philsquest

Yves Rossy - FusionMan

I know for my fellow Swiss this is probably old news. I red in the the Bangkok Post on Saturday that Ives Rossy crossed the chanel on September 26. 2008 with his jetwings. Then by coincidence I switched on the National Geographic Channel I they showed a documentary and the flight over the Chanel. It was awesome. I am so proud to be Swiss :-) For such a small country with only eight million people to come up with a person who does something like this...

Lavendula

While in Switzerland I'm confronted with all the different plants here. I just can't remember all the names anymore. I used to know them all by their Latin and German names. The fauna in Thailand is so different from here.
One of the plants I miss most in Thailand is lavender or "lavendula angustifolia". Most gardens here have it and they are in full bloom. I love the lavender fields in the south of France. The smell and the color.

Laupen

We are in Switzerland for a week now. It is just beautyful here. The air is so clean and the landscape is like a piece of art. The other day we went to Laupen. A little town half an hour from Berne. My father grew up there and I used to visit my Grandparents when I was till they passed away when I was ten.
We also got married in the little town (the civil wedding). Here are some pictures I took on our trip:

"Schloss Laupen" the castle of Laupen, where they once held off an invasion.

This used to be my grand parents house. I used to visit and stay in the top room with direct view of the castle. I would draw the castle for hours. The house is renovated and painted very nice. Back then it was realy old and run down. There was no proper toilet and only one shower for the entire house. Heating was done with wood and there were those heavy ovens in every room.

This is house is on the opposite site. There we got married 14 years ago for the civil wedding. There is a small room behind those windows where we sat and said yes to each other. Two days later we then got married in church. It seems like Yesterday.... except that we are here with three children running up to the castle.

Flying to Switzerland

The last days were crazy for me. We are leaving for Switzerland tomorow. The worldcup is on and there are so many things to be done. I am more stressed then I realy want to be and I guess have to be. My wife did a bulk of the work, like buying and packing hundreds of gifts for our friends in Switzerland. She also is doing the planing for the visits. Six weeks is a short time when it comes to meet all the people one hasn't seen in two to four years. What would I do without lillian?
So this morning I'll run my last errands, like paying all the bills and clean up my office. I have some last prepreations tto do for the Team from San Diego coming on the 6th. Then it's off to the Gym ((helps me relax) After that going home to pack and get the house ready.
We are flying tomorow morning at eleven, arriving the next day in Zürich.

Yuppeee Switzerland we are coming!

Snow Day

My Brother in Switzerland sent me some photos. It snowed about 40 centimeters and I was told that they  haven't had so much snow for years.
My heart is longing for the white stuff. At least for a view days. It makes the world around you come to a still-stand and all the sounds are muffled. I remember before I came to Thailand I used to have to get up at three in the morning to free the parking lots and walkways as part of my Job as a landscape- gardener. Working outside all day in winter was often quite a challenge.
Here in Thailand the heat is climbing. Today the prediction is 37 degrees. What a difference. I haven't seen snow for the last five years. My children said they want to see snow. So we will see if we can make that happen while we're in Switzerland in Juli. To all of you in Switzerland. Happy snow-day!