Although not mentioned the past two weeks, we have of course continued our Sunday tradition of exciting Swiss daytrip excursions. And while any old Frommer or Fodor can instruct visitors regarding the treasures of cosmopolitan Bern or medieval Schaffhausen, we've been uncovering true hidden gems like Gerlisberg and the Schluefweg. What?!? Don't tell me you've never heard of those. They're practically lore among us denizens of suburban Kloten.Gerlisberg is a lovely but otherwise nondescript farming village about a 35 minute walk north uphill through the corn fields of Kloten. And the Schleufweg is a series of trails on the forested hill just southeast of the Zürich airport. Perhaps their local fame hasn't crossed continental borders quite yet..?
Here's the scoop: being analytical by nature, we ran some calculations after the family trip to Bern. It's a complex yet classic system whereby we evaluate the "Value Rating" of our excursions, that is, we map the perceived Performance of each Sunday daytrip vs. its Price. Employing the popular Golden Retriever rating scale of "perceived Performance" from 0-10 (lowest to highest) and Price in CHF for a family of three yields the following results:
One may clearly conclude that, while humans may garner extra subjective cultural value from locations such as Bern, St. Gallen or Schaffhausen, a trip to the proverbial "backyard" provides up to 25 times or more value for four-legged voters. For example, this weekend's five minute bus ride to the Schluefweg was equally as stimulating for some family members as an 80-mile high speed intercity train trip with Alpine views. You mean we're going somewhere outside? Great!
That's not to say the humans alone or the whole family won't be venturing out for any more roadtrips soon. We've just stayed closer to home the past two weekends...who knows what the future holds? In the meantime, here's an assortment of pictures from recent weekends:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=2hd8fyj.au5h8kq7&x=0&y=-ahokgg
1 comment:
You guys and your analytical calculations are hysterical. The slideshow is great! Loved the pix of Hobbes making friends with the cow, the "underbelly" of Kloten (we've never seen him do that), and of course the close-up of you, Thor, and Hobbes is priceless. All pictures of Stephanie are darling, that goes without saying. The woods look really neat, too. Reminds us of our very own woods at the edge of the golf course. Remember our hike last year? Avoid those horse pies - maybe you don't have to worry about them in your woods, though.
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