Swiss Greetings 101

I am amazed that it has taken me this long to write about Greetings in Swiss, but to be honest, it has taken me this whole time to master them myself. Then again, who am I kidding, I am still along way from mastery. It is tricky when you go from a country where "Hello, how are you?" is fine for anytime of day to one with multiple greetings to master!

Nonetheless, here are a few greetings to work on to get on with the Swiss (Note, because of all the different Swiss German dialects and phrases, I can only comment on greetings around Zurich...). As you will see, they seem to have something for every opportunity:

Gruetzi or sometimes Gruetzi Wohl

• Pronunciation: [Grew-tzee], [Grew-zee-vohll]
  
  
• Meaning: Greetings! Hello!
  
  
• Best time to use: Anytime. Use this to greet people in person, over the phone, personally or impersonally - meaning you can use it with those you know well as well as those you don't.
  
  
• Answer (if someone says this to you... you should answer...): "Gruetzi!" (or as below if there is more than one person!)
  
  

Gruetzi Miteinander

• Pronuncation: [Grew-tzee Mit-ein-an-der]
  
  
• Meaning: Greetings to you both! Hello you two!
  
  
• Best time to use: The only difference between this and Gruetzi above is that you use "Miteinander" when you are greeting a group of two or more people... because obviously you would not want them to think that you are leaving anyone out!!!
  
  
• Answer: "Gruetzi" of "Gruetzi Miteinander"
  

Guten Abig or Guten Abig Zusammen/Miteinander

• Pronunciation: [Goo-ten Ah-big] or [Goo-ten Ah-big Ztoo-tsah-men]
  
  
• Meaning: Good evening! or with Zusammen or Miteinander, it is Good evening to you both
  
  
• Best time to use: At night silly, or in the evening, to say good evening!
  
  
• Answer: "Guten Abig" or simply "Abig"... or add the "Zusammen" or "Miteinander" if there is more than one person... getting the hang of that yet?

An Guete or just Guete

• Pronunciation: [An-goit-eh] (it is funny because to remember this I think of the word 'goiter', hehe, hopefully that helps you too! it is said like that word but without the 'r' sound)
  
  
• Meaning: Bon Appetite! or Guten Appetit! but the Swiss form
  
  
• Best time to use: The Swiss use this a lot and it always throws me for a loop because I am not expecting it usually. If it is lunch time, people will greet eachother with this, and they most definately say this when you sit down to eat! It is not nearly as prolific as "Malzeit" in Austraia or Bavaria, but you will definitely hear it in the cantine!
  
  
• Answer: "An Guete!" or simply "Guete"
  

Adieu. Schönes Wochenende.

• Pronunciation: [Ah-doo. Sshueh-ness Wo-cken-end-eh]
  
  
• Meaning: Bye! Have a nice weekend!
  
  
• Best time to use: Friday, Saturday or Sunday... of anytime you are leaving someone before seeing them again for a week... I think, but probably not on Monday! :)
  
  
• Answer: "Merci Gleichwals." This means, "Thank you! Likewise!" and I use it all the time at the grocery store. :) It is pronounced [Mer-ci Gleechk-walls]
  

Auf Wiederhoren

• Pronunciation: [Aouf Vee-der-hor-en]
  
  
• Meaning: Till we hear from eachother again. Till next time.
  
  
• Best time to use: When you are about to hang up the phone... You can say "Auf Widersehen" if you see them at that moment, but if you cannot see them (like, say, they are on the phone... eh...?), you use this! Genius.
  
  
• Answer: "Auf Wiederhoren. Adieu."

If I have missed any, please let me know. Good luck getting around with these greetings in and around Zurich, Switzerland!

Zurich 'Must See' #5: Burkliplatz Flea Market

Zürich Must See #5: Burkliplatz Flea Market ( Flohmarkt am Bürkliplatz)
Location: Bürkliplatz, 8001 Zürich Tel. +41 44 411 73 50/51
Website: Zurich Website
When: Saturday 8 am - 4 pm, May 1st through the end of October
See Burkliplatz on Google Maps

Whenever we have guests or are walking through Zurich on a Saturday, I make Jace walk with me through the Burkliplatz Flea Market. It is really quite a big flea market, especially if the weather is nice, and you can get all kinds of things from antiques, furniture, rugs, clothes, and shoes, to old designer handbags, cool kitsch jewelry, pottery, glass, and modern day knick knacks... heck, you can even buy a big fat cowbell if you want. (That is what I want!)

I recommend you stroll on through the next time you are in the city on a Saturday and pick up a bargain or an antique and maybe even a Wurst while you are at it. Then try not to go and spend all your (remaining?) dough on the one of Europe's most expensive shopping strips, the Bahnhofstrasse! Happy shopping! :)

Correction: Kaiserstuhl and Regensberg

Pssst... I just wanted to let you know that I have updated the Kaiserstuhl and Regensberg posts as I had my compass on a bit backwards in regards to both.

For starters, we went to Regensberg, not Regensdorf... so, the photos are all of Regensberg. Sorry about that one!

Also, Kaiserstuhl is in Switzerland, not Germany... there is one is Germany, but it is way far North and no where near the boarder, the one we went to is right on the Rhine, right there, across from Germany, but still Swiss.



Größere Kartenansicht

And we drove all around to these places with a Mobility car. So if you are planning a similar adventure, I recommend you rent a vehicle for the day.

Thanks for reading.... and let me know how your trips to RegensBERG and Kaiserstuhl, SWITZERLAND go! :)

You can take a boy out of the country...

... but you can't take the country out of the boy!

When we were in Kaiserstuhl , we walked by this enclosure with about 4 cute baby goats. We all oohed and ahhed over them and then kept going, only to find out that Jace was no longer with us. When we turned around, this is what we found:

Jace was feeding the goats. It was obvious that the wee guys liked the rose bush leaves a lot as all the plants inside the enclosure had been stripped bare, and this little guy was stretching and reaching for the leaves outside.

Naturally, being the goat lover that he is (he has a long love/hate relationship with the goats... perhaps he can explain on the blog someday...)(correction, Jace says it is a love only relationship!), Jace decided to help the little fella and of course the percocious goat ate right out of the palm of his hand. Good to know I am not the only one under his spells. :)

Greek Food in Kaiserstuhl

I just could not pass up showing you this amazing Greek food that we had in Kaiserstuhl after walking around Regensberg and checking out the border between Germany & Switzerland.

Above is the amazing moussaka that we shared as an appetizer after sipping our aperitif, some really potent ouzo. It is a baked dish with minced meat, eggplant, tomato sauce, and white sauce, baked to perfection with some cool feta on top. Heavenly.

We also shared this really delicious baked feta in aluminum foil. That was the exact name of the dish, and we got that and a whole lot more. I have no idea what the spices on this baby were (if you know, please tell me as I would enjoy creating this myself sometime! - as would the feta loving Jace!!!) but it was tangy and fruity somehow and really mellow from having been baked.


I do not have the name of the Greek restaurant that we devoured this at, but as soon as Mike tells me, I will post the name. Bon appetite! :)

Day trip from Zurich: Kaiserstuhl

The Seat of the Kingdom, Kaiserstuhl is the beginning of the Black Forest region and is a heritage site of national significance in Switzerland.

We visited the small municipality in beautiful weather and walked around after visiting Regensberg and before gluttonously filling ourselves with Greek food in a nearby restaurant.

In the photo above, you might not be able to see it very clearly, but if you squint and look at 11 o'clock (and there is a clock there to help those of you that have trouble with this!), you can see an airplane. The flight path to the Zurich airport goes right over Kaiserstuhl, so every minute or so a new airplane flew overhead - hence the affordable property prices in Kaiserstuhl? Anyone want to move?!

Kaiserstuhl sits on the Rhein and was also the location of a fort which protected the Swiss from the invading Germans during the World Wars. Since I studied abroad in the Ruhrgebiet in Germany back in the late 90's, (near Duisberg), I know the river well. I just didn't know that it snaked around and down to the Swiss border! It's one hell of a long river!

The customs stop is actually just in front of this building above, before you cross over the bridge connecting Switzerland with Germany.

The River Rhein.

It is a quiant little town and I think there might be a bit more going on on a Saturday. There are lots of hiking paths around (Jace and Michael hiked out to one of the security posts on the Swiss side) and cafes and shops, so give it a go and perhaps visit the Black Forest while you are at it... you might even pick up a piece of Scharzwälder Kirschtorte.

I also recommend the fish restaurant that is on the river. I stood outside it awhile, waiting for the boys to come back, because AGAIN I had the WRONG SHOES and the smells drifting out the window were divine. I can't wait to try it.