20 Days of Chill - Show me da money

Welcome back to 20 Days of Chill. Today's theme is 

Show me da money

I don't know the South Korean TV show, and I have neither watched the 2010 movie nor Jerry Maguire. As a result I don't feel qualified to do deal with this prompt. 

What am I going to do instead?

I'll take it literally and show you the money. My money. My currency, Swiss Franks. I bet you have never seen any of these bills. Here goes:

That's all nice and colourful. But how much is it worth? 

Swiss Franks	Euros	US Dollars
1.00	0.97	1.10
10.00	9.70	11.00
20.00	19.40	22.00
50.00	48.50	55.00
100.00	97.00	110.00
200.00	194.00	220.00
1'000.00	970.00	1'100.00

For some extra fun, I'll list what you can do or buy with the respective amount of money. Don't be shocked, prices are high in Switzerland.

Ten Franks

5.5 liters or 1.5 gallons of pasteurized milk (about 2.7% fat) at Migros or Coop, the two largest  supermarkets, will be CHF 9.90.

Hungry? In Switzerland you will get a double Big Mac for CHF 9.80. Or a decently sized soft pretzel filled with butter and ham for CHF 9.00.

A Doppio Espresso and a Cinnamon Roll at Starbucks (CHF 9.10)

Twenty Franks

Public transportation: A single ride from where I live into Zurich City will cost CHF 19.20. That includes four local bus stops and one direct train ride, 22 minutes long. 

Cinema: one ticket at the movies in the city will be CHF 19.90, please. If you want snacks, you'll exceed your budget.

Got a mobile phone? The cheapest plan I know of includes unlimited phone calls, unlimited texting and 2GB data (all within Switzerland) for CHF 19 / month.

Fifty Franks

Fondue dinner for one person at a somewhat fancy restaurant called "le Dézaley". Here's what you'll get for CHF 49.30: a green salad, regular cheese fondue with baguette bread and a tiny glass (1.5 dl = 5 ounces) of Mont Sur Rolle, which happens to be their cheapest white wine.

Pizza Dinner, again for one person, at a nice Italian full service restaurant: Insalata Caprese (tomato, basil, mozzarella) Pizza Prosciutto (ham) and again a tiny glass (1.5 dl = 5 ounces) of Vino Nobile (red wine) adds up to CHF 50.50, oops.

The good news is: unlike in the U.S. you're not expected to tip generously. If you were happy with your waiter, give them an extra five bucks for a dinner like above

One Hundred Franks

A pair of Nike Air Max size 8 will be CHF 99.90 if you order them online, and on the particular website I'm looking at, they don't even charge for shipping, Hooray! 

For CHF 102 you'll get a return ticket using a steep steam cog railroad ride to the Rothorn at 2,350 meters = 7,700 feet. 

This is where you'll start: Brienz in the Bernese Oberland. Lake level is 566 meters = 1,857 feet.

This is the panorama you can expect to see. If you're lucky, they'll throw in some blue sky, too!

February 5, Bryan Adams will be performing in Zurich! The cheapest seat, which is located the farthest from the stage, costs CHF 100.90. Too bad though because you're not done yet. Mandatory ticket protection (which is a good thing since it'll allow for refund in case of cancellation) is 4.90, plus shipping 5.90 (Why? You'll just download your ticket from the website, no?), so your grand total is CHF 111.70.

Unfortunately you won't be able to afford a pair of Levi's 501 jeans to wear for your concert, cause wherever you'll look they will be CHF 110 (Zalando, popular online store) to 129.90 (Levi's online) and as high as CHF 139.90 (Manor, department store)

Two Hundred Franks

All Swiss households as well as companies have to pay a fee for radio and television. The levy is used to support the SRG, which is the Swiss public TV station, but also licensed local radio and television stations. These stations must provide certain services in order to guarantee a high-quality public service in Switzerland.

Unfortunately CHF 200 will not get you covered for an entire year, but hey, you'll get 183.5 days for your money ;-)

If you were surprised about the steep price for the train ticket above, you may want to invest in a "1/2-Tax" as we like to call it. With the Half-Fare Card, you travel at half price on the routes of the SBB (Swiss Railway) and most other railroads, as well as on boats and post buses. It's CHF 185 a year, so you even get some change! It'll buy you a Döner Kebab and a Soda at the train station booth. 

If you prefer to drive a car, CHF 200 will currently buy you 110 liters (29 gallons) of gas. CO2 taxes were increased in order to hopefully meet environmental goals. 

One Thousand Franks

Introducing: Epic weekend skiing in Zermatt, Switzerland! Yes, Zermatt, where the Matterhorn is!

You'll leave from my house around 6am on a Friday mid-February to take the bus and three different trains trains, one of which will take you through the Lötschberg tunnel, which is 14.km = 9 miles. The entire trip will take a bit longer than 3.5 hours. 

Zermatt is a car-free resort. You either walk or hail an electric taxi. 

I found an inexpensive chalet accommodation. It's a bed, a bathroom with a shower, a fridge and  a water kettle. That's it.  

It's located less than a ten minutes' walk from Furi, one of the major cable cars that takes you to a fantastic ski area. 

You have a general pass for every train, ski lift, gondola, you name it. It's valid Friday through Sunday, so you'll get to try most of the slopes. 

 panoramic picture to display the Gorner Glacier

Since you stay in a room with no amenities, you have to take care of your catering. 

There are some bakeries and coffee shops for breakfast, mountain restaurants for a quick plate of pasta, Rösti (hashbrowns) with bacon and eggs, warm soups and the like. 

You have some pocket money for snacks in-between.

For Friday and Saturday evening, I planned two different dinners: 

One at Restaurant Julen. He's a former professional skier, as many of the locals are. You'll get a glass of champagne and some nice food, such as tuna carpaccio, Châteaubriand, two generous glasses of Italian Cabernet and a warm chocolate cake with coffee.

The other one is, how shall I put it, more special because of its backstory. You'll go to Walliserkanne. It used to be just your regular popular tourist location where you'd have your Cheese Fondue, Raclette or Pizza - cause everybody does (not) like cheese, right?

It all started last summer when there was talk about observing Covid Certificate rules As of September, you need to be vaccinated, tested or recovered in order to do certain things like travel by air, attend a hockey game or eat at an indoor restaurant. 

Most gastronomers (and guests) were pleased. Restaurants had experienced two lockdowns, both lasting several months. It was time to reopen!

The Walliserkanne manager thought these new rules was a bunch of BS.

They embraced a "love all, serve all" policy and thus attracted the attention of anti-vaxxers - and the authorities. Local police paid several control visits to the restaurant and politely pointed out the violation of the law to the landlords. The owners laughed in their face and kept on serving meals to unvaccinated and unmasked patrons. 

The establishment had been ordered to close for two weeks by the State government. The doors of the restaurant were officially sealed, and massive concrete blocks were placed in front of the entrance. 

The restaurant owners continued to serve customers. They improvised a bar on the concrete barriers. I have to admit, at that point I got mildly amused. After all it's not forbidden to serve customers without a certificate outdoors! This has been the case all along, and other restaurants had extended their patios for that reason.

What's the problem?

In order to run the "concrete bar", they had to break the seal of the entrance. See, they had to run back and forth to the kitchen, right? Also guests wanted to use the restroom.

Again, police showed up.

This time they were at the end of their patience and took action: the host couple and their son were arrested and put into custody. They have since been released, but their innkeeper's license was revoked, and the majority of Swiss people had a good laugh.

The restaurant became a site for demonstrations by those against Covid restrictions. In December 2021 the owners announced they were going to reopen and offer their traditional Holiday specials: meat fondue à discretion. 

Fact is, the innkeepers are serving guests again - but only in the outdoor area.

So that's what you'll do for fun's sake: Dinner all fresco! You'll get four plates of Raclette and an entire bottle of white wine because they don't serve wine by the glass. 

I'm pretty sure you'll have lots of fun and interesting conversations. At some point you'll probably appreciate a place to warm up, and I have you covered: on your way "home" there are plenty of cozy pubs and bars for a nightcap. 

There's a catch, and in case you didn't notice, I'll tell you now: you probably have no ski gear whatsoever. Let's see what another CHF 1,000 will get you in terms of equipment. For that purpose we'll go to a trusted discounter.

OK. 

A pair of Rossignol all mountain skis: 449 (and that's a really good price) plus carbon sticks 99.90, a pair of ski boots, we'll go for inexpensive: 149. A mid-range prized helmet 229 (because you want to protect yourself from devastating brain injuries), a pair of gloves 39.90, the cheapest ski googles 59.90, and we've exceeded our budget already. CHF 1,027 is your total.

Plus we don't even have any appropriate clothing yet! 

Anorak and snow pants 418, thermal underwear (shirt and long johns, a double pack warm socks) 210 makes CHF 628, leaves some cash for a nice and waterproof pair of boots because you probably don't like to walk around the village wearing your ski boots all the time. You're in luck, UGGs are on sale, 235, so we even get to throw in a nice fluffy hoodie (100) and a scarf (35) for your après-ski activities. Another 1,000 gone.

Is après-ski a thing in the U.S.? After the athletic part of skiing, you go to a ski lodge for cocktails and dancing. Either that hut is up in the mountains, and you're still wearing your ski boots and overall, and getting down to the valley station while intoxicated, can be dangerous. Or you go back to your accommodation, take a shower and dress up for a fancy version of après-skiing in the village.

Either way, you have now ski gear and thermal clothes, but no money left for a drink. 

Of course you might skip the UGGs and go out in sneakers, enjoy lots of drinks, but then you'll have wet and cold feet all night long. 

Or you may say who needs Chateaubriand, I hear  there's a McD in Zermatt? Well, yeah, you could do that. But that would be sort of graceless. 

Are you still with me? Or are you in shock? I know. Skiing in Switzerland is crazy expensive. Some people rent their ski equipment either for a day, a weekend or an entire season. Especially for the kids as they outgrow their gear every year. Many families share a cabin in the mountains and cook at home. There are ways to save money, but it's still a treat. Also you have to book way in advance, having no idea what the weather and snow conditions are going to be like. 

I haven't gone skiing in 20 years. I'm not a good skier to begin with. I didn't learn to ski until I was 12, so I could attend school ski camps (which were a great experience, mainly for the non-athletic part, though, see après-ski). 

Hitting the mogul run with thick fog and icy snow is not my idea of fun. I want blue sky and sunshine. However, that's when ski lifts, slopes and restaurants are crowded. 

How about you? Do you ski? Would you enjoy this trip? Let me know below.