ZueriFaescht 2013

Since the last post was quite heavy on the physics, I'll have a post just about all the fun things that have happened the last few days.

This last week has been very busy with the beginning of the summer school lectures (which I will discuss later) on top of everything else. In my free time, I've had the opportunity to explore Geneva, watch some soccer games and join in an amazing Zumba class, go for a run through the woods and participate in an early morning workout session. There's no time to rest!

However, this last weekend, it was Zurich's turn. Every three years, Zurich holds a massive festival called ZueriFaescht. With an expected 2 million people over the course of 3 days, this is an event that simply couldn't be missed. However, with so many people, I was shocked that we could keep together as a group. Of course, without our cellphones, it wouldn't have been possible- thank goodness for modern technology.

The lake and some of the crowd

The festival was massive, and included everything one could possibly imagine. There were food stands, bars, DJ's, live music, tightrope walking, marching band parades, a huge ferris wheel and fireworks! All along the river side and along the lake, there were people from all across the world, the weather was beautiful and the atmosphere of the city was amazing!

Tightrope walking- 200 meters across the river

Lights at the beginning of the fireworks being dropped with parachutes from a helicopter. I liked the out-of-focus effect.

Apart from the festival itself though, I also had a chance to see some of the city, primarily ETH Zurich. It is a fantastic school for physics, and one that I would like to study at. It is a beautiful campus with a great view over the city. Unfortunately, since it was a Sunday, some of the buildings were locked, but I did go into the zoological exhibition, which was very well done. On Sunday morning, I also happened to meet someone on the train from Seattle who was studying at ETH. It's a small world! I was glad to have the opportunity to ask some questions.

ETH Zurich on the hill

The view from ETH

Zurich also has some fantastic cathedrals, namely the Grossmunster, Fraumunster and St.Peter's. This gives it quite a different feeling from Geneva, which is much more modern architecturally. In general, Zurich is also a very clean city, and this weekend was a true testament to the efficiency of the workforce there. The amount of glass and garbage on the ground by 2:00 in the morning was horrendous, and yet, several hours later, there was little evidence. It was very impressive. I'm just not sure if the smells were typical of the city or not...

Grossmunster

The Ferris wheel at Fraumunster