Category Archives: Switzerland

Under Cover

Don’t judge a book by its cover. Are you kidding? Of course we judge a book by its cover. Not if it’s by a favorite author, perhaps, but when we’re browsing in a bookstore or even online for a novel by a new writer, we look for covers that appeal to us. So I’m delightedContinue reading “Under Cover”

School’s Out!

Memory is unreliable—we all know that—but my childhood summer vacations seemed endless. I remember getting out of school at the end of June and not returning until the beginning of September: three months of pure fun. And, I now realize, three months of stress for parents who had to figure out what to do withContinue reading “School’s Out!”

Avoiding a Swiss Dystopia

I read predominantly mystery novels, and that’s fine, but sometimes I need a break from crime. So for the past couple of weeks, before and during my husband’s and my vacation in Uzbekistan (which was fabulous), I’ve been reading highly praised literary novels that I’d downloaded onto my Kindle but hadn’t yet gotten around to.Continue reading “Avoiding a Swiss Dystopia”

Living Next Door to Bern’s Bears

I was recently invited to join a tour of Bern’s bear park, and I learned so much about the city’s bears that I thought I’d share some of it with you. It’s a story with a happy ending for the bears but also a reminder of how cruel supposedly civilized people can be to animals. InContinue reading “Living Next Door to Bern’s Bears”

Little Known Facts about Paradise

My friend Clare O’Dea is a dual citizen like me, but Swiss-Irish instead of Swiss-American. She’s also a writer of fiction and non-fiction and (unlike me) a professional journalist. A few weeks ago, she interviewed me for Switzerland’s version of an English-language online newsletter called The Local, which she writes for regularly. The article isContinue reading “Little Known Facts about Paradise”

Some Useful Rat

When I was about thirty, I traveled around Germany with one of my uncles. A year or two before that, I’d taken beginner German classes for two or three months.  You’ve heard the saying, “A little learning is a dangerous thing.” Well, my trip to Germany made that clear. At the places we were staying, thereContinue reading “Some Useful Rat”

The Cold Days of Carnival

Monday, February 27, at four in the morning, the city of Basel’s Fasnacht celebration began. Fasnacht is the German word for Carnival, and Basel’s lasts three days. Yesterday morning, despite darkness, icy cold, and the painfully early hour, thousands of people lined the streets of Switzerland’s third largest city to watch groups of men andContinue reading “The Cold Days of Carnival”

Snow in Bern

Saint Nicholas Day came and went on December sixth, and winter still hadn’t come to Bern. Two days later, the fuchsias on my balcony were still opening their buds; there were new geranium blossoms, too. Then last Friday and Saturday it snowed, and since then the temperatures have remained below freezing. The snow is stillContinue reading “Snow in Bern”

Belonging

I’m a citizen of two countries, but I’ve never had to apply for naturalization. I acquired US citizenship when I was born and Swiss citizenship in 1988 when I married a Swiss. Becoming a Swiss isn’t normally so easy. In fact, even people who were born in Switzerland don’t get citizenship unless at least oneContinue reading “Belonging”