SCHILTIGHEIM, FRANCE

In the summer of 2000, I challenged the state of Tennessee to a race. It was long, difficult, and many thought impossible, but in the end, I beat Tennessee. Now, with the help of some of Switzerland’s finest, I have defeated the Council of Europe. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the story of how I saved Spring Break.

As you probably know, February 27-March 07 was my Spring Break. I wanted to do something big, but my boss had other things in mind. For the first time ever (or so I’ve been told my the Director of the Syracuse program here), three Syracuse interns had to stay in Strasbourg and council Europe during the Break, and I was one of them. Words really can’t describe how disappointed I was. I wanted to have fun, but the Council didn’t want me to. But I would still be able to travel during both weekends, so I set myself out to make the best of the situation. Having already visited Jim Thorpe, PA (the Switzerland of Pennsylvania) and Eureka Springs, AR (the Switzerland of the Ozarks), I decided it was time to check out the real Switzerland.

The story really begins one cold Friday night in Philadelphia in February 2000. Just like dozens of other Friday nights, I was at the Spectrum with my dad and brother watching a Hershey Bears-Philadelphia Phantoms AHL hockey game. This particular night there was a good sized crowd at the arena. And like most Bears-Phantoms games, there was a decent number of Bears fans present. But there were about 30 Bears fans that I had never seen before. That’s because they were from Switzerland.

The National Hockey League in the U.S. and Canada is without question the highest level of professional ice hockey in the world. The American Hockey League is the last stop that many players make before making it to the NHL, and is pretty good in its own right. Because of this, players from all over the world come to the U.S. and Canada to play in the AHL and NHL. Virtually every team has some Russians, Finns, Swedes, and Czechs. But there are very few Swiss players. It’s not that the Swiss aren’t good enough to play in North America. They are. But the Swiss LNA is good hockey in its own right. The players are paid well and treated well, and few have any desire to go overseas. That’s why this group of 30 fans was in Philadelphia on Feb. 18, 2000. The Bears’ back-up goalie that season was David Aebischer, only the second Swiss goaltender to play professionally in North America. These 30 fans were all from the city of Fribourg, Abby’s home town. They cheered him on when he played for the Fribourg-Gottéron Dragons in the Swiss LNA, and now they had flown across 6 time-zones to cheer him on for the Hershey Bears.

Who let the Swiss out? Feb. 18, 2000 in Philadelphia.

The Hershey Bears and the Philadelphia Phantoms are arch rivals, and games between them often get pretty intense. The players play hard and the crowd gets loud. But The Official International David Aebischer Fan Club watched the game like nothing I had ever seen before. They all brought Swiss flags that they waved throughout the game. They cheered non-stop. And they sung! Throughout the whole game, they had songs to cheer on the Bears. And Abby wasn’t even playing that night!

After the game in Philadelphia, The Official International David Aebischer Fan Club travelled to Hershey to see a few more games. The following year, Abby was called up to the Colorado Avalanche and every year since then, TOIDAFC has made a trip to Denver to cheer on Abby. I only saw them that one night in February, but they definitely made an impression on me, and I knew that I had to go see a game with them in Fribourg before I left Europe.

I had actually planned to visit Fribourg on February 15 to see them play Geneva. The week before the game, I posted on the David Aebischer Fan Club’s message board my story about seeing them in Philly in 2000 and I mentioned that I’d be in town for the game and I invited people to say hi to me if they wanted to talk about the Hershey Bears or anything else. A couple of days after I posted, I received an e-mail from Isabelle, a Fribourg-Gottéron fan who had read my post and who offered to be my guide in Fribourg. But a couple of days later, I found out that she couldn’t make it to the game on the 15th, but she invited me to call her if I was visiting any other weekend, so I decided to go see a game in Freiburg, Germany, that weekend instead, and do Fribourg some other time. Well, when I found out that my Spring Break would be limited to a couple of weekend getaways, I looked at the hockey schedule and it turned out that Fribourg was home on Sunday, February 29. So that was that. Maybe I wasn’t going anywhere exotic for the Break, but I could do something that I wanted to do for four years.

Now, before we go any further, I just want to take a moment to thank and apologize to everyone who participated in “Choose MY Own Adventure #2.” After letting you decide who I went to see Barenaked Ladies with in November turned out to be a success, I posted a poll here to allow you to choose where I would go for my spring break. Morocco won (the results, by the way, were as follows: 34% – Gibraltar and Morocco with other SU students (26 votes), 5% – Gibraltar and Morocco by myself (4 votes), 30% – The Former Yugoslavia (23 votes), 1% – Scandanavia (1 vote), 4% – Several Tiny Countries (3 votes), 3% – Nowhere! Stay in Strasbourg! (2 votes), 22% – Cuba (17 votes). 76 total votes were cast, none were disqualified), and had it not been for working at the Council of Europe I really would have followed your advice and gone to Morrocco. But work called and because of that I just couldn’t follow the poll. I hope you understand, and if there’s ever a “Choose MY Own Adventure #3,” I promise I’ll do what you tell me.

Now I have to be honest, I was extremely extremely upset when I found out that I was going to have to work for Spring Break. But things ended up working out better than I ever could have imagined.

On Friday, February 27, I left work at about 5:15 to catch a train to Basel, Switzerland, to see another hockey game at 7:30. Remarkably, I managed to make the train, arrive in Basel, get through immigration (and get yelled at in German by the customs guy), change money, see Pepsi for the first time since I arrived in Europe, find the arena, buy a ticket (in German), and get into the arena, missing only the first four seconds of the game. The Basel Dragons were playing Ambri-Piotta (HCAP), which Mike Gaul, one of my favorite former Hershey Bears, was under contract with (and if you’re keeping track, yes, so far this post has mentioned a hockey team in Fribourg, a hockey team in Freiburg, and 2 hockey teams called the Dragons.). Gaul was listed on the roster, but I couldn’t find him on the ice, although I did spot some other familiar names from the North American minors, like Hnat Dominchelli, and Pauli Jacks, the first Swiss goaltender to ever play pro in North America (he was backing up for HCAP). Anyway, during the second intermission, three high-school aged guys came up to me and asked me something in German. After a confused look, we got a nice conversation going in English. Turns out they saw my Freiburg Wolfe scarf from the DEL game I went to a few weeks ago and one guy wanted to know if they were going to be relegated (I’ll do write an update sometime in the future that explains some of the unique features of European hockey, such as relegation). I didn’t explain as well as I could have, but I told him yes, they might be. After that I asked him about Mike Gaul and he told me that he’s been out for a few months with a concussion after an intentional cross-check to the head. Then we started talking some more, asking each other where we’re from, etc. He asked me which NHL team I liked. I told him Colorado, and he said something like, “Oh, they have Abby!”

It was my kind of game: over in less than 2 hours! It wasn’t bad though. I wasn’t cheering for either team, so I didn’t really care about the outcome and I really don’t remember what happened, but I’m pretty sure Ambri won (Basel was dead last in the standings, so it’s a pretty safe bet). It wasn’t the best of games, but it was entertaining. The Swiss league is an elite league in the truest sense of the word, and you could really tell that from watching this game. Like I said, I’ll explain this stuff some other time, but for now suffice it to say that it’s all about skill.

After the game I hung around by Ambri’s busses to see if Mike Gaul made the trip. When I didn’t see him, I found John Fust, one of HCAP’s other Canadian imports. I asked him about Gaul, and he told me that he’s back in Canada and he’s probably done with hockey. (I later found out that Gaul was actually in Hershey signing autographs that weekend.). That’s really too bad, Gaul was one of my favorite players to watch. He really could work magic on the Power Play. Anyway, I talked about Europe with Fust for a few minutes (he was a really nice guy), then I decided it was getting late and it was probably best for me to try to find a youth hostel and hope they had beds available. I found it with no problem and they did have space, so I checked in and went to bed. The place was called “Basel Back Pack.” There wasn’t anything particularly special about it and it’s not my favorite hostel by any means, but it’s clean enough, quiet enough, and safe enough, so if you’re in Basel there’s really no reason not to stay there. Plus, you get a bus/tram pass valid for your whole stay when you check in, so that’s a pretty good deal.

The next morning (Saturday) I got up and took a train to Bern, the Swiss capital. It seemed like a logical stopover, because it’s only about half an hour from Fribourg and it’s a larger city. So I arrived and tried to see as much of the touristy stuff of the town as I could. I visited the Bear Pits (Bern likes bears) , watched the automated presentation about the history of the city at the visitor’s center (it was very well done), took a look at the astronomical clock, and climbed up to the top of the cathedral. After doing all of that, it was around 4 o’clock, so I decided it was probably a good idea to figure out what I’d be doing for that night and the next day. I called Isabelle, who still didn’t know I was coming, to let her know that I’d be in Fribourg the next day. Then I called the youth hostel in Fribourg to see if they had any beds available for the night, but I found out that they were closed for January and February. Ok. So I found a youth hostel right in downtown Bern that had space available. So I showed up ready to reserve a room. But I got there and then I realized that this wasn’t the best idea. See, there’s one thing I forgot to mention: it was Carnival in Bern. I didn’t know it before I arrived, but the second I got off the train it was obvious. People were dressed up in fancy costumes and everyone was marching down the street blowing some kind of horn or playing some kind of drum. Think New Orleans without the boobs. Anyway, this hostel was right downtown and on the second floor above a bar. I realized that staying here the night before catching an early train to Fribourg wasn’t a very good idea. I felt bad about walking out, but the guy at the desk was sympathetic, so I found another place: the Landhaus Hotel. I thought it was a little overpriced at about 40CHF, but then again everything in Switzerland is expensive, and I did sleep well, so it was no problem.

Sunday morning I got up, quickly made my way through the Swiss Alpine Museum, and took the train to Fribourg. I guess you could say this the closest thing to a pilgrimage that I’ll probably ever take. There were several other Fribourg fans on the train, which really got me excited for the game. I got off the train and was immediately confronted with a good omen: a Belgaufre stand. (Belgaufre is a Belgian chain that makes the worlds’ best waffles. I had previously only seen them in Belgium). I found the arena with no problem, bought some Gottéron stuff, and met up with Isabelle. She’s a season ticket holder so she gets to enter through the express entrace, but one of her sisters waited for me inside the gate I entered through and showed me how to climb on, over, and under various people, poles, and things to get the place where Isa stands. The climbing paid off: I was second rown, right behind the net Gottéron shoots on twice. It was a great place to watch the game from. In addition to a great view (behind the net is always my favorite), I was right in the middle of the “Curva Nord,” the section where all of the rowdiest fans stand. I was right in the middle of 2000 people or so who were all just as crazy as Abby’s fan club was in Philly. I think I counted something like 18 flags being waved in my section, and just as I had hoped, everyone sang throughout the entire game. I was proud of myself; all of the songs were in French, and I was able to figure out about 80% of them just by listening. Isa also introduced me to the other people who stand near her. Picture members of a U.S. hockey booster club. They were just like that. Everyone was really nice (and really tolerant of my French), and a lot of fun.

The Official Internation David Aebischer Fan Club in Denver in 2002.

Now maybe this isn’t an objective opinion since I was so caught up in the atmosphere, but I really think this was probably one of the three best hockey games I’ve ever been to. Fribourg beat Zug in the last game of the regular season and clinched a playoff spot.

At the end of the regular season, the Fribourg fan club organizes two “Fans Parties” in the Salle des Fetes across the street from the rink, and I got lead over there at the end of the game. Isabelle introduced me to a ton of people (and pointed out the hockey players), and then some of the other people introduced me to their friends. I met a good portion of the Fribourg-Gottéron fan base, and everyone was really friendly. I also got to meet four people who were at the game in Philadelphia in Feb. 2000, and I thought that was really cool. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me or I would have taken pictures of everyone. I have to say, Fribourg has beaten out the Toronto Saint Michael’s Majors on my list of teams with the nicest fans.
Less than half of the conversations I had were in English, and I don’t think my French had ever been working as well as it was that night. I felt kind of bad because I met so many people that I wasn’t able to remember everyones’ names, but I actually did better than I usually do with names (Shout-outs to Isabelle, Isabelle #2, Fanny, Patrick, Sonia, Stéphane, Michael, Markus, Roger, the vice-President of The Official International David Aebischer Fan Club, and everyone whose name I forgot!). Most of the people I had met during the game were doing bartender duty at the party, so I kept getting fed free drinks. Between the drinks and being introduced to everyone, I felt like a VIP, and it was a lot of fun. At some point I looked at the playoff schedule and noticed that they would be playing in Lugano the following Saturday. A few people said that there’d be a bus trip from the arena and that they’d be going, so I decided I’d go too. Why not?
Finally, I decided it was time to head back to the train station, so I said goodbye to everyone (or at least everyone I could find) until the next weekend.

Now you’d think that the story would end there, but you’d be wrong. Even though I didn’t leave Fribourg until around 11pm or so, I didn’t go directly back to Strasbourg. I actually went back to Basel for their carnival that starts promptly at 4am. I was supposed to meet up with Josh, another Council of Europe intern, but for a variety of reasons that didn’t work out (it was mostly, but not quite entirely my fault, and I hereby take this opportunity to publically apologize). While I was waiting for Josh, I met Ben, a Swiss guy about my age who had just broken up with his girlfriend about 3 hours earlier. (Ben didn’t speak English, so it’s entirely possible that I have this story completely wrong. Just a warning.) Anyway, Ben wasn’t about to let that ruin his plans, so he came to Carnival by himself. Ben had never been to Carnival before, but he didn’t live far from Basel and he knew the city pretty well. So he took me to this bar to wait for things to get going, then he took me right to the main square for the kick-off of things at 4am. Basically, what happens is that at the stroke of 4am on Monday morning, all of the lights in Basel go out. Then, people march in costumes, playing flutes and carrying lanterns. It looks chaotic, but apparently there’s some loose method to it all. There are floats which satirize the events of the past year, too. It was pretty interesting, but after an hour of the festivities, I was freezing, exhausted, and pretty much carnivaled out, so I took the first train back to Strasbourg at around 6:30am. Ben did too.

Mondays I’m only supposed to be at the Council for 2 hours, and that’s the same two hours that everyone else is at lunch, so I played hooky on Monday (nobody seemed to have noticed) and slept all day, until about 4:30 in the afternoon. I needed it after Carnival (I really was beat, and I picked up a damn cough that I’m still trying to shake). The rest of the week was actually pretty relaxing, even thought I had to work. Three of the four people in my host family were in Tunisia on vacation and I wasn’t going to ask Bernard to cook just for me, so I pretty much did my own thing all week. I actually really liked it. I liked not having to worry about being home for dinner, and a few nights I stayed at work until 10:00pm or so, just messing around on the internet.

Of course, since I slept through Monday the week flew by, and before I knew it it was Friday afternoon and once again it was time to head to la Suisse. I got out of work a little later than I wanted to. That was a little bit of a problem since it meant I had to catch a later train and the desk at the Fribourg hostel would be closed by the time I got in (A word of advice to other travelers about the Fribourg, Switzerland Youth Hostel: it’s a very nice place, but it can be a pain.There’s no lockout or curfew, but the reception is only open from 7am-10am and 5pm-10pm. When the reception desk is closed, there’s no one to answer the phone and they will not stay open late if you’re arriving after 10. Unfortunately, this is not mentioned on their website, so it could leave you in a bind, like it almost did to me. Also, it’s a HI hostel and there’s a 6CHF/night surcharge if you’re not a member. I don’t like to stay at HI hostels because I don’t like the idea of a “membership,” but this is your only option in the entire canton of Fribourg, and it was actually very nice. Clean, good location, and a very friendly staff. But the reception hours aren’t convenient and the website doesn’t explain this. One other thing: group showers. Not a problem when there are only 3 people staying in the place, but it might be a concern in the summer.). I tried to catch the previous train by inventing my own route and making a couple of extra connections, but that didn’t work so I spent the night at the downtown hostel in Bern, which was much quieter this time. The guy at the desk remembered me from the week before and was really friendly. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the name of the place, but it’s near the Astronomical Clock, and I recommend it highly. It was about 34CHF/night for a dorm bed. When I was checking into the hostel in Bern, an American guy from Colorado saw my backpack and asked if I worked for the X-Games. I told him I did. Apparently, there are a lot of X-Games people in Colorado with the same backpack. Small world. I would have liked to have talked to him more, but I was in the middle of checking in and when I was finished, he was gone.

I went to bed early and got up just before 7am to catch a train to Fribourg so that I could check into the youth hostel before they closed at 10am. I found it in the nick of time, which was good because otherwise I would have been homeless for the night. I rested up for a little bit, then headed over to the ice rink to catch the fan club bus to Lugano.

Now in case you’re wondering, yes, it would have been easier for me to take a train from Strasbourg to Lugano. Had I done that, I could have crossed into Italy for a couple of hours (Lugano is only about 3 miles from the Italian border), and it might have even saved me a little money. But I just enjoyed everyone’s company so much the week before that I much prefered to take the fan club bus from Fribourg. At almost four hours, the trip was eternal by Swiss standards (remember, Switzerland isn’t even twice the size of New Jersey). In fact, the trip to Lugano is the second longest road trip Fribourg takes, after Davos. But that didn’t seem to discourage anyone from going. There were 4 full busses that made the trip. I was told that they rarely even fill two busses. There was a some traffic around Bern, but otherwise the drive went fine. It wasn’t the nicest day, but even that didn’t take away from the amazing scenery. The bus trip could have been an attraction in itself. Driving around, over, and through the mountains was just breathtaking. At one point, we went through a 17km (10.6 mile) long tunnel. It really was something else. We passed Ambri’s arena. It’s entirely open on both sides and it sits in the middle of a field under a mountain. There was a fair amount of snow on the ground, but not as much as there sometimes is. Apparently the entire arena was burried under an avalanche a few years ago. I had heard stories about how incredibly cold it gets at games there, and after seeing the arena I can imagine. I really have to make it there at some point to experience it for myself. On the bus, Isabelle gave me a nice present: several Swiss chocolate bars! They were/are (still haven’t finished them) very good. Of course, I had to ask what the Swiss thought of Hershey’s chocolate, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear that most of the Swiss thought it was good, even with a refined palate for chocolate. I was proud to hear that, especially since the weekend before Ben (the guy I met in the trainstation), told me that when he was in the U.S., he thought the chocolate was terrible. The movie on the bus, by the way, was “Meet the Parents.” Apparently this is the official Gary R. Butterworth sports bus trip movie. It was the movie on the bus coming back from the Belmont Stakes in 2002.

I had brought my video camera with me (first time I’d taken it anywhere in Europe), but some of the Fribourg fans told me that Lugano security was really strict, and considering that I don’t speak Italian to plead my case, I decided to leave it in the bus. I really wanted to try to capture some of the experience on video, but when I saw that the riot police came out to escort us from the bus to the arena, I decided it was probably not a bad idea to leave the video camera on the bus.

Isa, Sonia, Markus, and me. Lugano, Tecino, Svizzera.

There’s really only one bad thing I can say about all of the people I met in Fribourg: they were ridiculously pesimistic about their team. They talked about Lugano like they were the Yankees. Of all the people I talked to, I think I met one person who thought they could win one game against Lugano. I really hadn’t seen enough of the team to make an informed opinion about their chances, but I knew they couldn’t be as much of a long-shot as everyone was saying they were. Still, the pessimism did start to rub off on me. This was game three of a best-of-seven series, and Fribourg was down 2-0. It wasn’t until the middle of the third period, when the score was tied 1-1, that I finally started to believe that Fribourg just might have a chance to win. The game was really tense. Sloppy on both sides, but wide open and back-and-forth. It’s a good thing I had standing room because I don’t think I would have been able to sit down. When it was still 1-1 in the third period, it was almost too intense to watch. Between the closeness of the game and the other fans around me, I think I was more emotionally involved in that game than I had ever been in a game in my life. It was great.

The game was still tied at the end of regulation. There was a full intermission, then 20 more minutes of scoreless hockey. It probably could have kept on going for a few more periods, but no, unfortunately the Swiss have succumbed to the shoot-out. I wasn’t feeling very good going into it, and sure enough Lugano blew us away. It really was a shame that the game had to end like that. I’ve seen several shootouts at different levels of pro and amateur hockey and I simply can’t stand them. As exciting as the concept sounds, in a close, fast-paced game like the one Saturday in Lugano, they really are anti-climactic.

As disappointed as I was with the outcome, part of me was just glad the game was over. My voice was about gone, and having been up since before 7am, I was beat. We got our police escort back to the bus and were on our way back to Fribourg. The movie for the ride home was “Pirate of the Caribbean,” dubbed into French. I was too tired to focus enough on the dialogue to really get the movie, but it looked pretty good. It’s still high on my list of things to see. Anyway, we drove a good 3/4 of the way across the country. I dozed for a little while, and we were back in Fribourg at around 2:15am.

No rest for the weary. Checkout time was 10am, and I was up and out, feeling better than you’d think. I was meeting Isabelle for fondue at noon, so I had a little while to wander around Fribourg and see some of the sights. It’s a very nice place, and I really liked it there.

I met Isa at noon at the train station and she drove me to the town of Bulle for fondue. Now I had never had fondue before, but “It’s special the first time.” It was really, really good. And you wouldn’t think so, but it’s very filling. Switzerland is known for fondue, but Bulle is in the Greyère region, where they make the Greyère cheese that’s in fondue. So apparently this is the place to go. I really enjoyed it (during the meal and even afterwards, which apparently is a rarety for someone who’s not used to fondue. I’ve been told that’s the sign of a good stomach.). Afterwards, Isabelle took me up to the town of Greyère, and we walked around the castle and the H.R. Giger museum. Giger is a surrealist artist who designed the sets for the movie “Alien,” but the aliens might as well have been kittens playing with yarn compared to some of his other stuff. I wasn’t able to describe Giger in French, so instead I taught the Swiss an English phrase to describe the man: “He’s a fucking whack job.” The museum was interesting, in the same way that a car wreck is interesting, and I think I enjoyed it, and I think I’m embarrassed to admit that. But I could be wrong. Regardless, it was an interesting contrast to the most beautiful country in the world.

At around 5pm, it was back to the train station for an uneventful trip back to Strasbourg. I could have stayed for another couple of hours (I wouldn’t have minded checking out the marionette museum), but I was pretty tired. And I’m pretty confident I’ll be back to Fribourg several more times in my life. It feels like Hershey used to, and that’s enough to bring me back. (If there’s an NHL lockout next season, is anyone interested in starting an Official International Official International David Aebischer Fan Club Fan Club? It’d be for people who like Abby’s fan club, even if they aren’t big Abby fans, and every year we could take a trip to Europe to watch the Aebischer Fan Club at hockey games. I think it’s a great idea. Let me know if you want in!)

Monday was la rentrée–back to school after the break. It was really nice to see everyone again after a week and a half and to hear about how everyone spent the vacation. Ben, Katie, Nicole, and Katherine, my friends who went to Morocco, had an absolutely amazing time. Truly once in a lifetime. I’m really happy that they did, and judging from what I heard, I would have loved it too. But as much as I wanted to go to Morocco, I’m happy that things worked out the way they did. I really wouldn’t change anything. Sure, other people had more exotic trips, but I’m sure that no one returned any happier than me, and I’m pretty sure no one appreciated their vacation more than me either. It’s amazing, everything really did work out for the best!

Une message aux Fribourgois: Merci beaucoup! Vous, les Fribourgois sont les meilleurs hotes. Vous étaiez tellement gentil, et je m’amusais beaucoup en votre ville (et votre pays entière). Quand le David Aebischer Fan Club retournera aux États-Unis, ou á Strasbourg, (ou si on vistitera mon pays seul) il est absolument néccessaire qu’on me rends une visite pour que je peux rendre la hospitalité! Merci encore, allez Gottéron, et à très bientôt j’espère!

Little Swiss.

Link du jour: The Official International David Aebischer Fan Club
Current Mood: A little sleepy.
Current Music: Swing, Swing by The All-American Rejects.

Filed under: Garyana, Ice hockey, international, Life, Posts with Pictures, Strasbourg, Study Abroad, Travel, Website Highlights