Crash

Last Thursday night I went to see Crash at one of the local cinemas. Going into the movie, all I knew was that it was about racism. I'm the type of person who needs to know lots of details about the movie that I'm going to see and what type of movie it's going to be. Like, is it going to be super-Hollywood-esque, artsy, what have you. Needless to say, I was already uncomfortable before the movie started becuas eI didn't know what to expect.
Then the movie began, and although I knew that the movie was about racism, I felt very uncomfortable for the first half hour or so. I cannot stress very enough. Racism is a pretty touchy subject for me already, and before I could getting settled into the movie, I felt so uncomfortable sitting there.

The movie starts with one of the main characters examining a scene of a crime. He soon has a flashback with takes the audience back and introduces them to the cast of characters whose daily lives you will follow until you are brought back to the crime scene and the final moments of the movie. The characters come from different backgrounds, have different challenges and different lives. They are devoted and have relationships which they treasure. They are all very caring and passionate and in some way affected by racism. Their lives inevitably intertwine and their actions and reactions affect one another.

About an hour and a half into the movie the dreaded moment hit. When all the storylines intertwined in the most predictable manner. From then on in, the rest of the movie was a write off.
...
But not really.

This movie was so intense. The acting (for the most part) was amazing. Though predictable, it was still really interesting.

I think I can't really describe how I feel about this movie, because I'm not really good at deciphering my feelings/emotions when it comes to issues on touchy subjects.

Eitherway, definetely a must see movie.

Cheap flights

Ha ha ha. Anyone want to fly from Berlin to Geneva in November for 0.99 Euro? Visit easyJet for details.

Desalpes

Another "again" experience (see early October 2004 post for details).
Again we headed to Lignieres on the Saturday of Fete weekend to see the parade. It was pretty much the same as the year before and the streets were lined with the same vendors at the same spots (come to think of it, Fete was set up exactly the same way - if it ain't broke, don't fix it). Again, I ate some lemon pie and this time added some sausage and fudge to the mix.

[By the way, this fete, I sampled steak and onions hamburgers, chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate covered pineapple, these long donut-ish things sprinkled in cinnamon which I forget what they're called, calamari, Guarana, beer nuts, sprite, hot chocolate and most impressively a huge piece of grilled morree (sp?!? I vaguely remember the French name, but can't seem to figure out what it is)]

I noticed that there were less cows this year. And smaller bells too. Only one cow had a tree on its head, but it was a whole tree instead of just a branch. Many other cows had wreaths around their waists. I did read about cows coming down from Lignieres early this year, so maybe they didn't feel like waiting for the parade, and headed down the hill themselves?!?
It's still a pretty impressive parade though, because it's such a cute little small town affair, but with lots of tourists in attendance to join in on the festivities.
Good times.

Fete

Year two means having to repeat things over again. When it comes to Fete, this is not a bad thing.
For those who need a little bit of info about the Fete des Vendanges, please see my brief synopsis on in the late September 2004 archives.
I had a friend come to visit me this weekend and she got to partake in the Desalpes and Fete festivities...the more people the merrrier! It was great having someone extra here to party with. Someone who's up for anything and loves having a great time as much as I do.
Friday night was like the "intro to fete". My friend was arriving on the Saturday morning, so I was out with my usual posse to soak up the Fete goodness. We met at someone's place who was conveniently located in the middle of the action. I'm ridiculously envious of his rooftop balcony which if I had one, I would go out at every spare moment just to lie there and stare at the sky. It's so fab at night to lie back and star at the stars. Anyway, when we were there, we could hear the party getting started below us. When we were ready to head out, the party was in full swing and the Guggenmusik parade was just getting underway. These marching bands get so incredibly dressed up in bizzaro outfits...it's such a blast. Did you know that they crown a Miss Fete des Vendanges?!? Tee hee. We saw the candidates going by sitting on the backseat of a convertible. They had their waves down pat.
Aside from the fact that the city comes alive and they're hoards of people out for Fete, I love it because there are so many different cultures represented in a normally not so multicultural town. The streets are filled with stalls of vendors from different cultures selling food and drinks from back home as their music is pumping out through the speakers. How people do not feel compelled to dance is beyond me.
Saturday was even more packed and raucous than the night before. The key is to figure out a hot spot and stay there for awhile and then take breaks to walk around and get something to eat and/or drink. This night, we followed a good tip and found a little corner with an amazing vibe and great music. Good times for sure. One ingenious drink that I must tell about: drinks in IVs pouches. Instead of being hooked up to your veins though, the tubing is used as a straw and the pouch is attached to a string that is worn around your neck. It's all about the packaging!
Oh, and hello...CONFETTI!!! Kudos to the Neuch who can clean up a multicoloured mess (and I mean there's so much that there's a nice thick layer of confetti on the street) in one night.

It's Sunday, and Fete's still going on until tonight...

Sigh

...well, I just found out that I won't be able to go to Poland mid October to visit Auschwitz and Krakow. Darn it.
I guess I can make plans to go to Dublin or London instead.
Can't have it all.

Creux-du-Van

This past Monday, was the Jeune Federal holiday in Neuch. It’s a Cantonal holiday as opposed to a National holiday. Instead of having a day to rest, we decided to hike up the Creux-du-Van. Only about 1.5hrs to get to the top, this hike is much shorter than that of the one in Grindelwald and of the one done in Locarno last year. The difficulty of this hike comes in the form that it’s quite steep and narrow in parts, and then depending on the weather conditions, the mud/rock combination can get quite slippery. The hike has 14 switchbacks, which is great to keep your mind focused on the goal. The first couple are pretty long (makes logical sense if you’re heading up a mountain), and seem like they’re never going to end, but the higher you go, and the more tired you get, the shorter they become and you really feel that the end is near. By the end, I was pretty to be happy to be at the end. I was a little bit more tired than I wanted to be. Although, I must say now, after the fact, I’m not sore or anything, so that’s pretty good.
At the top, you get a wonderful view of Lake Neuch and the city in the distance. It’s pretty wonderful.
Unfortunately, this particular day was really cloudy, and as such, once at the top, we couldn’t see a thing. Last year, the weather was beautiful and it was blue skies and sunny, and after a short rest at the top, we headed back down to be rewarded to a fondue at the end of the hike. This year, we were scheduled to have fondue at the top instead (ugh, can you imagine hiking down after eating a mass of cheese and bread?). It was really really cold at the top, and started to drizzle. We were also in a cloud (so cool!) which was extremely dense. You could hardly see 5 metres in front of you. A little scary knowing that you’re standing on top of a cliff. Anyway, at the top, we went for a fondue (I must admit, I only had bread and didn’t even dip any cheese – fondue isn’t my fav meal ever) and headed back down the same way we came up instead of walking around to the other side of the cliff and down another longer route (we didn’t want to risk people falling off the edge). The way back down was a little slippery, but not too bad. No wipe outs on my part!

Grindelwald

Last year, I began the year hiking in the Italian part of Switzerland. This year, I decided to change it up and hiked in the German part instead. In the "real" Swiss alps.
From September 7-10, the touristic town of Grindelwald (1034 m) just above the uber-touristic Interlaken was where we stayed.
At the end of the summer, heavy rainfalls flooded many areas of Switzerland (something completely unheard of) so badly that road, bridges and railways were washed away. There was concern that the repairs wouldn't be made in time for our stay in Grindelwald. Luckily, we could made our trip and on the bus ride up you could still see the construction that was being done to rebuild different parts of the area. We went up on a private coach, but the commuter trains still weren't up and running, so to get from Interlaken to Grindelwald there were shuttle buses.
Grindewald was so picturesque. It was so different to see the alps not completely covered with snow. The last time I was surrounded by alps was in the winter in Zermatt, so this was a whole new experience being in an alp-town, where everything around me was green!
The area was filled with tourists. Lots of English speakers which always makes me do a double take. The streets were lined with hotels and chalets as "Swiss chalet" as you can get. You know, the wooden buildings with flowerboxes just outside of the windows. Fabulous.
We stayed in a little chalet in which my bedroom window looked out to the infamous North face of the Jungfrau.
One interesting experience to tell. I got to try playing an Alpenhorn. You know the one. Ri-co-la!!! I had great difficulty. I've never played a brass instrument before, and when learning how to play the digeridoo...well that took a lot of effort as well. Apparently my embouchure was too tight, but no matter how hard I tried, it wasn't what I wanted. I got some high pitched sounds out, which is better than nothing (albeit after a couple of attempts) so I guess I should be satisfied...and I guess I am. It was an experience, that's for sure! It was a lot harder than I expected and the mouthpiece was about the size of that of a trumpet. Those horns look so big. You forget that it gets bigger at the end that you're usually looking at, and the mouthpiece would need to be quite small. So yeah, I don't see a future in Alpenhorn playing, but it was a lot of fun trying!
We hiked up to a glacier. I was expecting a huge mass of ice, but was disappointed with what I saw. If I had been there only 5 years ago, I would have seen a much bigger mass. It's pretty incredible seeing the effects of global warming and such. Seeing the scrape marks on the rock from the glacier was really neat too. It's always more interesting to see things you learn about in a textbook in person.
Our hike lasted about 5 hours. We took a cablecar up to an altitude of about 2168 m and then hiked up to Gassenboden (2553m) just above a small glacier lake. We walked by quite a few cows who obviously had the right of way. It's pretty clear that when a cow starts heading towards you and crosses the path, you should stop and let the cow go wherever it wants to go. There was the option of hiking up to Faulhorn, at an altitude of 2681m before heading all the way back down again, and of course I jumped on that one. Who knows when the next time I would be able to stand on the top of an alp would be? The view was UNREAL. You could see the fabulously picturesque Interlaken and two lakes below. Yet another indescribable experience.
This particular hike didn't seem too strenuous. Just long. Although, I did feel my breathing change the higher we got up. The way down was more difficult than going up. Something about my anatomy doesn't bode well for going downhill on unsteady terrain. I think my pigeon-toedness tends to work my side-bum muscles a lot more. I was definitely feeling a good pain for the next couple of days. I love that kind of pain. You know you've accomplished something if you're in pain. On the way down some people stopped for a dip in the glacier lake. Darn cold! After just wading in to my ankles, after just a short while, my ankles clenched up and became like ice. I lost feeling pretty quickly. Those that just dove in, wow. Daring.
At the end of it all, you get such an amazing feeling. I guess the point of a blog is to try to describe things, but there are just some things that you can't describe. You just have to experience them for yourself.
At night, we would often go to a cafe with a fab terrace for drinks. Sitting there in the candlelight, wrapped up in my special Parisian etole and staring at the spotlit Jungfrau and the stars up above...my life...it's like a dream. I never want to wake up.

Ferrero Raffaello

I recently tried Ferrero Raffaello. It's Italian, not Swiss, but whatever.
I'm sure you're aware of Raffaello's more popular brother Ferrero Rocher, but I'd never heard of this one until just before I tried it. I'm a white chocolate lover, so I thought I'd give it a go.
I quite enjoy them. It's basically all the goodness of a Ferrero Rocher, except softer and smoother on the inside (white chocolate), the outside is white chocolate and a dusting of coconut on the outside as well. Yum.
For those who haven't had to pleasure of eating a Ferrero Rocher, imagine a crispy chocolate ball of goodness with soft fluffy chocolate filling with a hazelnut on the inside. Voila. Tis a Ferrero Rocher.
If you're a fan of Ferrero Rocher, I would highly recommend trying Raffaello. That is, unless you don't like coconut.

-picture courtesy of www.ferrero.it

Shewoam

Last night, I went to watch Shewoam at the Theatre du Passage here in Neuch. The show hadn't really been advertised much, and I'd only heard about it from the friend who I was going to see the show with. All I knew was that it was a "Breakdancing Show" and that was enough for me to warrant buying a ticket.
Breakdancing is quite popular hear in Europe. I've watched a couple breakdancing competitions that have been aired on the telly. Breakdancing is hot.
Anyway, I wasn't sure how this show would work out. I've never watched breakdancing in a theatre. I've never watched breakdancing while sitting down. I'm pretty sure I've always been standing...in a circle. This show could be a little odd.
And it was. Well, it got better. The "host" was hilarious, but the opening musical act wasn't my cup of tea. A guitarist/vocalist and a keyboard player. It was pretty ghetto. The first two songs were exactly the same, bust with different words, and in a different key. The chord progression and rhythm was exactly the same. The keyboardist did a couple different variations here or there...anyway, I didn't like it all that much. The vocalist had a nice voice though.
Then the dancing began. A pretty low-budget show, that's for sure, but whatever. The three members of the troupe played characters whose stories came together as the show went on. There were three members of the group. One smaller one who had great balance and spins, one taller one who was really smooth and was the "slinky" one and one who could pop and lock with the best of them. I can't think of a group that doesn't have one of each. Funny how that works out.
Some of the numbers were pretty tacky. Some of it reminded me of those troupes that would come to your elementary school and sing/act/dance/whatever to deliver a positive message. One particularly amusing act involved the three onstage together in an especially bad "boy band" kind of thing. I couldn't help but laugh out loud. They should have skipped that number.
After the intermission, they showed a video that was supposed to show a day in the life of each of the members of the group. Again, low budget, but whatever. And as expected, "a day in the life of" turned into little episodes that would branch off into breaking.
There was a great act that involved beat boxing and mike-ing the stage so that two members of the group could drum/slap/hit/snap to produce some seriously amazing beats. Not a new idea, but still impressive nonetheless.
This led up to the ending where a percussionist on a drum set provided the beats for the dancers to solo. The drummer would produce different types of beat in different styles for the dancers to break to. Some good stuff.
Anyway, it was a fun night out. I definitely felt like going out dancing afterwards.

Lindt Excellence Fraicheur de Fraise Edition Limitee (blanc)

Lindt Excellence Fraicheur de Fraise Edition Limitee (blanc)

A summer chocolate bar, this is a thin white chocolate bar with pieces of strawberry (and after more careful inspection, rhubard as well...they were definetely using it for filler).
It's not bad, although I wasn't sure how the pieces of fruit would work in a chocolate bar. Turns out that they are little flakes of a consistency much like Fruit To Go. A little bizzare, but strangely quite nice. It seemed like a weird contrast of a uber sweet white chocolate which was so exquisite, and then chewy, a little bit sour pieces of little-kid-get-stuck-between-your-teeth fruit.
I would have this bar if I wanted a shot of flavour other than just chocolate. Something with a little bit of a twist. A little bit of a difference.

-picture courtesy of www.lindt.ch

Cailler Frigor (lait)

Cailler Frigor (lait - Recette Original)

A good chocolate bar to start with.

Last year, in a very scientific "Milk Chocolate Taste Test", Frigor came out on top out of a group of seven different bars of varying quality and popularity.

One connoisseur described the bar as having a:
"strange immediate taste...similar to hazelnut (nutella-ish), smooth, sticky in mouth 8/10"
And another expert deemed the bar:
"slightly nutty taste, hazelnut in aftertaste, good heartness, good milkyness, melts well in mouth 7/10"
Now, I don't find Frigor quite that nutty in taste, but still very smooth. The inside of the bar has a slightly softer consistency (although I wouldn't describe it as having a "filling" - to me, something that is liquid in consistency) and is where I would assume the hazelnut essence lies.
I'm not really sure what to say about this bar. It's quite "plain" (in a good way) and definetely yummy. A good solid bar. A simple, smooth, melts in your mouth, quality bar. One that should be a staple in any chocolate cupboard.

-picture courtesy of www.cailler.ch

La Schubertiade

On September 4th, 2005 I attended La Schubertiade here in Neuch. This music festival takes place every two years in a different city in the Swiss Romande region of Switzerland. The festival was on for the whole weekend, however I only attended concerts on the Sunday, although I did listen to some of the street performers on the Saturday while I was downtown at the market. It was such a wonderful atmosphere. Being back here in Europe, walking the streets of little town Neuch, walking from stall to stall looking for fresh produce (although funnily enough I only bought groceries from the newly opened Coop City that day because I wanted to see what it was like and they were having huge sales) and being serenades by relaxing classical music. Lots of people were milling the streets, standing, watching and listening to the performers. It was pretty wonderful.
I’d seen a couple posters about the festival since I’d arrived back in town, but didn’t really look into the details of it. From my lovely RCM History courses, I knew what a Schubertiade was, and as much as I love to sit and listen to classical music played in an intimate environment, the style of music at a Schubertiade isn’t my fav. Still, walking around on Saturday made me intrigued enough to want to venture out on my own and take part in the festivities and soak up as much classical goodness as I could.
On Sunday, I paid for a day pass which allowed me to listen to any of the concerts that would be taking place at 14 different venues around the downtown area. The 45 minute concerts started at 1pm and ended at 5:45pm except for a couple special concerts that started earlier and ended later. So with 15 minutes to travel from concert to concert, one could attend five different concerts that day. Out of a possible 60-ish concerts to choose from, I decided on my 5:

1. Christian Chamorel, piano at the Hotel DuPeyrou
Programme:
Frederic Chopin: Ballade No. 2, Op. 38
Franz Schubert: Drei Klavierstuke D946

The one Chopin performer of the festival, of course I would want to attend this concert. The last time I heard this Ballade being played was at a student concert and I remember feeling really stressed out for the performer. The fast part of the piece wasn’t very steady and I was worried for the well-being of the performer. A can’t really think of a better description than that. This time, I felt a lot more comfortable as the performer easily went through the difficult passages. His playing was very smooth and I wished that there were other Chopin performers, but was thankful for getting at least one Chopin piece in for the weekend.
The venue was perfect. A small chapel-esque concert room with the performer playing on a Steinway on the circular stage at the front of the room.

2. Suzanne Klowsky, piano at the Theatre du Passage (Petite Salle)
Programme:
Wolfgang-Amadeus Mozart: Sonate en do mineur KV 457
Johannes Brahms: Kalvierstucke Op. 76

In almost all concerts that I attend, about an hour or so into the programme I get a little tired. Since this concert was about an hour into listening to music for the day, I started to get a little tired during this concert. Nothing against the pianist by any means, but I’ve never been a Mozart fan (to tell you the truth, I was actually starting to get a little tired during the Schubert from the last concert – also not one of my favs…at little problematic as the festival is entitled “La Schubertiade”). I guess when I was going through the schedule of concerts for the weekend, I didn’t have too many problems narrowing down my choices of concerts to attend. There was a lot of Schubert and other similar composers, so when it came down to the concerts I actually wanted to listen to, I had a list that was very easily manageable.

3. Camerata La Stravaganza (Carole Haering, violin/direction, Louis Pantillon, violon/direction, Daniel Meller, violin et Roumen Kroumov, piano) at the Temple du Bas
Programme:
Johannes Brahms: Danse hongroise No. 5 en sol mineur
Boris Leopold: Echos de Russie (Fantaisie sur des theme populaires russes)
Anton Dvorak: Humoresque
Milan Skoric: Melodie ukrainienne
Jo Knumann: Airs bohemians pour violin solo et orchestre
Pablo Sarasate: Airs bohemians pour violin solo et orchestre
Dimitri Chostakovitch: Prelude – Valse

I had actually been to a concert where this ensemble had played, and quite enjoyed it…strange thing though is that they had exactly the same programme this time as the last. Hmmm. Good thing I liked the pieces. The Temple du Bas was PACKED. By the time I got there (10 minutes early), there were no seats left, so I stood near the side. A little bit into the performance, I felt adequately tired, and plopped myself on the ground. Sure, I could hardly see the musicians, but all I really cared about was being able to hear the music, and of course I could do that just fine. It was just such a relaxed atmosphere, people even going to sit on the stage, people singing along…good times. I love classical music and fun community spirit building events!
The soloist was great. I love ethnic Russian/bohemian-eqsue pieces. They have such strength and character to them. Someone should skate to these pieces. I know the first couple are way to popular and have been skated to many a time, but the other ones are great too.

4. Pascal & Gerard Desmeules, piano at the Conservatoire
Programme:
Franz Liszt: Concerto pathetique
Maurice Ravel: La Valse
Witold Lutoslawski: Variations sur un theme de Paganini

I don’t know if it was the acoustics of the room or what but I found the playing WAY too loud. It was a two piano, four hands with the grands open, but I wouldn’t think that would make a big difference. I mean that’s usually how it is. Something about the playing just gave me a little bit of a headache.
The last piece was really neat. Everyone knows Rachmaninoff’s famous variations, but this one was sort of jazzy in feel. Of course you could make out Paganini’s theme, but it was just a different take on it. What makes that theme so famous to use anyway?

5. Piano Quattro (Francois Creux, Alexandre Loeffler, Vanessa Lenglart et June Allender) at the Conservatoire
Programme:
Menu special "Schubertiade":
Petite marche pour ouvrir l’appetit, recette Franz Schubert – Presto du pere Joseph, sauce Hoboken – L’allegretto rafraichissant de la maison Bartholdi – Notre fameux Petrouchka facon Igor – Riz “Goletto” alla Verdi – Le supreme de Dvorak servi dans une garniture slave – Le parfait symphonique si vous aimez Brahms – La surprise du chef

This was a fun concert. The programme was delivered by the performers in the form of a menu. My favorite pun is the Verdi. Yuk yuk yuk. The concert was a two piano, eight hands romping good time. The room was absolutely packed (luckily I was seated comfortably) and there were people standing anywhere that there was space and they even spilled out onto the balcony where they couldn’t see the performers, but of course could still hear the wonderful music being played.
And even though I was in the same room as the previous concert and there were more “hands” playing away on the same two pianos, I didn’t get a headache like the last concert. Maybe it was because there were more people to suck up the sound, but for some reason I don’t think that more people would make THAT much of a difference.
It was a great concert to eat on. Light, casual, with a touch of humour…just how a Schubertiade should be!

It was great to see a diversity in the audiences. Different languages, age groups and cultures being represented. I definitely felt comfortable and enjoyed having some alone time to just soak up the beautiful music. Everyone was so friendly and there was such a nice community feel all day. Seeing everyone milling the streets and speaking with strangers was another one of those unexplainable calming feeling.
In two years, La Schubertiade will be held in Fribourg…I wonder if I’ll be around to attend???

-picture courtesy of www1.rsr.ch

Chocolate trials

Last year, I decided that I would try every type of chocolate bar by the big names here in Switzerland once, just to compare and say that I’ve sampled everything. I've decided to chronicle these trials and pass on my thoughts about the choclate-y yum-yums. This may mean that I will need to go back and re-sample those that I’ve already tasted. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it so that the knowledge of various chocolates gets spread out into the whatever sized group that actually reads this blog. Tee hee.

Bike ride

On Saturday, September 3rd, 2005 I went on a bike ride. The last time I rode my bike was just under a year ago, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience, for although as the saying goes “you never forget how to ride a bike”, not having ridden a bike since the summer of 1994 put that saying to the test. And come to think of it, I don’t even remember if I rode a bike then. I remember it was a group of five. With two bikes and three pairs of rollerblades. I remember borrowing something…but now I don’t remember what, because I know for the sure the bikes had hand brakes and gears and when I rode a similar bike last year, braking with my hands and changing gears seemed very very unfamiliar. This means, that my memory may be flawed (QUITE possible) and that the last time that I rode my bike was actually LONG before 1994 on a bike that braking meant backpedaling. Old-school.
Anyway, when I rode the bike last year, even steering the bike proved to be very difficult for some reason, so when the opportunity of going for a bike ride came up again, I was quite hesitant, but I really wanted to have positive feelings towards biking (especially since there is a high probability that I will be going on a weekend bike tour in the near future) so I decided to give it another go.
I ended up biking for 34km!
And it went really really well! I could steer, I could brake, AND I could use my gears! I pedaled up hills without stopping…only feeling that annoying “wow, my feet are pedaling really really fast, yet I’m going nowhere…I hope this bike still continues to inch forward and that I won’t tip over” feeling.
We biked from Neuch to Erlach through little towns, on major streets and over bridges, between cars and on sidewalks, through gravel and beside rivers, by fields and through farms, past horses, cows, goats and boats…stopping for a snack, a drink and a dip in the lake…it was really really fun!
Maybe this biking thing isn’t too bad afterall…but I think next time, I will try to bring along a walkman/discman or something of the sort. Listening to myself sing really isn’t enough, and no, I guess I can’t just enjoy the quiet outdoors. It’s nice to sit and watch the world go by in peace and quiet, but when you’re whooshing by on a bike, a soundtrack to life is key.

Getting back into a routine

It'll be awhile before I get all of my updates done, but I'm just getting back into the swing of things here in Europe.
I have so many little odds and ends to deal with and of course this blog is taking a little bit of a backseat (and to write all about my fabulous adventures over the past little while WILL take quite awhile I'm sure), but I promise it will get done. Sort of soonish.
I must say that I've missed little Neuch. And this continent is FAB.