Switzerland

A Literary Field Trip

by Mr. Wineberg

Lötschental Valley, 2004

Where is Switzerland?

Where is Switzerland?

Languages

• Four official languages!– German– French– Italian– Romansh

• One unofficiallanguage– English

Zanoli, Marco. Map of the languages spoken in Switzerland. Wikipedia. Web. 03/21/11

Why Switzerland?

• United Nations• International banking• International Olympic

CommitteeInternational Labour Organization (ILO)

(This is where I worked…)

Flag of the United Nations

(That’s me!)

Saying goodbye to my coworkers at the ILO Library. September, 2004.

Geneva, Switzerlandfr:Utilisateur:Ork.ch. Photographie aérienne de Genève, la rade, le jet d'eau, le Pont du Mont-Blanc, le 26 avril 2005. Wikipedia. Web. 03/25/11.

The Alps

• Some of the highest mountains on Earth!

• Dramatic scenery• High mountain passes

View of the Swiss Alps from the Jungfrau. ABC-Clio. web. 03/18/11.

• One of the highest passes

• Glaciers for two major rivers

Furka Pass

Furkapass and hairpins of the Furkapassroute in Switzerland as seen from Grimselpassroute, 15 Aug. 2006. Wikimedia

Commons. Cooper.ch

Hotel Belvédère(I recognized this hotel when I passed it because I watched way too many James Bond movies as a kid!)

Lkiwaner. Hotel Belvédère beim Rhonegletscher an Furka Passstrasse, Schweiz. Wikipedia. 03/18/11.

Furka Pass (statistics)

• 14 mile ascent– (Annandale to DC = 14

miles)

• At the top: 7992 feet– Empire State Building x 2!– Washington Monument x 14!– Above the timberline– Glaciers form the Rhone &

Rhine rivers

2 x Empire

State Building!

14 x Washington Monument!

Furka Pass (in the movies)

• “Goldfinger” (1964)– James Bond follows Mr.

Goldfinger across the pass

Click the image to see the Furka Pass in the movies!

Furka Pass (in real life)

• Watch those hairpins…!!

(Click the motorcycle)

Could you do this?

Cobblestones on the Gotthard Pass. Bikeswitzerland. Web. 03/21/11

Tour de Suisse(annual cycling race)

Books about Switzerland

• Swiss Mist by Randy Powell

• Bloomability by Sharon Creech

• Alex Van Helsing: Vampire Rising by Jason Henderson

Swiss Mist

• Milo Bastion• Secret: he NEVER

visits Switzerland!• Swiss “state of mind”• Surprise twist at the

end!

Seattle, Washington

View of the Matterhorn. Zermatt, Switzerland, 2004.World-famous mountain that’s mentioned throughout Swiss Mist….

The Matterhorn!

Close-up of the Matterhorn

Near the Swiss-Austrian border

Vaud Canton

Bloomability

• Dinnie Doone, age 13• Moves to Lugano,

Switzerland • Can she “bloom” in new

home?• Very “Swiss-centric”

Ticino, SwitzerlandMediterranean climate prevails in Ticino!

Palm trees

in Switzerland?!?

Mt. San Salvatore

Dinnie and her

friends climb this

mountain a few

times throughout

Bloomability.

Bellinzona, SwitzerlandJust like an Italian piazza…

Mamma mia!

Locarno, Switzerland

How you get to the church…Aerial trams are very important in Switzerland…

Alex Van Helsing: Vampire Rising

• Who is Van Helsing?– Professor Van Helsing

(Dracula by Bram Stoker)

Universal Pictures. "Van Helsing poster".

Wikimedia. Web. 29 March 2011.

Christopher Lee as Dracula. Vampires in Film. Web. 31 March 2001

Abraham Van Helsing (Bram Stoker’s Dracula).

Horror Film Wiki. Web. 31 March 2011.

Swiss monster heritage1816: Mary Shelley writes Frankenstein in Switzerland

1979: Swiss, H.R. Giger, designs the alien that terrorizes the cast of Alien

"Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley." Biography in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 31 Mar. 2011.

Ridley Scott (Director). (2003). Alien. [DVD]. 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Inc.. Screenshot of actor Bolaji Badejo in costume as the Alien in the 1979 film Alien. Wikipedia. Web. 31 March 2011.

Gruyères, Switzerland

(Scenic Swiss village where world-famous Gruyères cheese is made…)

H.R. Giger Museum, Gruyères, Switzerland

NO PEEKING!

(The “darker” side ofGruyères…)

H.R. Giger Museum, Gruyères, Switzerland I’m a little bit

creepy…

Lake GenevaPre-storm

(This castle is

in Switzerland.)

(These mountains

are in France.)

Lake Geneva During storm

Lake GenevaStorm in progress

(Storms like

this inspired

“Frankenstein”

)

Switzerland’s friendlier creatures…

• “Alpage”- herds left to graze in high alpine meadows.– Occasional

inconvenience to hikers– Watch where you step!

(Click the picture to see Mr. Wineberg dodging Swiss cows.)

The end