Switzerland Pt 2; Interlaken, Zurich and Basel

So, we arrived in Interlaken about midday and were keen to get straight outside and experience what we had heard would be some intense walks and hikes. A little investigation directed us to a mountainous region that lay on the opposite side of town to the larger Alps.

The fairytale-like paths through the woods

Great view! We climbed the mountain on the right.

After a quick but hearty snack we set off with our well-suited boots and what we would soon learn was a little too much clothing. As we climbed through up the paths, two things became evident - one; that the views were indeed fantastic from every possible vantage point and they only improved as we went higher and two; that an increasing amount of ice and snow was finding it's way onto the paths we wanted to walk along. 

View of the Alps in the distance

Yes, that is a path.

Determined, we plundered onwards but after not much longer we decided to halt and return as the ice was making it particularly slippery and the paths becoming more and more narrow!

Still, we had made it not 10mins from the top, which was a great effort and certainly was a lot of fun.

What a view! Certainly deserve it. Look at that blue!!

With only one night in Interlaken, James was determined to check out what the town 'had to offer' in terms of nightlife. Not before dinner though, and for just a second time we cooked our own, ha! Whilst eating we met and made friends with a girl from Melbourne who had been travelling prior to beginning some study abroad in Italy.

We all decided to go out for a couple of drinks together and settled, strangely enough, at an Irish pub not far from the hostel. A couple of drinks and some good conversation later and we actually discovered that the girl we had met had also been travelling with the same group we'd met and had a crazy night out in Vienna with. A nice little coincidence and certainly a 'small world' feeling. 

 

The view from atop the Grossmunster

The next day we returned once again to Zurich, though we would now have the chance to explore the city. Dumping our bags at the hostel, we raced around to have a look as this would be James last full day in Europe! We climbed up the tower of the Grossmunster church and got a fantastic view in all directions.

The 'Guild Houses'

Walking through the little lanes, we browsed through some of the shops that sold a range of Swiss luxury items; many many watches, many more knives and strangely, wooden toys. 

Not exotic. Shocked and disturbed really

Front of Swiss National Museum

After this we visited the Swiss National Museum which housed a fantastic exhibition on the history of the country and had a large focus on the consistent transition of cultures and language that had swept across the region now known as Switzerland. In addition to socio-geographical history, the museum also covered the development of design within the country; focusing particularly on household interiors and furniture. 

 

Inside the Swiss History exhibit

One of the furniture exhibits.
Both photos from the museum website ;)

One of the photographs on show

We finished on a photography exhibit that showcased images taken of critical events within the country and others abroad related to Switzerland from the last 50 years. I'm always a fan of photography exhibits and this was no exception; though we were unfortunately ushered out the door before we saw it all as the museum closed!

So, I asked James that night given it was his final before departing home, what he'd like to do – perhaps go to a restaurant, a bar or a pub? In the end, he settled on a kebab from a shop across the street. 'I'm pretty tired”; but despite that he certainly had enough energy to destroy the thing before I'd even taken the first bite of my meal.

Zurich; not bad looking at night.

Not one to go against his word, James clearly was tired the next morning as I tried to wake him on several occasions and he simply lay in his bed and turned over. About an hour before we had to catch the train to the airport, James poked his head into the common room where I was milling waiting, and we finally we down to get some breakfast. After a nice big coffee and a hot breakfast in the belly, James grabbed his stuff and we trod off to the train station – though not before James tried desperately to waste time by getting himself lost in random shops. Convincing James I no longer cared if he missed his flight (though I guess I actually did..), we finally got on the train and travelled just 10minutes to the airport. 

James; truly broken

So, with a masculine goodbye which consisted of a handshake and “alright, see ya back home then” (James was actually distraught to leave; see photo above), we departed and I headed back into town.

I spent the rest of the day at the Kunsthaus Zurich (Zurich Art Museum) which covered a range of art from around Impressionism to Contemporary; with quite a number of works from Monet and Manet, as well as Rousseau. Some of the contemporary painting and sculpture was a little beyond my tastes but certainly always interesting.

Zurich Art Museum

Sculpture made from dice

 ...A relatively early night, and ready for an early morning the next day.

Up at 7, I caught a train at 9am to Basel which got me there at 11. From this station I was to catch a bus which would take me to the reason I had travelled here; the Vitra Design Museum. Unfortunately however there was a great level of confusion which greeted me. Basel was a town technically in Switzerland, but which at it's extents almost straddled three countries; France, Germany and Switzerland. So, to make matters more confusing, whilst it was again technically within Switzerland, the train station was Deustche-Bahn run (German). I had to stowe away my bags for the day in the lockers at the station, however I didn't quite have the correct change on me, so I asked at a shop, however they only accepted Swiss Francs. I eventually managed to swap a note with someone for some coins, only to realise that after all this I had missed my bus – the next, not for an hour.

That was barely round one however. Working out the bus route was interesting. The bus left from a platform near the station. I found the platform and saw a ticket machine so tried to find the ticket for the bus; no deal – whatever I searched for, it couldn't find my destination. Turns out; it was just for Swiss-buses; despite my bus starting it's journey from that point and going into Germany. Either way, when the bus eventually arrived I was able to pay on board as per usual.

So, later than I had hoped and having missed the first tour time, I arrived at the design museum and how great it was! From the distance on the bus I could tell we were almost there as the Herzog and de Meuron VitraHaus stands out from a mile back, towering over the skyline – it really is awesome to see!

The VitraHaus by Herzog & de Meuron

Frank Ghery's little bit of fun

Whilst waiting for the tour I spent time inside Gehry's famous building which housed a very interesting exhibition on Rudolf Steiner. Quite a unique man, I did not know much about him, though I had heard his name; he certainly tried his hand at a number of fields. On the whole a philosopher, he also became a social reformer writing many many books on social theory and eventually influencing education. What interested me a lot was his works in architecture; he designed and built a building he called the ''Goetheanum''. This burnt down and he then created another. Crazy, gargantuan buildings without a strict sense of style and intended to house the development of Steiner's social teachings. The exhibit had a very cool model of the second..

The second ''Goetheanum'

Starting the actual architectural tour of the campus, we began at the Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome tent. An important structure in architecture but also in engineering in that it was a very quick-assembly large-scale tent that could be deployed anywhere, even hoisted into position by helicopter.

Walking past the industrial architecture in the production factory of Nicholas Grimshaw, we walked underneath the very cool, very elaborate and surprisingly wet-weather automated bridge-like roof by Alvaro Siza. We then made it to the famous first-work by Zaha Hadid, the Fire Station; and crazy it is. Whilst not as strange perhaps in geometry as Gehry, there is barely a wall perpendicular to the ground; all choosing to run at bizarre angles; including the bathroom and toilet walls! All in some attempt to continuously play with the entrants perception. Fun, though how useful for the firemen I'm unsure..

The Basel Fire Station; Zaha Hadid's first building

Parts of the interior; nothing level

Tadao Ando's pavillion

The final building on the tour was by Tadao Ando which was a beautifully clear, simple structure that really contrasted the bold statements of the others. Instead it carved itself into the landscape and carefully positioned itself between tree's and nature. The building also included two walls that shot off each side and 'protected' the building from the 'harsh' manufacturing and industrial parts of the campus.

Ending the tour, I visited the very famous icon of the campus, the VitraHaus. It really is spectacular to see up-front and it is very cool inside. Effectively the Haus acts as a display home for all the products Vitra sell; furniture to lighting to generally designed objects. Each extruded 'house' form frames a great view across the hilly-landscapes in the distance.

Interior of the VitraHaus with the framed view

With a big day of architecture and design done I found my way back to Basel and then caught the train to Stuttgart where I would once again meet with my home-stay family I met on exchange. After a couple of delays I eventually made my back to familiar territory around 9:30pm, and once again got to the Steigerwald house; the first place to feel like home for a long time!