Sunlight streams through the mountain air, razor sharp, I try to walk in a straight line. My neck strains from my swivelling gaze.
Vistas, wow what vistas.
Grietze! Umm yes good morning
The mountains are snow covered and the world looks a postcard as I wend along the valley floor on a path especially for hikers.
Grietze!! Grietze!! Umm yes Good Morning.
This place is so perfect no wonder they make cheese here.
Grietze!! And 2 seconds later..Grietze!!
Grietze I mumble back. Wondering what the hell is a grietze, I grietze my way along the path and into the nearest grietze looking little refreshment kiosk which reminds me of a big chunk of cheese. It looks fairly grietze though, given the mountain air and the rare angle of the light.
Grietze exclaims the kiosk vendor and I do mean exclaims. So I amble up and ask in my poshest English “er excuse me, whats grietze mean?”
Hmm yes so Swiss, so very very Swiss.
So I buy some cheese and some…………………….ah, well you know…… chocolate, and continue my little wonder along the valley floor, totally blown away by the mountainous view until….. Grietze!!!! Yep you get it, every 10 steps as you would pass another hiker the ubiquitous greeting Grietze!!!!!
Smeh, I’ve had enough of mountains anyway at this stage and so I stealthily repair to the nearest railway station avoiding everyone with a backpack and a hiking stick, and board a train headed back to Zurich.
Not a Grietze was received, especially at the railway station. Trains are a very serious affair to the Swiss and who am I to argue, given I am now released from the passing stream of Grietze bidders.
I have seen many a Swiss start to tap their watch and get quite agitated when a train is a minute or two late. Swiss watches of course. Swiss trains would never run late for Japanese watches. But of course if you’re Swiss you know this.
The trains in Switzerland are absolutely civilised. They go everywhere and in addition to the famed reliability, they are cheap. You can even take your bike along. A mountain bike of course silly. They have special racks, and whilst you pay, the bike rides for free.
Another amazing transport feat of the Swiss is the Post Bus network. Yep the Postman in addition to delivering mail, delivers you to the top of the mountains, whereupon you get to either walk (and be Grietze’d at all day) or ride down the mountain at speeds way to quick for all but an echoing Grietze.
Not long after my first little mountaineering excursion, I moved into a rather posh little flat in downtown Zurich. Quite the quarter. A short walk from the Bahnhoffstrasse and with its very own little rail station a block away. It had 3 chocolate shops within metres but what I didn’t realise was a little Zurich secret.
One night, I was waiting for a friend and fellow traveller to arrive in town and decided to quarter the city by foot. Zurich isn’t that big so this was not such an heroic feat.
What struck me was that Zurich, aside from the shopping facades, consists of basically 3 services downtown in really extraordinary quantities.
OK, Banks is a no brainer, and the Law firms are also a gimme but heres the secret. Psychiatrists. Yep Psychiatrists, they outnumber even the banks.
So as I move in to my flash little apartment, I start to get the neighbours knocking on the door.
Grietze!! Yeah yeah, hi, thanks for coming ……nice to see you how can I help?
Now picture this. The first knocker was a guy dressed in only a bathrobe. Couldn’t speak English, all he did after the Grietze was hold out an empty salt shaker. Yup got rid of him. Then an old lady asking about the mail and did we have her mail, after of course the obligatory Grietze.
And so it went. All evening. Never seen quite so many oddballs in one place
Next door to my flash little abode was a private mental clinic.
I checked out the next day, much to the amusement of the rental clerk who thought I knew.
Ah the Swiss sense of humour.
So if your at your limit, or think that someone’s out to get you, perhaps Switzerland is for you. A warning though. Have serious money. And always, yes always hire a lawyer and Zurich will embrace you with a hearty (well cheesy maybe) Grietze. Or “May God be with You”. (Pronounce it Grr it zee).
Whose God you might ask? Well if you haven’t worked that one out yet, let me recommend a good doctor I know…………
Did you know that each Swiss dwelling MUST by Law have a nuclear fall out shelter? I am serious. And it gets inspected once a year by a man in a white coat.
Maybe it’s the chocolate. Who knows?
Oh and if you want good food in Switzerland, drive to France. How much cheese can ya possibly eat after all?
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
A Wind Called Khalid
For Dani
Morning quiet in the desert.
No no……….something is wrong, there is a shrieking. A moaning. The world is complaining.
Its 5 am. (Please don’t ask). Its normally sunrise and I stand at the window checking the day. Except today hasn’t come.
Outside its pitch black and moaning, yep……..moaning it is.
Mornings generally are not kind to me. After the alarm intrudes, I have little routines that I follow until I start to come alive.
This generally occurs after at least three espressos.
However this morning its just not happening so as I stumble out to my car, I am almost levelled by the wind in the darkness moaning with a thickness to its voice.
This is a Shamal.
A sandstorm. Quite a phenomena. Saudi snow. Particles of fine sand find every part of you exposed and settle in. The sky is black.
The Shamal is a herald. It sweeps the desert clean at the end of the heavy aired winter. It renews the connection with the vastness of the open desert for the Bedouin, the traditional Saudi people. For them the desert and its desolate emptiness is a pure ecosystem and frankly its an awe inspiring sight to me in all its stark immensity.
I have witnessed much weather phenomena in my travels. From earthquakes to floods and tsunamis. Massive surf and minus 60 C cold with driving snow and I am always blown away by these weather events at how powerful Mother Earth is and how adaptable her creatures can be to survive her extremes. Humans included.
Local adaptations of clothing and shelter, the trade mark Saudi headscarf and felt tent being the two most useful here, demonstrate a people who are still close to the earth, reliant on her for life. No sand intrudes through the fine mesh of the woven clothed tent and the headscarf whilst also a tribal marking is ideal to prevent sand blasting of your face.
Adaptation is the key.
In the west, we try to control not adapt.
We build structures based on commercial viability and constantly attempt to alter our living spaces to effect climate convenience and so called ease of movement.
Only poor people have to “suffer” the elements and walk.
The energy costs and garbage created of improperly used material has reached incredible proportions. Fashion dictates useful lifecycles.
Its well reported but do you listen?
No wonder we are now fearful of global warming and its reputed adverse weather. We have lost the ability to deal with change and to survive and adapt to our home. We seem to think we are the masters and the earth should do our bidding.
Amazing arrogance really.
I would postulate that its not global weather change we should fear. Its our inability to be in unison with our environment that’s our real problem. Modern man has become too insulated and this will be our downfall as we continue to isolate ourselves from the earth.
Its a matter of balance.
Go outside while you can. Walk barefoot on the earth. Feel it between your toes, revel in it. Its not dirty, its earthy. So should we all be.
There is no bad or good weather. Get real. Its weather, its where you live. It has cycles to which we need to be attuned and to which we should adapt and celebrate.
For celebrations, try solstices instead of fake religious events. They are natural and a signal of time to change tempo. Its nature not voodoo. Weather is not a threat that needs to be combated its what drives our world and sustains us.
I wear my headscarf and walk on into the Shamal, marvelling at its power and being thankful that I have had the chance to be its witness.
Morning quiet in the desert.
No no……….something is wrong, there is a shrieking. A moaning. The world is complaining.
Its 5 am. (Please don’t ask). Its normally sunrise and I stand at the window checking the day. Except today hasn’t come.
Outside its pitch black and moaning, yep……..moaning it is.
Mornings generally are not kind to me. After the alarm intrudes, I have little routines that I follow until I start to come alive.
This generally occurs after at least three espressos.
However this morning its just not happening so as I stumble out to my car, I am almost levelled by the wind in the darkness moaning with a thickness to its voice.
This is a Shamal.
A sandstorm. Quite a phenomena. Saudi snow. Particles of fine sand find every part of you exposed and settle in. The sky is black.
The Shamal is a herald. It sweeps the desert clean at the end of the heavy aired winter. It renews the connection with the vastness of the open desert for the Bedouin, the traditional Saudi people. For them the desert and its desolate emptiness is a pure ecosystem and frankly its an awe inspiring sight to me in all its stark immensity.
I have witnessed much weather phenomena in my travels. From earthquakes to floods and tsunamis. Massive surf and minus 60 C cold with driving snow and I am always blown away by these weather events at how powerful Mother Earth is and how adaptable her creatures can be to survive her extremes. Humans included.
Local adaptations of clothing and shelter, the trade mark Saudi headscarf and felt tent being the two most useful here, demonstrate a people who are still close to the earth, reliant on her for life. No sand intrudes through the fine mesh of the woven clothed tent and the headscarf whilst also a tribal marking is ideal to prevent sand blasting of your face.
Adaptation is the key.
In the west, we try to control not adapt.
We build structures based on commercial viability and constantly attempt to alter our living spaces to effect climate convenience and so called ease of movement.
Only poor people have to “suffer” the elements and walk.
The energy costs and garbage created of improperly used material has reached incredible proportions. Fashion dictates useful lifecycles.
Its well reported but do you listen?
No wonder we are now fearful of global warming and its reputed adverse weather. We have lost the ability to deal with change and to survive and adapt to our home. We seem to think we are the masters and the earth should do our bidding.
Amazing arrogance really.
I would postulate that its not global weather change we should fear. Its our inability to be in unison with our environment that’s our real problem. Modern man has become too insulated and this will be our downfall as we continue to isolate ourselves from the earth.
Its a matter of balance.
Go outside while you can. Walk barefoot on the earth. Feel it between your toes, revel in it. Its not dirty, its earthy. So should we all be.
There is no bad or good weather. Get real. Its weather, its where you live. It has cycles to which we need to be attuned and to which we should adapt and celebrate.
For celebrations, try solstices instead of fake religious events. They are natural and a signal of time to change tempo. Its nature not voodoo. Weather is not a threat that needs to be combated its what drives our world and sustains us.
I wear my headscarf and walk on into the Shamal, marvelling at its power and being thankful that I have had the chance to be its witness.
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