Oh, the places we go (now that we're vaccinated)

Zurich, Switzerland - Dear reader, I apologize for my tardiness in keeping you updated on our comings and goings, but Hannah has kept us on a brisk pace. We returned to Switzerland in late June fully vaccinated and ready to venture forth. We have stayed at hotels, eaten at restaurants (mainly outside), and used mass transit. The delta variant has chastened us somewhat, and we don't want to get sick, but we also feel ready to once again take advantage of our time here, knowing that our risk of hospitalization or death from COVID-19 is low.

Schaffhausen Hike

This past weekend, we visited Schaffhausen, which is the northern-most canton in Switzerland and a short 1-hour train ride from Zurich. We arrived in the small, quaint town of Thayngen (population: 4,800) and from there, walked along the German border in a long loop that took us through the even smaller and quainter towns of Bibern (population: 250), Hofen (population: 120), Altdorf (population: 200), and Opfertshofen (population: 130). 

When I said we hiked along the German border, I meant that literally. We crossed it several times and occasionally stood atop it so we could experience the thrill of being in two countries at once. The border is marked by unassuming stones which you notice along the side of the path every once in a while. Each stone includes the year of the treaty which delineated the border (1839), and the acronym "CS" for Canton Schaffhausen on the Swiss side. At the top of the stone is a line which shows the orientation of the border. This blog provides some helpful photographs. 

Unlike many of our recent hikes, which were in higher alpine terrain, this hike took us over gentle rolling hills and pastures, wheat and corn fields, plus forests, which was a nice change. The terrain was more forgiving and the oxygen more plentiful than what we had become accustom to. That said, this hike was somewhat longer at about 16.5 miles, so we didn't totally slack off!

The most remarkable parts of this hike were the agricultural flora and fauna. There were many sunflower fields along the path, often towering over us at more than 2 meters high. They were in full bloom and quite stunning. We were also greeted by a wide variety of farm animals. Schaffhausen, it seems, has diversified beyond the cow. We saw a free range poultry farm, sheep, horses, (farmed) deer, and a peacock.

Lausanne

We visited Lausanne last weekend, which is approximately 2.5 hours west of Zurich by train. Lausanne is the capital of the French-speaking Canton of Vaud and it is Switzerland's fourth largest city with 140,000 residents. Lausanne hosts the International Olympic Committee (IOC), making it the second scandal-prone (example, example) international sports organization to locate its headquarters in Switzerland (FIFA is headquartered in Zurich). In fact, the IOC has proclaimed Lausanne the Olympic Capital, despite never having hosted the Olympics.

More notably, the Lavaux vineyard between Lausanne and Montreux are a UNESCO world heritage site. These stunning terraced vineyards crawl up the steep hillsides abutting Lake Geneva. They were created in the 12th century by Cistercian monks and are carefully maintained by today's winegrowers. The Cisterians were a reactionary order of Catholic Monks who broke away from the Benedictines, who they thought were getting soft. Notably, they emphasized manual labor, like building massive stone terraces up the side of a steep hill.

We visited the Lavaux vineyards on rented bicycles, which was a nice way to meander through the windy hillside roads through vineyards and small towns. We rented from a small bike shop on the north side of Lausanne where the store owner advised us, "Don't fall." He was not so much concerned for us as he was for the two bicycles: they were - to use a local phase - the crème de la crème of road bikes, each worth roughly $5,000. While the bikes were top-end, our shorts were not, since they lacked the plush padding that typically lines the crotch of most spandex bike shorts. This left each of us with some residual soreness (and actual bruising) in the days to come.  Yes, sitting was a delicate exercise. 

Venice

I had been itching to go to Venice recently, hoping that we could visit before Italy fully reopened to the hordes of tourists. Prior to the pandemic, Venice had emerged as one of the world's prime examples of "overtourism," in which tourists are innocently introduced to a charming locale, often by Instagram. Over time the local residents are forced out and abandon the place as the tourists propagate uncontrollably. The landscape changes to cater the tourists. Tchotchke kiosks selling selfie sticks and novelty tee shirts, previously a modest part of the ecosystem, come to dominate the plazas. In Venice, like so many tourist locations, the retail storefronts along main tourist thoroughfares are crowded with brands like "Forever 21" and "Gap" and "Burger King." It resembles a shopping mall you could find anywhere.

Recently, the Italian government has taken steps to cull the tourist herd by banning cruise ships from docking in Venice and disgorging their visor- and fanny-pack- clad cargo into the city. We learned that many Venetians despise the cruise ships because they crowd the city without bringing as much economic benefit as you might expect. Sure, the passengers pay museum fees, shop, and ride gondolas, but they don't stay in local hotels or eat at local restaurants (they eat for free or at low cost on the ship). 

While we were there, the crowds were - to our eyes - large but manageable. At that time, Italy had re-opened to many travelers, especially Europeans, though the reopening had occurred recently and there were still restrictions in place for visitors from some parts of the world. We asked our hotel concierge how this compared to pre-pandemic peaks. He glanced out the window at the crowds streaming through the streets and said, "Oh, its maybe 10% of what it was."

You may have gathered at this point that Hannah and I don't like crowds, and while the crowds in Venice were not nearly as bad as they could have been, they were still annoyingly present. This was not in keeping with the kind of fanciful vacation experience that Hannah wanted to present on Instagram and so our (her) solution was to wake at the crack of dawn and visit St. Mark's square before the hordes descended. 

At this point I should probably emphasize that we quite enjoyed Venice, even if we appreciate that the impact of tourists like ourselves is mixed. The engineering and architecture are remarkable and I had never seen anything like it (Hannah visited when she was 11). We got lost multiple times navigating the maze of narrow streets that often ended abruptly in dead ends or at a canal (google maps has trouble locating you in those tiny streets, squeezed between buildings). We found quaint neighborhoods with charming local restaurants in more remote outskirts. 

Venice is culturally fascinating because it's a unique mash-up of eastern byzantine and emerging western renaissance traditions. The city was infused with these various traditions by war and trade. Venice was a major antagonist and at times a launch point for several crusades in the medieval period and throughout the renaissance it was the major Western European trading hub in the Mediterranean. Today you can appreciate this fusion of artistic impulses at the Gallerie dell'Accademia, the Doge Palace and St. Mark's. In St. Mark's the various mosaics covering the walls show a multitude of traditions as artists restored aging images in contemporary styles. The older mosaics had a strong byzantine influence with flat and expressionless figures. More recent mosaics showed the influence of the renaissance, with dramatic representations of events and realistic human forms.  

The last thing I'll remark on here is logistics. Venice may be called the city of canals, but it should also be known as the city of hand trucks, because that's how everything moves around on the streets. Little barges ply the canals with good coming and going and unload their wares to human couriers who move them to their final destination via hand truck. Even the trash is carried out via hand truck. Men in coveralls wander the streets in the morning picking up people's trash and hauling up and down stairs and through narrow streets to waiting barges, which take it to the mainland. 

The Dolomites

The Dolomites are a mountain range in Northeastern Italy along the Austrian border. They are magnificent. They are geologically different from the Alps we are familiar with and are characterized by dramatic craggy peaks that jut out of the landscape. Hannah and I were stricken with incredible FOMO during our visit and spent our time racing through windy mountain roads so we could get to as many great sites as possible. We were particularly taken with Seceda and Tre Cime di Lavaredo. Hannah is convinced that we must visit again.

Ticino

Ticino is the Italian-speaking, southernmost Canton of Switzerland. Ticino were the last lands to be conquered by a more territorially ambitious Swiss Confederation in the 15th and 16th centuries. It is geographically separated from most of Switzerland by the Alps and you access it through the 17km Gotthard tunnel, which takes you through the mountains, or via the windy Gotthard pass which - peaking at 2,100 meters - takes you over the mountains.

We spent most of our weekend here venturing off into the mountains to hike. We quite enjoyed the Bavona valley, which is dotted with small quaint villages made of stone "rustico" buildings. In particular, we enjoyed Foroglio and the Val Calnegia, a high valley above Foroglio. Val Calnegia is pleasant enough in the summer when its not raining, but is a harsh place: it receives no direct sunlight in the winter due to the mountains surrounding it and it is battered by icefalls, rockslides and avalanches. Historically, shepherds ventured here with their flock and they built small stone hamlets (what Hannah calls, "Hobbit houses"), which are stunning.

On the way home, we visited the Bellinzona castles, a UNESCO world heritage site, a group of three castles and fortified walls overlooking Bellinzona. Years ago, we visited a plantation in South Carolina called Drayton Hall. The organization overseeing the site was pursuing a philosophy of "preservation", which is essentially aimed to prevent further deterioration. They contrasted this with "restoration," in which a building is returned to a idealized condition based on what we think it may have been like in the past. Let me be clear that the Swiss are restorationists, not preservationists: These castles were ready to repel a medieval invasion at a moments notice. They were immaculate.