Switzerland....clocks, watches, and banks....

People involved: Tom, Reijo, and myself
Destination: Switzerland - Zurich and Gruyeres to the H.R. Giger Museum and Bar in Castle Gruyeres
Date: September 15-16, Sat-Sun, 2007

Two days of Switzerland just happened for me, and I feel like so much has happened. The journey started out with Tom, Reijo and Omer, all friends from work, coming to my house to pick me up in Toms’ car. I almost forgot my passport….not thinking that I’d be crossing into Austria and Switzerland, and they don’t let you in without it. But luckily I found it, but we soon realized Omer did not have his, so back to his house we went. 20 minutes of searching on his end turned up nothing. So Omer unfortunately parted ways knowing there is no way to travel without one.

So, onward we travel. In order to even drive on the highways in Switzerland, and Austria, you have to purchase a yearly permit and display it on the window. If you get pulled over with no permit, big fine. It cost about 36 Euro for the small part of Austria we traveled through, and for Switzerland. Plus Tom got some sweet stickers to put on his front window, and the back of his car.

Passing into Austria, we hit a border crossing checkpoint. And these aren’t the empty checkpoints you find crossing from Arizona to Cali, these were full of Polizia, stopping every car and checking passports. Or so we thought. We got stopped, they looked at our passports, and told us to pull over. Maybe it was something fishy with the combination of passports we had, cuz I’m pretty sure we don’t look that threatening. ‘Three guys walk into a bar….a German, an American, and one Finn….” So they checked our passports for 5 minutes, brought em back to us, and on we went. We didn’t think anything of it until it happened at the next 5 checkpoints. And all the while they checked us out, they just waved other cars on through (wtf?).

We got started a little later than usual. The plan was to get to the H.R. Giger museum by 4pm or so, then hit the bar, and then travel two hours northeast back to Zurich and stay the night. Well, we got a late start. Change of plans…we are now in Switzerland, but we can drive back to Germany, through Austria, and then enter Germany again to go to a place called Rheinfall. It’s a huge natural waterfall that is split in the middle by a large rock, which you can take a boat ride over to and climb the stairs to the top of the waterfall. We got a few pictures…but then realized a boat ride was a necessity. Get the ticket, and onward we went on a boat with about 40 other people or so. You drive right up to the middle of the fountain, the closer you get the more intense the sound. And people are starting to get wet so you start to hear them screaming, as if they’ve never felt cold water before or that this was unexpected traveling to the middle of a waterfall.

The stairs were steep to get to the top. And very narrow. Good combination when they unload like 50 people at a time on this thing. Here’s a panoramic view of the water from the top…

But the best part was the second boat ride over to the far right of the waterfall. There is a ledge that sticks out 20 feet over the rushing water. It’s amazing how they must have built this, and the feeling of that much power rushing past you is pretty intense. You feel like you are at the mouth of the river, and that the water will just all of a sudden gain strength and wash you away. Made for some awesome pictures though…











And on the way out we ran into this place, which was closed, but reminded me that even though I am never too far from home…



That was our unexpected find of the day. So we get back in the car and head to the Hotel Alameda??? In Zurich. It’s about a 20 minute train ride north of the main city. I ask the guy about how to get there and where the bars/clubs are, and he proceeds to show me on a map… “this is where the bars are, lots of younger people, this is shopping, this is more bars, and this area is slow walk fast money.” What? Maybe he was just trying to be informative, or overly informative, or felt I should know where the ‘ladies of the evening’ are in Zurich. Yeah thanks.

So we get to downtown, we walked around for about and hour and a half, not really finding anything cool. And then out of nowhere comes a Hooters. In Zurich, haha. So, a pitcher and an appetizer later, we bounce. Now we are on the mission to find a place called Rotem Kamel, which was recommended to me by Ron from my work. On the way, we ran into some local girls who wanted to bum a cigarette, so we asked where we could find this place. They had no clue where to find it, but agreed to show us to a club they were going to. Perfect, finally someone who knows where to go in this town, by that time we had already blown two hours walking around. Whatever place we went to, it turned out to be cool. Came in to some American hip hop, typical club music. Went to the bar for a drink, a rum and coke….15 Francs. That loosely translates to $15. Ouch. Zurich turns out, is expensive as hell to drink in. Oddest thing of the night….music turns to salsa and merenge for far too long than it should have (one song), I look over and some 60 year old Spanish guy is manning the DJ booth.

Anyways, we decide this place is good, but want to find Rotem Kamel. We get our jackets and out the door we go. I lead us down a wrong alley and end up the other direction from where we need to go. We finally found the spot on the map, but no luck in finding the bar. Last stop of the night, TicTac Bar, really small beers for 5 Francs, girls dancing on the bar, people bumping into each other. We realized the night should end now before it gets any worse, finished out beers and hit the 430am train back to the hotel.

Ahh Gruyeres. The sole reason of this trip. I have been infatuated with the work of H.R. Giger for at least 5 years or so now. Giger is a Swiss Surrealist who is most famous for his work on Alien, Dune, and Species. He does airbrushing, sculpture, and other media to create some of the most amazing work I have ever seen. So we get to Castle Gruyeres, find the Giger Museum entrance and bar, and realize the most important part of the trip has finally arrived.

I don’t know what I expected…but it was a lot more in depth than I had imagined it would be in terms of highlighting works of Giger. There were pieces from many different periods in his life, even sculpture and furniture, huge triptych panels of his work, and even his private collection of work, some his own and some from other artists. Being able to go up and see the intricate detail on his work was the best part, because you realize just how much time and thought went into every airbrush stroke or brush application. The books I have of his work only show you so much detail, but seeing it in person is indescribable. The lighting was not very good on some pieces, so pictures were hard to come by and they also frown upon people taking pictures inside. I didn’t want to disrespect the artist, so I snapped a few pics of my favorite pieces, ones I knew I had to have, and kept the photo taking to a minimum.















The museum also highlighted another artist, Wessi, who I am not familiar with but found his work to be quite impressive also. It is more of a desaturated watercolor application, but his color choice made his style very unique, along with the content.



On to the Giger Bar. It was located outside the museum. We walk in for this first time and this is what I saw…







Giger is famous for his Biomechanical works, and this bar was designed top to bottom with his style of work. It wasn’t a bar that hung a few pictures up and called it ‘Giger Bar’, this place really was like walking into his world. We sit down in these crazy chairs with skulls and bone all over them, and I notice something called Alien Coffee to drink. You can get it with or without alcohol, so I figured ‘when in Rome’ and ordered the top dog. This is what they brought me….coffee with two cremes, marang puff things, sugar, a cookie, and a shot of Absinthe.



I hesitated for a minute not knowing if I was to put the absinthe in the coffee or not, just thinking that didn’t sound right. Sure enough, it was to be enjoyed separately. We finished up and the three of us pondered at how amazing this place and the museum is, and I was thinking ‘well there’s a reason his work is in a castle in Switzerland…” We took a few more pictures of ourselves in the chairs and off we went, I reluctantly, but soon we were in the car and driving back to Munich.

Tomorrow, Frankfurt auto show…on my birthday no less. Ciao!

Parker