SwissMinns

Road-trip to Milan Susan and I drove south, over the mountains to Milan, Italy this weekend.   The Swiss advise taking the train from Bern to Milan, but, we’re Americans.   We drive.   Actually, it was too last minute to get train tickets, and we would have gone by train if we planned ahead more.   As it turned out, the drive was quite beautiful and we’re glad we drove. The two cities look pretty close on the map, but it’s a twisted route to get through the mountains.   We took the #2 highway, which includes many tunnels, including the Gotthard Tunnel which is 17 kilometers.   It is so deep under the mountain, that it’s warm inside:   it was just below freezing when we entered the tunnel, at the midpoint is was 90F...SCIENCE. We stayed at a hotel in the center of the city, lucky to find parking under the hotel.  The city center has very narrow, crowded streets. We really lucked-out, and had great weather in Milan.  The pictures below are the Galleria Vittroio Emanue

Last week we had a full day of cultural training provided by 3M. We also had a two-day cultural training before we left for our stay in China. Maybe because China in itself is such a cultural difference we felt we learned more and the training was more significant? Our trainer was a nice guy, we got lots of history of Switzerland but no real surprises. Not to say that living in Switzerland doesn't involve some cultural changes but again compared to China...We think we got this. (At least I hope so) Here are some highlights from our learning and experiences so far... · The Swiss family life is pretty conservative, following the model of a male breadwinner and a female household. Things have improved since women gained their right to vote in 1971.           · The Swiss dress is usually dressy casual. · The Swiss value hard work, responsibility, and timeliness. · Swiss don't like change. They like things predictable and orderly, no surprises. So that is t

Sunday, November 5th, 2017 On Sunday morning we left our hotel in Dijon, France and drove to Troyes. Before we left Dijon we had breakfast in a cute little café where we had our croissants and espresso. Mmm... We drove through some really small and beautiful villages on our way. As most things are in this country businesses are mostly closed on Sundays. Very quiet where ever we went. No vineyard sampling today.  Each village even as tiny as they were had a old large church that was the center of the town. Some villages were looking pretty abandoned. Troyes is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about 150 km southeast of Paris. This area is known as the Champagne region of Northern France. Mainly 16th century half timbered houses in his old town. A great fire of 1524 destroyed much of this medieval city, in spite of the city's numerous canals. Troyes is home to the Lacoste company headquarters, a popular

November 4th, 2017 We decided to do a driving trip this weekend. Mark has to work in Cergy, France on Monday. Instead of taking the train we decided to see a little of France. It was a beautiful drive from "home" to Dijon on Saturday. Dijon is the capital city of the historical Burgundy region, one of the country's principal wine producing area. Yes, Dijon Mustard was named after this town but is no longer produced locally. It is one  the most beautiful cities in France, and its historic building and roads were not heavily damaged by bombing in World War Two. Dijon was known as the capitol of the Dukes of Burgundy. Burgundy was a great power during the 14th and 15th centuries. The dukes were great patrons of the arts, so Dijon was a major centre of Gothic and early Renaissance music, painting and sculpture, attracting some of the greatest and most famous artists and musicians from Flanders in particular. We down loaded an app for a self guided walking tour of the ci