A Day At The Lake - Lac Léman

Since I bought a few SBB Tageskarten for Monday July 23rd, we planned on going to the Lake Geneva and on our way back we would visit the castle in Gruyères. That was the plan. We took the train from Bern to Lausanne, then the metro from the railway station down to the boat-stop, hopped on the boat going south and after a boat ride of about 1,5 hours or so we hopped off again, in Montreux.

And as best laid plans often do, the plan changed! We ended up staying in Montreux for the rest of the day, the air & water temperature was just right, the kids wanted to swim in the lake, and so they did. We even rented a paddle boat and I think they all had a blast floating on the lake. We finished the day with a meal at the local McDonalds before we headed back to Bern by train.

arrival at Montreux

Montreux, Freddie Mercury Monument

Montreux, Market Hall

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Lake Geneva

paddle boat @ Chateau Chillon

chicks chasing ducks

my favourite treat

my favourite tree

my favourite BIG tree

Montreux Railway Station

Lausanne Railway Station

A Day At The Airport

Today my nephew Thomas and I went to ZRH Airport, just for fun. It was a beautiful day, not too hot and not too sunny, just perfect. There is a new observation deck on top of Terminal B and I have not been there yet. It's always worth going to the observation deck on Terminal E where the long haul flights dock. Highlight of the day was the departure of the Singapore Airlines A380 which is simply impressive. Another highlight was the bustour we took around the airport, including a (photo) stop at the crossings of two runways. Edible highlight of the day were the sandwiches from Confiserie Steiner that are just yummie.

closer look at ZRH Airport

Multimedia binoculars (called Airportscopes) have been developed specially for the new Observation Deck B.
They provide background information on fixed and mobile POI's at ZRH Airport.

the new Observation Deck B

view into the cockpit

ready for departure

SQ345 getting ready for departure

small people, huge plane

ready for departure

push back on taxiway

same dock (E64), smaller plane
SQ345 on it's way to the runway

one day......

SQ345 ready for take off

lift off!

bustour photo-stop at runway crossing

two different kinds of flying objects

moments before lift off

 The following pictures are distorted 180° panoramic view photo's made with my Sony Xperia:

Emirates Boeing 777 @ Terminal E

Terminal E Observation Deck 1

Terminal E Observation Deck 2

Terminal E Observation Deck 3

Terminal B Observation Deck 1

Terminal B Observation Deck 2

One Day Beauty

Today was THE day that my one-day-only-blossoming-cactus-flower opened. Actually, it lasted two full days before it succumbed. And that was IT for this year, no more other cactus flowers!

in the evening, the night before (14/7)

at night

and the day it is open (15/7)

WWW (Water With Wood)

High Water Alarm in Bern on July 4th 2012:

click here for a video of the region where it all started

click here to see a video of today's high water in the river Zulg
and click here for a short video of the high water alarm in Bern tonight

Pool Is Open! (1)

It's getting warm! And warmer! To celebrate the summer season we've set up a new and bigger pool, 360cm wide and 90cm deep. And "warm" enough to cool down.....

getting started

too cold to use yet.....

......but not TODAY!!!!

water temp is 21°C

having fun!

Geluksvogeltjes

The Good Luck Birds were not that successful so far......

Naomi's Cupcakes

Naomi had to make some cupcakes, so she did this Saturday afternoon. And everything had to be coloured - the dough was orange, the buttercream-coconut topping was green, red, yellow or blue. She decorated with chocolate chips and silver balls and sugar flowers.

And two of the cupcakes even got names: "Knuddel" & "Knuddellina".

Then I made a big mistake: I ate "Knuddel"........
(I chose this cupcake because it only had 3 chocolate chips on top and I didn't know it was "Knuddel")


Trouble.......

Naomi's creations

"Knuddelina"