From Heidi to Nuclear Physics

Around Europe in many different cultures - Part 5 Switzerland

Famous for its scenic countryside and children’s story Heidi, Switzerland is a unique country with four national languages depending on the region (http://www.myswitzerland.com/). The three main official languages are German (spoken by 63.7% of the population), French (20.4%), and Italian (6.5%). The fourth official language, Romansch, is only spoken by 0.5% of its population. Do you know that Geneva – with UN Head Quarter and the biggest nuclear physics research facility in world – is not the capital city of Switzerland? The capital city is Bern.

Among the many faces of Switzerland, the romantic set of Heidi’s childhood created by Johanna Spyri in 1880 attracted many visitors. The “Heidi Village” in Maienfeld will transport you into the era when the children's story was written. The Heidi Trail leads visitors through the idyllic landscape in the Alps.

The other face of Switzerland is its international role. Geneva is the headquarters of many of UN’s agencies as well as the Red Cross – and of course, it is the place where the treaties regarding the treatment of wartime non-combatants and prisoners of war, Geneva Conventions, was signed.

CERN's Globe of Science and Innovation exhibition centre and the nearby Meyrin site are seen from the air. The surface buildings which provide access and support for the ATLAS experiment, one of four experiments on the LHC, can also be seen on the right.
Photo by CERN

Geneva also hosts the largest nuclear physics research facility, CERN (stands for Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire or European Organisation for Nuclear Research). When you browse the internet, remember that the World Wide Web was born in CERN in 1989. Home of the Large Hadron Colider (LHC), its business is fundamental physics – finding out what the Universe is made of and how it works. A visit to CERN is free. You can book a guided tour in advance, or just turn out to see the many different exhibitions including the Universe of Particules that exhibition takes you on a journey deep into the world of particles and back to the Big Bang. For detailed information about opening hours, guided tours and how to get there, see http://outreach.web.cern.ch/outreach/visites/index.html. One important thing to remember is to bring your passport with a valid Switzerland and France or Schengen visa as the tour will include crossing the border.

Moving the calorimeter on side A of the ATLAS cavern, January 2011
photo by CERN

Big Ben, Karl Marx and Concorde

Around Europe in many different cultures - Part 7 UK

Last but now least, the UK. From London to Scotland, from the Big Ben to the Lakes, you are spoiled for choice. If you are only visiting the capital, walk along the river Thames. You will find the Parliament building and the London Eye are very near to each other, while Buckingham Palace is only ten-minute-walk away. The London Underground, locally famous as “the Tube” will give you access to many places of interest. Free maps are available in all tube and railway stations.

Further along the River Thames, the Tower of London is in the UNESCO world heritage list. William the Conqueror in 1066 built an imposing fortress around the White Tower to protect London and assert his power. Madame Tussauds is another popular place to see, but you need to allow more time to get in as the queue is always long.

For Indonesian passport holders, there are two affordable guesthouses run by the Embassy’s staff – Wisma Caraka in Hendon, North London, and Wisma Merdeka in Willesden Green (http://www.indonesianembassy.org.uk/info_residence.html).

Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery

For Beatles fans, Liverpool offers an experience of its own. Try the Yellow Duckmarine for a unique one-hour amphibious sightseeing tour of Liverpool's historic waterfront, city and docks.

Then of course there is Manchester! Home of the famous United football club, The Smiths, Joy Division (and its successor New Order) and Oasis, Manchester is also the birth place of the 19th century industrial revolution, the first intercity passenger railway in the world, and the city where Karl Marx met Friedrich Engels.

Manchester witnessed Ernest Rutherford working with Hans Geiger, James Joules studied under John Dalton’s supervision (http://www.mosi.org.uk), and Alliott Verdon Roe (A.V. Roe) started the aviation industry that later became the British Aerospace (Bae) System. In Manchester Airport’s Viewing Park, you can see G-BOAC, the oldest Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde ever served the British Airways.

Away from science, Manchester is the great place to have authentic Indian food. Only a few bus-stops away from city centre and the University of Manchester, “the curry-mile” is home for all sorts of Asian food, most restaurants and cafes there are Halal.

For more UK features - from North West England to North Wales - please see my previous article http://adeline-andy.blogspot.com/2008/02/deers-camping-puffins-and-rafs-hawk.html

Free festivals in Vienna

Around Europe in many different cultures - Part 6 Austria

Austria for me is The Sound of Music. It is the hills that are alive with the voice of Dame Julie Andrews. And Salzburg, where the film was shot, does offer specialty tours and trails for the Sound of Music fans (http://www.austria.info/uk/art-culture/take-a-sound-of-music-tour-in-salzburg-1135998.html). However, the Austria featured here is the present cultural Austria. My friend Marleen Paeschke kindly recommended a number of free festivals around Vienna that worth visiting.

Home to Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, Klimt and Schiele, Vienna is vibrant city full of cultural experience and free festivals. A number of free annual outdoor festivals are held in Vienna by many different Austrian political parties. Although Austrians are aware of their main aim – to gain more votes – they are still interesting events. The best news is, they are free!

Stadt.Fest.Wien (The City Festival) offer numerous choices of open air concerts for free, with many snacks to go on every corner in the first district. Takes place annually in late may, it offers classical and jazz concerts at the "Michaeler Platz", one of the most impressive locations in Vienna. The Stadtfest is sponsored by the OEVP political party (middle-right...black party).

The Donauinselfest (Danube Island Festival) is an annual open-air free music festival, usually in mid-June (http://2011.donauinselfest.at/?lang=en&module=home). The largest open air festival on an island in the middle of the Danube, the Donauinselfest is also free. It is another festival sponsored by political party the SPOE (Austrians social party...supposed to be middle to left but acts more like middle to right wing). This festival presents international popular acts. Because of its popularity, it is normally jam-packed with people, so it is not highly recommend for families with young children.

The Volksstimmenfest (http://www.kpoe.at/home/kultur/volksstimmefest.html) run by the political left wing party (the only truly left wing party but unfortunately without any political influence). It is held in the huge Prater Park, with different choices of international musical acts. Although most of them are not (yet) famous musician, this event is very colourful and nonetheless appealing.

Among many more free concerts, happenings, events and parties in Vienna throughout the year, open-air cinemas in summer is one of Marleen’s favourites. This year, Kino Unter Sternen is going to take place 1st to 24th of July 2011 at Karlsplatz, Vienna.

The famous Austrian food is of course Wiener Schnitzel (Viennese Schnitzel), a traditional Austrian dish of an escalope (boneless meat which have been thinned out using a mallet, rolling pin or beaten with the handle of a knife) coated in breadcrumbs and fried. Although the traditional Wiener Schnitzel is made of veal, it is now often made of pork or even chicken.

For more information on visiting Vienna, go to http://www.wien.info/en

scenic view of Austrian countryside

Travelling around Europe - transport and accommodation

Either you plan to go backpacking or travelling in style, the first step is to sort out your visa. There are 25 countries in Europe who signed the Schengen agreement in 1985, creating Europe’s borderless Schengen area. Among them, 15 countries offered one-stop visa – they do not include UK and Switzerland. Once you sort out your visa and choose your first port of entry, Europe is an open place!

Travelling around Europe is never easier than now. Many budget airlines have lucrative offers from smaller airports. However, most European residents prefer to travel by land – either hire a car, bus or train. One good idea is to get a Eurorail pass (http://www.eurail.com). There are choices of Global Pass for 22 countries, selected pass for up to five countries, or One Country Pass.

Planning your independent travel – without joining any tour group – might look complicated at firs, but with today’s internet technology, all you need to do is search. For an affordable accommodation all over Europe – and the rest of the world – it is worth joining Hostelling International (http://www.hihostels.com/). YHA in the UK (http://www.yha.org.uk) charges £15.95 per year for individuals – cheaper for under 26, family membership, or life membership. The membership gives you access to over 4,000 hostels around the world.

All in all, Europe is vast and diverse, and so does your option. Whatever you choose, enjoy the trip!

Europe in a glimpse

Westminster Abbey, London

When The Jakarta Post asked me to write an article about cities of Europe, I got a little nervous. While Paris, London and Berlin are cities that I have visited and love, I have never been to Italy, nor have I been to Austria and Switzerland.

After some research and thanks to my lovely friends Folke Kayser, Marleen Paeschke and my lovely cousin Renate Heru Utomo, I managed to put together a long article on lovely cities of Europe.

The short version of the article – there is only space for 800 words – will be published in The Jakarta Post (www.thejakartapost.com) on 8th June 2011. At the same time I will publish the full article on this blog. I hope this is useful for the reader.

along River Seine, Paris