As those who’ve been following my posts here or on Facebook know, yours truly has been actively trying to improve my career by looking farther afield from the northeastern Switzerland market where I reside. Since the end of last month I have been to Geneva almost every week and the city of Geneva has left… Continue reading Geneva: the good, the bad and the beautiful
Tag: travel
Welcome to Customsland
I have friends who just can’t seem to get a break whenever they try and visit faraway places, because when they try to enter these lands, customs deny them entry. One might ask why, because, after all, they are no obvious threat to anyone, have no criminal background, are not a visible minority and they… Continue reading Welcome to Customsland
Wrestling with the Republic
If one reads the Rough Guide to Switzerland one suspects that it is not the greatest fan of Geneva: “Geneva is an anomaly, the nearest thing the world has to a truly international city, and yet with nothing of the pizzazz such a description might suggest.” Yes, it is a special city, though certainly not… Continue reading Wrestling with the Republic
Confessions of the Batman
A fortnight ago, before the breeze off Lake Constance turned brisk, Ute and I were visited by a denizen of the dark, a creature of the night. A bat had somehow found its way into our apartment. It was an hours-long struggle to get the helplessly lost and confused little fellow out. His visit (I… Continue reading Confessions of the Batman
Along the Comedy Circuit
A few weeks ago, soon after our (I and She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed) Sardinian adventures, the wife and I went a-walkin’ one weekend along a trail called the Witzweg (Joke Trail), a three-hour walk from one small Swiss hamlet, Walzenhausen, to another Swiss hamlet, Heiden. Not a bad experience, really. You get yourself to the Lake of Constance… Continue reading Along the Comedy Circuit
Jerusalem lost between Europe and Africa
He was 36, travelling with his wife Frieda (aka Queen Bee), making a brief excursion from Sicily to the interior of Sardinia, a week’s journey. It was January 1921. I am 50. She Who Must Be Obeyed, though younger, has an Age Which Must Not Be Numbered or Mentioned. We made a brief excursion from… Continue reading Jerusalem lost between Europe and Africa
Travelling with the enemy
It has often been said that the two true tests of a relationship are: 1) Your ability to assemble IKEA furniture together 2) Your ability to travel together In regards to the first test, She Who Must Be Obeyed and I have failed that test. She is impatient with my stumbling efforts, convinced She knows… Continue reading Travelling with the enemy
Great expectations?
Well. in an hour and an half’s time, a mini-adventure begins… Off to Sardinia with She Who Must Be Obeyed… What to expect? What to expect? Mediterranean. Hot hot hot weather. A Canadian in Sardinia = a penguin in Hell? A land of sardines? A land of sardonic laughter? A land of danger? In the… Continue reading Great expectations?
The secret sites above the Falls
The biggest problem with being a tourist in Switzerland is the distinct feeling that the Swiss don’t want you to visit and certainly don’t want you to learn anything about the country. Switzerland certainly does not go out of its way to market itself aggressively in comparison with countries like the US or France. The… Continue reading The secret sites above the Falls
Chasing waterfalls
Day Three of the Four Points Walk, Saturday 4 July 2015 Bernard Levin, widely regarded as one of the greatest journalists of his generation , in his book/Channel 4 series To the end of the Rhine, calls the Rhine “Europe’s noblest river”. The Rhine is not Europe’s longest river. That title belongs to the Volga.… Continue reading Chasing waterfalls