A day with my adviser in Zurich: Grosser Mythen Hike

Hi everyone,

I know that it is not fair that I just upload all these nice pictures from the lovely Switzerland. More importantly, the pictures from some fantastic hikes.
This post is about last Monday when my adviser Eckart came to Zurich to visit Peter and me.
He was in Sweden for a week for a conference where he attended there as a guest speaker.
Then he stopped by in Germnay to visit his mother (yes, my adviser is German :-) ).
Then, he drove to Zurich in his mother's car with his son Alex to see how things were with me and Peter.
My adviser is a big fan of outdoors activities. Specially the ones with hiking and nature. Unfortunately, right before my coming to US, I missed a very good hike with him and my labmates to Zion narrows in US. I should really do that with some friends. I have heard about it so much and also the picures looks fantastic.
Anyhow, Eckart had told us that he would like to discuss our progress and "research" on the hike! I know you are a bit jelous. See how lucky I am! :-) Discuss the research while hiking.

Anyhow, Eckart and Alex arrived in Zurich arround noon, as promised. We had lunch together. Some short dicussions with a couple of people. And yes. Let's head out of the town.
I later realized that Eckart had been in Zurich (ETHz) for his sebatical almost 12 years ago. That's why he knew Zurich and the area pretty well. He chose a very good hike which I am sure you will see from the pictures.
We were told that maybe in the afternoon, there could be some rain and thunderstorm. That's why we tried to start the hike as soon as possible.
Being the senior in your lab? Any advantages? I know at least one. The front seat with more room in the front was offered to me by Peter (and Alex!).

We were driving for almost 45 minutes outside the city on the roads to get to the starting point.
We started around 3pm at the trail head. I am sure there was a reason that Eckart had chosen this one. Later, I found out that this was the best choice. Considering all the factors, i.e. time (3 hours), challenging hike, elevation, green area and also a solo mountain where you could get a 360' view on the top.

Here on the trail, I again recognized the color coding I talked about before. Yes, the code was read which meant a challenging hike.
We got to a cafe on the way after half an hour. Recharged our batteries, some drinks and also water.
After a short break, we headed to the more challenging part of the trail. The salesperson in the Cafe told us that it would not rain or even no thunderstorm which was in contrast to what we had heard and also what we could see from the sky which was densly cloudy.
Let's see if he was right or the weather forecast. I would go with the salesperson's prediction. :-)

The trail became more and more steep and also much narrower. With a lot of chains installed to both sides, we could walk safer and faster.
It was absolutely gorgeous. The flat giant rocky mountain and all the green environement. We could again hear the familiar music. The bells (cows).
Also, we could see another Cafe on the very top of the mountain. That was somehow a good motivation to get there soon. A drink or some snacks on the top.
Some parts were breathtaking. I have never been to such a hike before.
I really appreciated Eckart's choice for this day. The best of the best.
We made it to the top in 1 hour and 15 minutes. Faster than what we had thought.

On the top, I again saw another Swiss flag. :-)
And a 360' fantastic view.
And an interestingly different crow. With yellow beak.
We bought some cookies and snacks from the Cafe. The prices were reasonable in spite of the location of the Cafe.
From the top, we could see the Lake Luzern again.
We started going back after a 15 minutes break.
Nothing much to say here, except the dicussions between Eckart and his son Alex. Alex should be around 12-14 years old. But he was asking questions regarding Nonlinear instabilities, saddle points, contours, potential functions, etc!!!!
Peter and I were really shocked and impressed! Alex should be a real genius and math enthusiasm. These topics are not even easy for me to understand.

When we reached down, at some nice spot, Eckart and I were taking a picture. We both were touching those cables (wires) with electriciy in them to avoid cows to cross the region. Nothing happened to me, but all of a sudden, Eckart yelled and jumped back. He said he felt like a big kick in his back. And we could not find any reason why this happened to him and not me. Well, I guess I am not a good conductor. :-)

A great day with a great hike.
On the way back, we had a chance to see a church close by. It was a fascinating one. Unfortunatetly, we could not take pictures from inside. Just a few from outside.
But there was a very interesting point about this church which seems like it makes it unique. Eckart told us that this is the only church that has the Madonna figure as a black person and not a white one. Very interesting to know. I am sure there has been a lot of research on that by know.

This was our Monday with my adviser in Zurich.
I should thank him again for the good time and choice.
Btw, and yes, we dicussed the research. But when we were driving back to Zurich and not the hike itself.

Best,
Ciao
Momo

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