Why not take a shower in a parking garage?

The Frau has been in Switzerland long enough now to realize something:

You can take a shower in places that you otherwise wouldn’t consider taking a shower.

For instance, in a parking garage.

The Frau asks you: Is there any other country in the world where you would see a shower in a parking garage and think, “Yes, I might actually consider using that?"

Well, that’s the case in Einsiedeln, where the parking garage comes complete with toilets, showers, and a locker room. And none of them are questionable.

Sometimes, The Frau loves Switzerland.

It’s a place where she can shower without regret not only in parking garages, but also in train stations, her office, and at the lake.

Switzerland is known for cleanliness and it is not without reason. So go ahead, yodelers, The Frau encourages you to discover all the extra special places where you can become as clean as the country you’re living in.

The Monastery at Einsiedeln

Even if you're not planning on doing any cross-country skiing, the Benedictine Monastery is worth a trip to Einsiedeln (1 hour outside of Zurich). The inside of the Monastery looks like a pink and green wedding cake, it is really a masterpiece of Baroque architecture and has been recently restored. Photos inside are banned, but you can get an idea of the grandeur of the place from the outside.



Einsiedeln means "hermitage" in German. The town was named after a monk that went there in the 800s. Today it is the most important place of pilgrimage dedicated to the Virgin Mary in Switzerland. So of course, placed accordingly along side the grand place of worship are many tacky tourist shops. After all, what would a famous place of worship be without a little commercialism?

Cross Country Skiing in Switzerland

My new strategy to look good while skiing this winter (besides my new Spyder ski suit) was to do it the real Illinois way--cross-country style. After all, I grew up cross country skiing on an Illinois country club golf course. If anyone should be the master of the flat lands, it should be me.

But yesterday, as a retiree passed me for the third time on a 10k loop while cross-country skiing in Einsiedeln, l realized I was doomed to ever pass anything Swiss on skis. Even the woman at the ski shop called me a "beginner"--before she even had seen me in action.

So I comforted myself by taking picture breaks and enjoying the views.




Besides, there's more to do in Einsiedeln besides ski. There's a huge monastery located there and by huge I mean by European standards, not Swiss ones. More on that tomorrow.