Luke Stearns near Mendrisio, Ticino

vabellon Geneva before a storm

viernullvier Zürich at night, double exposure

bdebaca Lake Constance (Bodensee)

Post from: The Switzerland Traveler

Schiffbau means (literally) Ship building. So it’s a strange building to find in the middle of a city.

But no, they really used to build the boats that sail on lake Zürich down near Escher-Wyss Platz. The boats are fairly large too, with capacities of around 750 passengers.

But now the industrial area is steadily being converted into a trendy area with restaurants, clubs, cinemas and bars.

Schiffbau itself has two bars, a restaurant (LaSalle) and a Jazz Club (Moods) all of which I’ll be examining in detail in later posts.

The first port of call should be the bar at the top of the building, preferably at night. Overlooking the Freitag shop, the bar looks out over the rooftops, it’s not high but still impressive.

Then perhaps a meal in LaSalle, an elegant restaurant separated from the factory walls by a large glass cube in which the tables, chandeliers etc are situated.

Then on the third visit, why not try Moods for some relaxing, or modern jazz. www.moods.ch has up-to-date schedules.

Schiffbau is located in between Escher-Wyss Platz and Hardbrücke, and can be reached easily by Tram 13 or 4, Bus 33 and probably any number of S-Bahn trains.

Photos: Flickr 

Post from: The Switzerland Traveler

This week sees the start of the Zurich Film festival. Running from 27 Sep to 7 Oct, there are opportunities for attending gala premieres of (mainly European) films, childrens events and opportunites to meet and talk to directors, scriptwriters and pretty much everyone involved in film.

Keynote guest is Oliver Stone, and films relating to post 1989 Russia are being featured to give an understanding of the uphaevals and conflicts in today’s Russian soceity.

Zürich has a whole series of Arthouse cinemas, and this is the third time the festival has been used to promote and link them.

I could give you a list of what’s on, but the organisers do that so much better than me, and will tell you what tickets are still available. Check out http://www.zurichfilmfestival.org/en/home/

Post from: The Switzerland Traveler

Next weekend sees another big party come to Zürich. Freestyle.ch is Europe’s biggest freestyle sports event. Covering snowboard, free-style skiing, skateboards and FMX (I assume that’s something to do with little bikes) the top stars from each sport will be competing for the top USD 100,000 prize.The action all takes place at Landiwiese, on the south side of the lake. I caught part of the action last year, by accident(!) and everything takes place in a relaxed party atmosphere, especially if the weather is behaving itself. Currently the forecast doesn’t look too bad, although we aren’t expecting blazing sunshine.Nightime sees a series of bands and DJs performing, with music ranging from lounge, through hip hop to hardcore techno. As I struggle to differentiate house from garage I won’t give any recommendations, I’m guessing that if you are into that kind of thing then you know what you’ll like. Check out www.freestyle.ch for more info as to what’s on where.Other attractions include film events, such as premier of Optimistic? a film related to climate change and the effects it will have on snowboarding.Tickets are available for each day seperately or as a three day pass.

Post from: The Switzerland Traveler