Hiking in the Jura

The Jura mountain range is in western Switzerland and is not as high or as steep as the Alps. They're really more like big hills. And since they are so low it means they don't get nearly as much snow as the Alps. Which means you can hike there in March! At least you could this year. We had a gorgeous 60-degree day and Nico wanted to do a specific hike that leads you by a restaurant with excellent food and we couldn't argue with that. Actually, the hike led us by 4 different restaurants and we stopped at the first two for a drink and the last one for a full meal. Not a bad day!

There actually was a little bit of snow. Which led to a little snowball fight:



A pretty view:



The sweetest dog ever at the second restaurant:



Drinks at the second restaurant (that's coffee schnapps for Nico):



The second restaurant was actually a farmhouse more than a restaurant. Here's what was being done in the fields around the restaurant (thankfully we were upwind where we were sitting):



And, finally, dinner at the fourth restaurant. The guys all ordered foal steak (baby horse). The portions were enormous yet much cheaper than what you'd pay in Zürich:



Doesn't look like we did much hiking, does it? The hike itself was about 6 miles and the first hour was a steep uphill but after that it was pretty easygoing. It wasn't as picturesque as hiking in the Alps but for a March hike I'd highly recommend it.

Öpfelchammer

Last night we had dinner at a restaurant called Öpfelchammer (roughly translates to apple room in English). This restaurant serves traditional Swiss food that is very tasty (and expensive). Martin and I have wanted to go to this restaurant for the past year and a half so we were happy to finally get there before we left for Germany. What makes Öpfelchammer unique is that there is a big wooden beam that goes across the ceiling and each customer is challenged to jump up and over it, squiggle across the beam next to it, and then hang upside down while drinking a glass of white wine. If you can do that, you get to write your name on the wall.

This all takes place in the Weinstübe which is a small cozy room where the only beverages served are wine, water, grape juice, and port. Here's a picture of the beams that you have to get yourself up and over. The space at the top is very small so it's a lot harder to do than it looks. A lot of people hit their heads on the ceiling pretty hard while trying to jump through:



Writing on the walls from people who have made it over the beams:



Here's one guy trying to do it ... there was a bachelor party there and they were all wearing shirts that said "Letzter Tag in Freiheit", or, "last day of freedom". This guy is failing miserably and he actually hit his head pretty hard several times. I think he was the groom so he was probably already three sheets to the wind and didn't feel it anyway:



Here's one of the guys that was successful, drinking the wine while upside down. I think he must have been some sort of gymnast though because he did it right away and made it look easy:

Mmmmmmmm ... chocolate.

I took a few pictures of the chocolate selection in our local grocery store here in Zürich. 100% swiss chocolate ... I will miss it when we move to Germany.





Easter is the biggest holiday of the year in Switzerland. The candy has been out in the grocery stores for weeks already. So many chocolate bunnies to choose from, so little time. Here are some neon colored chocolate bunnies by the checkout counters:



I've held back from buying any chocolate bunnies yet this year. I will likely buy a little golden Lindt chocolate bunny at some point though ... they're too good to resist.