Genealogy trek to Glarus

My recent genealogy discovery prompted me to think about how best to visit the town where our one ancestor branch was confirmed - Glarus is a relatively short train ride from Zurich so I figured a day trip might be possible.  I was fortunate to have a little extra time prior to my conference start and decided to utilize my train pass to quickly visit the town and church. 

When I checked the register for gravesites, the names listed confirmed this was the correct location.

There is still genealogy work to be done and I'm excited about the history for this branch!

ILA Geneva 2021

ILA Geneva has been excellent - it's always a fun time to be back in Switzerland, and even more so when you are meeting with others about leadership in practice and academia.  The CICG Conference center is only a few tram stops away which makes participation even that much easier.  I chose to go with an AirBNB again for the first portion of the trip near Rue des Parquis - this part of the city is excellent with many shops and dining options. 

It was also fun to catch up for a bit with Paige, Cheryl, and Fabi - congrats to Fabi on her new book!

Can't wait to be back again soon.

Upcoming Departure: Switzerland

Yes, again! 

I feel very fortunate to be able to fly back to Switzerland in another week or so, as I will be attending the International Leadership Association Global Conference in Geneva.  Last year, ILA was hosted virtually - while the sessions were excellent, it just wasn't the same being on Zoom and not connecting in person.  Thankfully this year, some conferences are returning safely and Switzerland seems to be one country that has managed things well with Covid.  

It will be fun to be back in the fall as well - with the season changing, the weather should be excellent for walking and enjoying cooler evenings.  

This trip I'll be flying Swiss on a United codeshare - curious to see how it goes for the 10hr connect. 

Swiss Covid Cert success

This past Monday Switzerland introduced new Covid rules and a certificate requirement, specifically for certain situations:

More information can be found here: https://ch.usembassy.gov/covid-19-info/

This means that any travelers from the United States must have a Swiss-approved Covid Certificate in digital format (or paper though I wouldn't choose that) in order to enter restaurants and other establishments.  The only issue is that specific details about how to request such a cert were not provided as part of the announcement.  This has caused a bit of a scramble to find how to request, especially if anyone has travel planned.

Thankfully, some of the Cantons have already created links to submit for a certificate (which can be found via quick Google search).  I took a chance on one link that now seems to be IP-restricted and after a three day wait was just issued my digital cert!  I highly recommend submitting this as soon as possible if you have travel plans already in place for the fall.  Hopefully my October conference remains on schedule!

Labor Day trip 2021: Switzerland

Greetings from 38,000 feet over northern Missouri!  I'm enroute back to SFO after a very successful Labor Day weekend trip to Switzerland.  It had been 643 days since I was last overseas, and for a time I wondered if this trip would also go due to Covid and changing travel status of the EU countries.  Switzerland's requirements, however, did not change and we were able to depart (though not without a few different unexpected impacts):

1. The remnants of hurricane Ida caused severe flooding all over New England; it didn't change my flight from SFO-EWR though did cause train cancellations affecting Heather.  

2. When Amtrak cancelled, the next choice was a bus from Boston to Newark via Penn Station.  Except that the severe flooding caused road closures all over NYC which rerouted the bus.  Not helpful for on-time checkin!

3. After the bus arrived near Penn, Uber was the next best choice given the road closures - not cheap though more reliable.  However the cancellations caused severe check-in backups which also necessitated a more engaged exchange with agents to make sure boarding passes were in hand on-time. 

4. My effort to use PlusPoints to upgrade was only partially successful - when I called United back after landing to confirm the points use and HB's spot on the upgrade list, the 1K agents changed the ticket block making her go from #1 to #10.  I called at least 4 times to the 1K desk, went round with the gate agents, and after boarding started was no further in restoring the upgrade list.  I don't think I've ever been as frustrated as I was on the phone with 1K agents who insisted on 'policy' - policy won't fix it, just restore what was there originally!  Instead of Polaris, they were able to confirm Premium Plus last minute.

5. Due to crew misconnects, we departed late and had a delayed arrival of almost 2 hours - not a dealbreaker. 

Murren was absolutely amazing - the weather held each day and we got some great hiking in on the Northface Trail.

If Covid testing is required to return to the United States, I absolutely recommend the Binax eMed product and Navica app - no wait times and test results in about 20 minutes online (plus it's CDC approved). I ordered kits in advance and brought backups just in case, no issues with carryon's.  

We had confirmed seats in Polaris Business on the way home - great value for the PlusPoints upgrades (a one way ticket in that cabin was priced at over $7000!).  Since I used previous cancelled travel credit and points, I was happy with another low-cost trip. 

One odd note on arrival back in the US at Newark - no one confirmed the negative Covid test.  It's a requirement to have it on arrival or you're not allowed to enter, and it was confusing that it wasn't checked once?  

Everything was very smooth in Switzerland - trains were on time, everyone was masked, there were not typical crowds in the train station, restaurants had plenty of outdoor seating available, and most businesses were open.  

I hope that access continues to be consistent through the fall - I'm due to be back in Geneva for a conference in October.