finally asked me where the sunglasses were. I responded, they were right where I had left them when I tried them on. They thought my sunglasses – which happened to be H&M glasses – were the same as the ones in the store. They apologized and helped put my stuff back before escorting me out of the office. When I came out the office and saw everyone in the store shopping was white and that the four of us were of different color, I knew what had really happened.

At first, I felt hurt and embarrassed that this happened to me. But I realized above all that I was angry. Angry at how racism is still a major influence over many peoples mind. It could have been they thought I stole the sunglasses but the store was packed and there were plenty of other people trying on sunglasses. It was very apparent I was being specifically watched for a reason. It was really upsetting to know this kind of profiling happened to me but it also empowered me. I am glad I handled the situation with calmness and self assurance because I had done nothing wrong.

Today, we are going to Zurich. The morning began with a 6 am knock on the door by our tour guide of the day Sarah. However, I am really excited because I have wanted to see Zurich. We had our usual Swiss pork breakfast and then ventured to the train station in Chur for our 2.5 hour ride to Zurich. Once we arrived, I felt very much at home, as the Zurich train station was very much like New York’s Penn Station, extremely busy and vibrant. Zurich is a city with many shops and businesses.

We proceeded to the Four Point Sihlcity Hotel. The hotel inspection for me was average but I felt the very modernized Sihlcity fit in with the atmosphere of Zurich. Our hotel guide, Mrs. Alexia Hungerbuhler, Director of Sales and Marketing, was very nice. She took us to several rooms, two conference rooms, and the spa. I left very unimpressed with the amenities of the spa considering a focus is on wellness. The spa was very dated and nothing new.

After our tour, Alexia Hungerbuhler took us to have tea and coffee to discuss a bit about ourselves and our interest in the industry. This was quite pleasant and very nice of her to take interest in who were. We departed back up the trolley to the main Zurich train station. We walked to a park to eat my favorite bagged lunch(kidding).

Right next to the lake where we had lunch was our next excursion, the Swiss National Museum. The museum featured from the early Stone Age to Modern Times. I was surprised at how a museum and many other establishments we have visited have the name of the work or certain things in English but the description was not provided. I am glad Sasha was there to translate the descriptions written in Italian to us. It helped me understand more. After the museum visit we planned to head into Zurich to explore and shop but due to the World Cup game and a parade, the congestion of people prevented us from going. Therefore, we returned to Chur where we parted ways for dinner in town.

I ventured out for dinner with Dr. Garely, Prof. Blake-Neis, and Elliott. I am glad I went, I got to see a different side of them and had a fond respect for all they have done for this study abroad in Switzerland. I can’t believe its our last week here. Time has gone by very fast.

Wow, it feels good to get some rest. Today Adele was our tour guide and we stayed local which I totally appreciated because Chur, though a small town - has places we haven’t seen yet as a group. We first went to the Wurth Museum to see four sculptures. It was still too early to visit the museum itself. These sculptures were very interesting. The four sculptures: Dolittle, Le Monde, Der Bar, and Fontain pour Joseph Siffert, respectively each had array of color and style. I really liked the Doolittle, it looked very modernistic yet old with the steel material.

We then went to Ratisches Museum, located between the two churches in Chur. The guide for the museum visit was Dr. Jurg Simonett. He explained the history of Chur and showed us the various things used by the people throughout history. What I found most interesting was the renovated exhibit of Power and Politics. The various rooms were based on how power and politics influence our everyday life and history.

The room that struck me with great thought was The Dark Side of Justice. The room featured various devices, instruments, and tools used for torture in the 17^thCentury. What hit me were the tv screens filled with images of torture and death penalty - happening today. It has not disappeared and if anything is worse then what it was before because of our knowledge and sophistication. The exhibit spoke of Amnesty International and its continued fight to stand up against torture and corruption in power and politics.

After our excursions to the great museums in Chur, we had about hour and half worth of free time to shop and venture in Chur. Therefore, I did a little shopping at H &M and Manford a local department/grocery store before departing for SSTH in Passugg. Upon arrival at SSTH we had a wonderful dinner as a group and prepared for tomorrow’s adventure to Zurich.

After another night of very little rest, I was up and we’re off to another day of explorations. Today, Asha was our tour guide of the day and she prepared us for the three sites that we were due to visit today. The first was to Heidiland. Heidi’s house is about a 30 minute drive from Chur. The story takes place in Switzerland and is probably the best known Swiss literature. Heidi is a children’s book written by Johanna Spyri in 1880. Heidi is also famous for being portrayed by Shirley Temple in the most iconic and well known film version.

We get to Heidi House and museum to find, well, Heidi’s house. As we started our tour, we had this overpriced tour guide who I felt knew little to nothing about Heidi. The house of Heidi was very self explanatory and there was most certainly no need for the tour guide, Caroline. An interesting fact about Heidi’s house is its popularity among the Japanese community. Apparently Heidi was made into a cartoon over there which people adore. Today we seem to be speeding off to get from place to place.

We hurried out of Heidiland back to have lunch at SSTH before driving off to our second destination of the day, Grand Hotel Quellenhof. The presentation was done in a conference room. The presentation was very informative on Quellenhof. I was intrigued by the amount of focus put on wellness. At one point during the presentation, I could feel myself feeling tired, not because I was bored but of all we had done so far. After the presentation we drove off to the Lambert Family Winery.

We arrived at the winery, our final destination, and were introduced to Mr. Lambert, 3rd generation winery owner. During the tour and presentation, Sophie translated for Mr. Lambert being that he spoke German only. After seeing the process of how wine is made and the barrels used to contain and age the wine, we had a wine tasting. The vineyard, a third generation owned, produces 85% red pinot noir, 10% white chardonnay, and 5% special wine.

The first wine we tasted was a white wine. I loved the white grape taste of it; its smoothness was quite good. We then tried two red wines, which I felt had good textures but a bit too tough on the palate. It was cool to learn the proper way of swirling wine, smelling it, and tasting it. I have a new appreciation for wine and won’t ever drink it the same. Overall, today has been wonderful. Looking forward to a day in Chur tomorrow and optional breakfast meaning I don’t have to get up as early.

Today, we are off to Davos. The trip to Davos was of course another early and long ride from the bus to the train. The Swiss transportation system is great and always on point with its schedule. After a two hour ride from Chur, we arrived at Davos a little before 10 am. Once there our tour guide of the day, Shervarma led us to the office of tourism in Davos. What we encountered in the tourism office was absolutely horrific. The lack of interest in helping provide us basic information about Davos and the look in the eyes of the employees in the office was as if 15 people amounted to 150 people. Eventually we had a director of Davos Tourism, Cederic Kienscherff, come speak to us. He looked overwhelmed and pretty much stated that everything around Davos required hiking or waiting until later in the day due to that most businesses in Switzerland take a 2-4 hour break for lunch in the middle of the day. We left the office and decided to walk to a park and wait for our site inspection at Arabella Sheraton Hotel when something unbelievable happened.

We were walking up and saw this hotel called Steigenberger Belvedere. A woman approached the group and Dr. Garely proceeded to inform about our group and our objective. The next thing I know, we are off having a presentation and site inspection of the Steigenberger Belvedere from the woman, who happens to be the general manager of the hotel, Sylvia Wyrsch. I was utterly shocked this was happening. Sylvia Wyrsch gave us a complete tour of the Steigenberger Belvedere showing us several rooms including a suite in which President Bill Clinton had stayed in when he attended the World Economic Forum. The Steigenberger Belvedere is the hotel that hosts the Economic Forum every year. There are 127 rooms, very large by Swiss standards, and is owned by a German hotel chain. It is one of the few hotels which require its staff to know English, the first we’ve encountered in all the places we have gone so far in Switzerland. The Steigenberger Belvedere had just opened up again after a break from April through June.

Sylvia Wyrsch was utterly the best on-site presenter I felt we had thus far in Switzerland. She took time out of her schedule to show us around her hotel because we are students who are interested in working in the hospitality industry and because we all were uniformed in black outfits to which we can no longer complain about (Thanks, Dr. Garely) because we stood out as a group. Sylvia Wyrsch, who is part American, runs the hotel with her husband and was shocked to hear the treatment we received at the tourism office.

After the tour we had lunch in a park across the street. I for one am getting tired of this bagged lunch and pork. I think when I get back home it will be a while before I eat ham again. We then walked off to the Arabella Sheraton Hotel. Upon arrival at the Arabella Sheraton Hotel we met Mr. Robert Attenberger, Executive Assistant Manager. Mr. Attenberger, gave us a wonderful tour of the historical hotel.

The Arabella Hotel is a 4 star hotel with 118 rooms. It is also a key hotel during the World Economic Forum and is known to host some very influential clients. However, it was well noted that this traditional hotel was originally built for people under a certain height, which Mr. Attenberger explained during the tour.

After the tour was completed we collected Mr. Attenberger’s business card and took group photos. Afterwards, we walked to the Davos Dorf train station and took the train back to Chur for an evening of blogging after dinner at SSTH.

Today has been someday to say the least. Let me start off with my morning. We had class with Sophie. Her class was on beverages. She spoke to us a bit about the different types of coffees, teas, and alcoholic beverages. Of the coffee section, I found the most intriguing options to be the espresso, cappuccino (my personal favorite), and the latte macchiato (soon to be my new favorite drink). An interesting fact about cappuccino is that Italians only serve it in the morning and it is strange to order it anytime after. Latte macchiato is served in a clear cup so as to see the visible layers of the steamed milk, foam, and espresso.

Sophie took us to the kitchen to demonstrate how to make these drinks as well as teach us the different types of glasses and cups used to serve various drinks. We learned the different shapes the glasses have depending on the type of wine and the different pitchers used to serve the drinks. I found this to be a very informative session because it is beneficial to know the different types of glasses and cups used to serve different drinks because it is something you will at one time or another need to know.

We all went to lunch except Curtis because his tooth was hurting him. Dr. Garely asked me to check on him. The side of Curtis’s face was swollen and he was in a lot of pain. Dr. Garely then put me to take charge to see that he went to a dentist. Everyone went off to class and I had the secretary of SSTH and one of the teachers help me arrange with a local Chur dentist who spoke English to see Curtis. We got a 6 p.m. appointment which I was a bit concerned was a little late but it was the earliest time the dentist was available .

Next, I had to make arrangements for transportation from the SSTH to the dentist in Chur – there was no way Curtis could take the local bus in the condition he was in. After a few calls, I finally arranged for Sophie to take us. I was very nervous and worried for Curtis but also that he be seen and receive the best possible medical treatment for his toothache.

Around 5: 45p.m. Curtis’s toothache disappeared after the dentist completed the tooth filling procedure and then we walked around in Chur to get something for dinner before heading back to SSTH. Upon arrival back at SSTH, I was completed exhausted yet happy - Curtis was feeling better and I was able to help. However, I must say that this day would not have been successful without the direction from Dr. Garely and assistance from Elliott, they guided me in handling this tour management emergency. Thanks very much Dr. Garely and Elliott. Good Night.

Well, it’s Sunday and I for one am in shock that it is day ten of my Switzerland educational experience. The last ten days have been such a mixture of events it’s almost exhausting to think of what has happened so far. Today has been one of the most tranquil days of my trip. After getting about seven hours of sleep, (the most hours so far during this week), I met up with Andy and Adrienne to go to the Catholic Church in Chur, The St. Mariae Himmelfahrt Cathedral. Having been turned away last week from service at Kirche St. Martin, in what a few of us in the group believed to be a cult church, it was a real blessing to attend a Catholic service. The German speaking high mass service started at 10 a.m. I easily understood the steps throughout the mass despite the obvious language barrier. I still felt the presence of being in a mass and the spiritual connection was still there. This is the first mass I have ever attended where I did not know the language which reaffirmed my idea and belief that faith is universal.

After the mass, we walked back to the train station and had lunch at Cindy’s Diner. I ordered the American Burger (14.70 CHF) which was very good and reasonably priced compared to other places in Chur. Cindy’s Dinner is very 50′s  nostalgia. It can be compared to Johnny Rockets, a diner chain in New York. After lunch, we returned to SSTH where I have been catching up with work, the blog, and laundry.  I’m looking forward to this week and enjoying every moment while I’m here for the next 11 days.

This weekend a few of us went on weekend excursions to different parts of Switzerland. I planned an itinerary with Andy and Sarah to head off to Basel and then to Zurich before returning to Chur. The train to Basel was a little over 2 hours from Chur. The ride to Basel was very exciting because of the large number of people traveling to view the Euro Cup game.

It became very exhillirating once we arrived in Basel. We first went to have brunch at Burger King where I ordered a chicken Cesar wrap, cappuccino (in the smallest cup ever), and onion rings for a total of 14.40 CHF. After eating, we made our way to the Basel Zoo. We asked a few people along the way to make sure we were heading the right way. The zoo was very close in relation to the train station.

Once we arrived at the Basel Zoo, we went off to explore the inhabitants. The admission to the zoo was 12 CHF. The Basel Zoo houses various animals  and has a wide space. What surprised me was that some of the animals were locked in cages like the type you see in a circus because the zoo’s in New York have modernized the living environment for the animals. 

Some highlights of the zoo for me were the penguins, the elephants, the kangaroos, the gorilla, and the hippopotamus. I especially was excited to see the kangaroo and hippopotamus since I had never seen these animals. I know Andy and Sarah enjoyed the zoo as well. After the zoo, we met up with Adele, Asha, and Gia, who came from Luzern to Basel for the day. We were so giddy to see each other and share our different ventures so far when Gia suggested we pass the border into France. The border was 20 minutes away from the main train station via a trolley.

Once we arrived we walked over the line that divided Switzerland to France. I was now in France! The town we walked into is called St. Louis. It is very residential area with little shops. I was so thrilled to be in France. We paced the streets with such joy and excitement, it was great. We stopped by a local pastry shop where we purchased chocolates and cheered at the richness of its taste. I particularly liked the dark chocolate truffle, it was very good.

I must back track and explain how before I left for this study abroad, I had hoped to go on one weekend off to Paris, France. The illusion of Paris clouded many of our heads in the group but the realization of the cost and time spent traveling would have not paid off. Much thanks goes to Dr. Garely, who prior to our weekend gave us an assignment to plan an itinerary that would allow us to visit three countries in a day.  Paris, will always be there and I have my whole life to look forward to going, but us passing the border to St. Louis, France was thrilling enough to make me totally forget about Paris.

After coming back through the border, Andy, Sarah, and I parted ways with the other girls and went back to Chur. What a day it has been. With my passport stamped, I can now brag I not only went to Switzerland, I had hop, skip, and not even jump (well except the jumping of excitement) - my trip to France.

It was another early day for us and our tour guide of the day was Adrienne; we took the 7:56 am train to Andermatt. The almost three hour ride was most certainly a highlight of its own. The scenery on the ride up captivated the most amazing views Switzerland has to offer. It was really cool to be able to slide the train window down and stick my head out to take photos. I feel the ride capitalized the value of our Swiss Rail Pass.

Once we reached Andermatt, the change of temperature was evident. It was so much colder; I wished I had thought to bring gloves. We took a taxi van to the hotel, La Clavstra, which was uphill. I was tired and was nodding on and off from the thirty minute drive up to the hotel. Once we arrived, I was stunned. Mind you, it was snowing a bit and the hotel was inside a cave after walking a long dark passage way behind red doors.

La Clavstra is a very unique hotel located in Andermatt. Once we arrived inside we were offered coffee and tea in the dinning room. The room was very strange because they are all set up to be enclosed boxes. The atmosphere of being in a cave began to dawn on me and I felt very eerie and strange about the whole situation.

La Clavstra is at an altitude of 2050 meters above sea level, with 17 individually designed rooms with a total of 30 beds. We were fortunate enough to have the architect or rather the ‘artist’ as he liked to be referred to of La Clavstra, Jean Odermatt, give us a tour. Each room was designed in this encased glass walls and each room featured unique material. It was interesting to have Mr. Odermatt speak of his concept for the hotel and how well executed it came out to be.

The visit to Andermatt was extremely important as well because the vision for the area is destined in the near future to be a very elite place. During a presentation of Andermatt, we were informed of the restoration of different sites as well as the potential of Andermatt to be a year round operation with resorts, spas, and sports arenas. The best parallel to it for me is Dubia, an exclusive international center of tourism with attractions and with a potential high price tag. It was so cool to have been in Andermatt and La Clavstra.