Recently in Switzerland Category

For nearly 500 years the Swiss have been known for their world famous watches and clocks, which are renowned for both their accuracy and beauty. And while it's great to have a Swiss watch on your wrist or a Swiss clock on your mantle, it's even better to travel to the source of these fabulous timepieces to see where they're made. Visitors to Zurich can do just that with a tour of the Clock and Watch Museum Beyer Zürich. This fascinating museum offers guests a look at more than 3,000 years of timekeeping devices, ranging from prehistoric sundials and shadow sticks to the cutting-edge quartz instruments in use today, such as a Patek Philippe watch that checks the time once every second through a wireless connection to an atomic clock in Neuchâtel and is accurate to within a millionth of a second. With a watch like that, there's no longer any excuse to be late to work. Housed in the Beyer Watch Store in the city's most prestigious shopping district, the museum is considered to have one of the most important horological collections anywhere in the world, with more than 500 pieces from all fields of chronology examined from both technical and artistic points of view. (And yes, I only just now learned that "horological" refers to timekeeping devices.) Guests at the Sheraton Neues Schloss Hotel - Zurich or the Four Points by Sheraton Sihlcity might enjoy a stroll through this temple of timekeeping.

Cycling culture is exploding at the moment. From critical mass rallies to tall bike jousting tournaments everyone's talking about bikes. Personally, bicycling is my favorite mode of transport, and though I'm a rather conservative biker - cruising along at a nice slow pace, two hands planted firmly on the handlebars - I still get a thrill when I see someone pop a wheelie. That's why I've got my sights set on Bicycle Film Festival 2008. There, you can watch all the crazy biking action, while keeping your feet firmly on the ground.

Now in its eighth year. the festival celebrates bicycles through film, art, and music, and has been making its way along a 17-city circuit since May. On October 9, the festival kicks off in Vienna with a show of street art and photography inspired by bicycle culture, at Galerie Inoperable. Three days of parties, electronic music concerts, folding bike races, fixed gear showcases, a BMX extravaganza, and of course a good old classic bike joust follow. If you go, book a room at Le Méridien Vienna and get a good night's rest before setting off on the 745k journey through alpine foothills to Zurich, where the action starts up again on October 16. Here, the Sheraton Neues Schloss Hotel will make the perfect home base for a full roster of bike films, art shows and parties that culminates in a "European Hardcourt Bike Polo Showdown" on October 18. So check out this clip from outside last year's festival in Paris. What do you think? Do the French do it best?

The Swiss have a reputation as steady, even-tempered people, but there is one time a year where they go wild in the streets. Lucerne Fasnacht is Switzerland's biggest annual street party, kind of a Mardi Gras in the mountains, and it has enough energy and excitement to rival similar extravaganzas in New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro. For the past week leading up to tomorrow's Shrove Tuesday (or Fat Tuesday, if you like), revelers don outlandish costumes and parade through the picturesque city of Lucerne, dancing to festive Guggemusig along the route. It began in the early morning hours of "Dirty Thursday," when the Fritschi Father and his troops waved from Town Hall and a gun sounded to signal the commencement of merriment. The following days have featured hours upon hours of music, parades, food, drink, dancing, and general mayhem, leading up to tomorrow's Monsterkorso (Monster Parade) on Tuesday, when the most outlandish creatures come out to play. The festival takes place in central Lucerne, an hour's drive from the Four Points by Sheraton Sihlcity - Zurich and the Sheraton Neues Schloss Hotel - Zurich so if you're in the area, don't miss it.

Saturday mornings were never the same after the Smurfs went off the air. Satisfy a little of that longing for Greedy, Grouchy, and Gargamel with a trip to Belgium. The Smurfs, like Tintin, Willy and Wanda, Lucky Luke and many more comic book heros, were created there. A meander through the streets of the picturesque, highly walkable city of Brussels, unveils a series of thirty giant frescoes. Painted on the sides of buildings, they depict characters and scenes from comic book favorites in what is known as the "Comic Strip Trail."

Make your way to the Belgian Center for Comic Strip Art, and marvel at the Art Nouveau building. Erected in 1906, it's a masterpiece by Belgian architect Victor Horta. Three floors house an extensive collection of original drawings, as well as exhibits on the history of comics, the artists that created them, and several permanent displays that cater to specific interests. "The Comic Strip in Motion" details the evolution of comic strip to animated film, and "The Museum of the Imaginary" takes you inside the world of your favorite comic strip characters.Le Meridien Bruxelles' comic strip special gets you tickets to the museum, a Tintin keepsake, and two guide books that detail the city of Brussels' influence on the art of the comic strip. Spend some time scouring the treasure trove in the Centre for Comic Strip Art's reference library. And remember, in French they're called Schtroumpfs.