It seems as if I have found just the right place now. That is so cool! Never trimming again, just going there, seeing here trimmed, going back again. Whoop-whoop!
Isn´t she lovely?
Monday 16 January 2012
Dessa after the hairdresser´s
You all know that I love my sweetie but have had it with her coat. I was trimming her myself, went to the breeder´s for a trim and drove four hours to get there and back, tried various poochie parlours - always ending up with trimming her myself again, because they did not have a clue about spaniels or were just shearing her like a sheep. Thing is the Blauschimmel coat really needs an expert, it is not like the brown spaniels where you clip here a bit and there a bit... so I always invested a lot of effort but an expert really would have known what he is doing.
It seems as if I have found just the right place now. That is so cool! Never trimming again, just going there, seeing here trimmed, going back again. Whoop-whoop!
Isn´t she lovely?
It seems as if I have found just the right place now. That is so cool! Never trimming again, just going there, seeing here trimmed, going back again. Whoop-whoop!
Isn´t she lovely?
Saturday 14 January 2012
Bern by night
Bern is the capital of Switzerland even thought the world tends to forget this. Ask somebody who he thinks the capital of the Swiss people is, the answer - outside Switzerland - most probably is going to be "Zuerich". But áu contraire it is not. In Bern you find the Houses of Parliaments, the Bundeshaus, all important decisions for the country are made there - but still..... Zuerich is much bigger, the airport there is an international one (all airlines that head to Switzerland go to the big Z not to Bern. In fact, the airport of Bern is tiny, Belp it is called, and I am sure you never have heard the name, only small planes land there and most come from Zuerich.....)
Like the old joke, "What is the capital of Australia. Sydney or Melbourne?" - "Canberra of course." Well, Bern and Canberra are very much alike when it comes to international importance....
BUT I assure you, Bern is lovely. Goethe himself, who had been to Switzerland three times, said, "It is the most beautiful city we have seen." A medieval town center, lots of parks, greenery, relaxed people walking the streets - a city I could definately live in. Okay, when I say this, the big centres of the world are probably not happy, you know that I do not like huge places like New York, Los Angeles - and I love London, but only for a long weekend, not for living there (okay, I could do with the outskirts, but then it would take me ages to get to work which would probably be in the town centre). When I say I would like to live in Bern, the people who know me definately know now what I mean - I am not a city chick, that is for sure....
When we were in Spiez a while ago the day was full of rain and bad weather, so we were hanging out in the flat, chilling and dozing a bit in the afternoon - and in the evening, when the rain stopped, we went to Bern for a little ride. (It is only about 20 mins away from Spiez.)
The best place to start with a nice little walk in the old town of Bern is the Nydeggbrücke. Park your car there (meters everywhere, there are absolutely no free parking spaces - but there are neither to be found in the rest of the country anyway), then stroll up the Arkaden, which is a long shopping mile with lots of restaurants and of course shops. The prices are extremely high (but not higher than anywhere else in Switzerland), I recommend you do not come hungry, but sit down in one of the nice coffee places for a nice cup of tea or a beer. Being Winter time was very quiet on the Arcades itself, but believe me, the restaurants where bursting with people! (Only Swiss of course, the only ones that can afford the high prices. Next to Japanese people, but Switzerland is not popular for Japanese lads recently.)
Up the Arcades you find a row of fountains, this one being the "Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen" (= fountain of justice). All the fountains were created in the 16th century, this one showing Justitia with her eyes blindfolded, with sword and scales in her hands.
In the little side streets you sometimes find little dogs sitting right in the middle, looking very uncertain what to do now, and why mommy has put them off the leash and why they have to sit here....
The Münster of Bern is one of the most important sights of the town. It was started to build in 1421, but was only finished in the 19th century. It is an evangelican church, and the park allows you a glorious view over the old town of Bern and the Aare. This will be something for a Summer blog of Bern definately. In the night we unfortunately saw only scuffoldings and the view was okay, but not as stunning as it is during a bright Summer day.
Strolling back to the car you see the "Zytglogge", the watch tower of Bern with its famous bells and chimes, which was built in the 11th century.
As I said, Bern is a lovely little town (not something you might imagine as the capital of a country, but peaceful and full of nice people). We definately will be back in Summer time, and then we will stroll the streets of this friendly place again - with more photos to add to this blog.
Good night, Bern, for this time!
Like the old joke, "What is the capital of Australia. Sydney or Melbourne?" - "Canberra of course." Well, Bern and Canberra are very much alike when it comes to international importance....
BUT I assure you, Bern is lovely. Goethe himself, who had been to Switzerland three times, said, "It is the most beautiful city we have seen." A medieval town center, lots of parks, greenery, relaxed people walking the streets - a city I could definately live in. Okay, when I say this, the big centres of the world are probably not happy, you know that I do not like huge places like New York, Los Angeles - and I love London, but only for a long weekend, not for living there (okay, I could do with the outskirts, but then it would take me ages to get to work which would probably be in the town centre). When I say I would like to live in Bern, the people who know me definately know now what I mean - I am not a city chick, that is for sure....
When we were in Spiez a while ago the day was full of rain and bad weather, so we were hanging out in the flat, chilling and dozing a bit in the afternoon - and in the evening, when the rain stopped, we went to Bern for a little ride. (It is only about 20 mins away from Spiez.)
The best place to start with a nice little walk in the old town of Bern is the Nydeggbrücke. Park your car there (meters everywhere, there are absolutely no free parking spaces - but there are neither to be found in the rest of the country anyway), then stroll up the Arkaden, which is a long shopping mile with lots of restaurants and of course shops. The prices are extremely high (but not higher than anywhere else in Switzerland), I recommend you do not come hungry, but sit down in one of the nice coffee places for a nice cup of tea or a beer. Being Winter time was very quiet on the Arcades itself, but believe me, the restaurants where bursting with people! (Only Swiss of course, the only ones that can afford the high prices. Next to Japanese people, but Switzerland is not popular for Japanese lads recently.)
Up the Arcades you find a row of fountains, this one being the "Gerechtigkeitsbrunnen" (= fountain of justice). All the fountains were created in the 16th century, this one showing Justitia with her eyes blindfolded, with sword and scales in her hands.
In the little side streets you sometimes find little dogs sitting right in the middle, looking very uncertain what to do now, and why mommy has put them off the leash and why they have to sit here....
The Münster of Bern is one of the most important sights of the town. It was started to build in 1421, but was only finished in the 19th century. It is an evangelican church, and the park allows you a glorious view over the old town of Bern and the Aare. This will be something for a Summer blog of Bern definately. In the night we unfortunately saw only scuffoldings and the view was okay, but not as stunning as it is during a bright Summer day.
Strolling back to the car you see the "Zytglogge", the watch tower of Bern with its famous bells and chimes, which was built in the 11th century.
As I said, Bern is a lovely little town (not something you might imagine as the capital of a country, but peaceful and full of nice people). We definately will be back in Summer time, and then we will stroll the streets of this friendly place again - with more photos to add to this blog.
Good night, Bern, for this time!
Sunday 8 January 2012
Securing the ground in Spiez
Usually when we are in Spiez at the beginning we like to "secure the ground". That means we go around for the day, taking a look at the area, see the changes (if any) and get back the feeling to be "home away from home".
This time being Winter we first wanted to experience some snow, which is why we went up to the Grindelwald glacier (which is above 1700m) in the hope to find some. Which we did not. Just the street was icy and the the mountains around were snow-capped. Still it was extremely nice, because there were almost no tourists and we could enjoy the view (even though we were a bit disappointed because there was no snow at all where we were).
The parking space up at the Upper Glacier usually is our starting point for explorations, but the dirt roads were closed because of possible avalanches and so all we could do is have a look at the mountains from there. The view is great - but we still missed the snow we could play with.
There are actually people living at Grindelwald (the town not the glaciers). I do not want to change! Incredible how it might be to live high up in the mountains with tons and tons of snow usually and a zillion of visitors every year. They accept it gracefully, but still it must be a totally different kind of living there.
Then we went down to Interlaken, our favorite village in the area. The name says it all "Inter-Laken" - "between the lakes". Still it is a great place with lovely hotels, a nice shopping mile and lots of tourists dropping dead when they see a "White shepherd." No kidding, if we took a cent from each person (Japanese or Indian) who wanted to take a photo of sweet Indy we would be dead rich by now! Honestly, the first time you smile, the 50th time you do not step aside anymore when they wave you to get lost so they can take a photo of your dog and the 100th time you tell them to "sod off". Really...
Coming down from the mountains it still seemed a bit cool. But for January it was definately quite comfy, which I realized after hanging out at the shopping mile for a bit. (I did not buy anything!)
Then it was time to go around the Thuner See. We love this big lake and the boats that go there. In Summer you will find a lot of tourist boats but in Winter you only get the boats that actually function as public transport. People use them going to and from work.
The Beatenbucht is not only a ship station but also the place where you can go up the Niederhorn. Still during Winter it is a very quiet place for hikers.
Ladies and gentlemen - I give you the Thuner See! What a fine place to go in Winter, even if you do not go skiing.
And after such a big day it is sooooo good to relax, have some nice food and do nothing at all anymore before you go to bed and dream of lots of more great things to do.....
This time being Winter we first wanted to experience some snow, which is why we went up to the Grindelwald glacier (which is above 1700m) in the hope to find some. Which we did not. Just the street was icy and the the mountains around were snow-capped. Still it was extremely nice, because there were almost no tourists and we could enjoy the view (even though we were a bit disappointed because there was no snow at all where we were).
The parking space up at the Upper Glacier usually is our starting point for explorations, but the dirt roads were closed because of possible avalanches and so all we could do is have a look at the mountains from there. The view is great - but we still missed the snow we could play with.
There are actually people living at Grindelwald (the town not the glaciers). I do not want to change! Incredible how it might be to live high up in the mountains with tons and tons of snow usually and a zillion of visitors every year. They accept it gracefully, but still it must be a totally different kind of living there.
Then we went down to Interlaken, our favorite village in the area. The name says it all "Inter-Laken" - "between the lakes". Still it is a great place with lovely hotels, a nice shopping mile and lots of tourists dropping dead when they see a "White shepherd." No kidding, if we took a cent from each person (Japanese or Indian) who wanted to take a photo of sweet Indy we would be dead rich by now! Honestly, the first time you smile, the 50th time you do not step aside anymore when they wave you to get lost so they can take a photo of your dog and the 100th time you tell them to "sod off". Really...
Coming down from the mountains it still seemed a bit cool. But for January it was definately quite comfy, which I realized after hanging out at the shopping mile for a bit. (I did not buy anything!)
Then it was time to go around the Thuner See. We love this big lake and the boats that go there. In Summer you will find a lot of tourist boats but in Winter you only get the boats that actually function as public transport. People use them going to and from work.
The Beatenbucht is not only a ship station but also the place where you can go up the Niederhorn. Still during Winter it is a very quiet place for hikers.
Ladies and gentlemen - I give you the Thuner See! What a fine place to go in Winter, even if you do not go skiing.
And after such a big day it is sooooo good to relax, have some nice food and do nothing at all anymore before you go to bed and dream of lots of more great things to do.....
Wednesday 4 January 2012
Silvester in Spiez
Spiez at the Thunersee is our home away from home. Central Switzerland is a wonderful part of the world, lots of little lakes, small towns and very big mountains, a quiet area with lots of opportunities for day trips or just walk the dogs on some favourite mountain road. And if we feel like doing nothing at all we just sit on the terrace and stare at the lake or the castle...
"What are you doing on New Years Eve?" is the most popular question between Christmas and New Year. Don´t take me wrong, it is not that we do not like parties or hanging out with good friends, but sometimes when life has been tough and rough and maybe a bit too hectic we just like to answer "We go to Spiez". Then everybody nods understandingly and everything is settled. We spend New Years in Spiez, and this means we are "away" - nobody expects any attendance or invitation, we are gone, in some foreign dimension behind the Jungfrau Joch.
Of course Spiez was still in Christmas mood when we arrived at the 31st.
Just doing nothing on New Years Eve is excactly what we like when we celebrate in Switzerland. Filling up the fridge in the afternoon, then everything is settled for a quiet and relaxing Silvester. Usually we have "Fondue Chinoise" - as it is called in Switzerland. In Austria it is just called "Fondue", because the standard is meat fondue, but for the Swiss of course the standard is cheese fondue. Anyway, we had fondue chinoise and a bottle of sparkling wine. Yummy!
Midnight is spent usually very traditionally with the Bummering from Vienna ringing in the New Year and the Donauwalzer - I cannot imagine New Years without it. And then of course the little good luck tokens that are definately needed for lots of luck in the new year.
And then of course it is time for fireworks! At home - or in Finland where I think we founded a tradition - we do our own firework, here in Switzerland we were a little bit too limited. I guess the neighbours would not have liked it if we had started to shoot rockets from the balcony. I also have to state that the Swiss do not invest a great deal into fireworks at Silvester, they save all their means for the Nationalfeiertag at the 8th of August. But obviously the wave came over from Austria during the last couple of years, and this year we were able to watch some small but definately fine fireworks around the bay of Spiez and the mountains.
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a great time too!
"What are you doing on New Years Eve?" is the most popular question between Christmas and New Year. Don´t take me wrong, it is not that we do not like parties or hanging out with good friends, but sometimes when life has been tough and rough and maybe a bit too hectic we just like to answer "We go to Spiez". Then everybody nods understandingly and everything is settled. We spend New Years in Spiez, and this means we are "away" - nobody expects any attendance or invitation, we are gone, in some foreign dimension behind the Jungfrau Joch.
Of course Spiez was still in Christmas mood when we arrived at the 31st.
Just doing nothing on New Years Eve is excactly what we like when we celebrate in Switzerland. Filling up the fridge in the afternoon, then everything is settled for a quiet and relaxing Silvester. Usually we have "Fondue Chinoise" - as it is called in Switzerland. In Austria it is just called "Fondue", because the standard is meat fondue, but for the Swiss of course the standard is cheese fondue. Anyway, we had fondue chinoise and a bottle of sparkling wine. Yummy!
Midnight is spent usually very traditionally with the Bummering from Vienna ringing in the New Year and the Donauwalzer - I cannot imagine New Years without it. And then of course the little good luck tokens that are definately needed for lots of luck in the new year.
And then of course it is time for fireworks! At home - or in Finland where I think we founded a tradition - we do our own firework, here in Switzerland we were a little bit too limited. I guess the neighbours would not have liked it if we had started to shoot rockets from the balcony. I also have to state that the Swiss do not invest a great deal into fireworks at Silvester, they save all their means for the Nationalfeiertag at the 8th of August. But obviously the wave came over from Austria during the last couple of years, and this year we were able to watch some small but definately fine fireworks around the bay of Spiez and the mountains.
Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a great time too!
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