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Jasper's home, Switzerland - 27th June 2013
By: Jasper
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Posted Jul 2, 2013, 7:03 pm Last edited Jul 31, 2013, 11:52 am by Jasper
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Wattwil, Switzerland - 7th July 2013
By: Jasper
Hello mummy,
weekend was the northeastern Swiss Yodel Festival in the neighboring town. It was a great event with 4000 participants and about 45,000 visitors.
I attended the parade on Sunday. 60 teams or choirs participated with festive floats.
I saw many women, men and children in beautiful traditional costumes.
Some distributed specialties from their home, others threw sweets into the audience. We had a lot to do with the pickup.
Flag wavers
musicians
Herding dogs
Musicians on horses
A very, very old fire truck
An old post coach
Alphorns
And that is something very special. It is called "Schelle Schöttle" (bells shaking)
In Eastern Switzerland for the alp procession only the three leading cows wear huge bells made of welded sheet metal. The bells are valuable and on the way up, the herdsmen remove them from the cows in order to protect them. They are carried by the men on yokes over their shoulders.
This tradition, documented first in 1838, may have led to the so-called bell-shaking, a musical practice which was observed first in the middle of the 19th century. The Appenzellers shake the bells for fun, much in the way that other play cards. But often the bells are moved forwards and backwards to accompany the improvised polyphonic yodel vocalising.
Here you see me at the bus station on my way home.
This is what we catched.
I had a very nice day and I learned a lot of Swiss traditions.
See you
Ismaya
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Posted Jul 9, 2013, 6:22 pm
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Konstanz, Germany - 13th July 2013
By: Jasper
Hi mom,
Today we made a trip to Konstanz.
Konstanz; English: Constance) is a university city with approximately 80,000 inhabitants
Konstanz is situated on Lake Constance (the Bodensee in German).
The Rhine river, which starts in the Swiss Alps, passes through Lake Constance and leaves it, considerably larger, by flowing under a bridge
connecting the two parts of the city. North of the river lies the larger part of the city with residential areas, industrial estates, and the University of Konstanz; while south of the river is the old town which houses the administrative centre and shopping facilities in addition to the Hochschule or the University of Applied Sciences. Car ferries provide access across Lake Constance to Meersburg, and the Katamaran provides a shuttle service for pedestrians to Friedrichshafen. To the south, the old town borders onto the Swiss town of Kreuzlingen.
This is the Munster.
We saw beautiful old houses.
The casino
- we wanted to play roulette or blackjack, but Jasper said no.
So we admired the view,
and talked with a swan.
Behind us you can see the Steigenberger, a luxury hotel.
On the way to the old town.
This is the Town Hall
The courtyard of the town hall.
An art object -
the inscription on the red table means: unbounded thinking
Exactly what make TV's.
Still a lovely old house called Graf Zeppelin.
Here we are at the harbor.
At the harbor entrance stands the Imperia.
The Imperia is a statue at the entrance of the harbour of Konstanz, Germany, commemorating the Council of Constance that took place there between 1414 and 1418. The concrete statue is 9 metres high, weighs 18 tonnes, and stands on a pedestal that rotates around its axis once every four minutes.
The Imperia shows a woman holding two men on her hands. The two men represent Pope Martin V and Emperor Sigismund. Martin V was elected during the Council while Sigismund was the king who called the council. Both are naked except for the crown and papal tiara, respectively, that they wear as symbols of their power.
Jasper suddenly saw a Zeppelin on the way home. Unfortunately, we were crossing a bridge and could not stop. And unfortunately he is not very good to see.
The little dot next to the flag.
Now I'm tired.
Good night mum
Ismaya
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Posted Jul 15, 2013, 6:42 pm
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along lake Lucerne, Switzerland - 16th July 2013
By: Jasper
Hi mom,
Sunday we took a trip into the history of Switzerland and walked a little on William Tell's footsteps. We visited the Central Switzerland and Lake Lucerne. On our way we saw many beautiful landscapes and of course lakes.
The first lake was the Aegerisee in Canton Zug.
From high above we could look at him. We drove along Lake Lucerne to Sisikon and hiked on the "Swiss Path"
(The Swiss Path is the name given to a special national path in central Switzerland opened in 1991. It makes a loop around one arm of Lake Lucerne, starting in Rütli and passing through Bauen, Flüelen, Sisikon
and Morschach, finishing at Brunnen. The total length is around 35 km (22 mi), taking 2 or 3 days to complete.
The route recognises each of the cantons making up Switzerland, with markers announcing each canton along the route. The length of route for each canton is proportional to the population at the time of building, and the order is determined by the order in which the cantons joined the Swiss federation)
to Tell chapel,
the oldest chapel in Switzerland.
It lies on the Tellsplatte, where according to legend, William Tell to have jumped from the boat of the provincial governor Gessler. Already in 1388 a chapel was built. In 1503 as a chapel Holy Hüslin is mentioned. A new or remodeling was 1590th
The present chapel was built in 1879 / in 1880. It is adorned with four frescoes by Basel artist Ernst Stückelberg shows the Rütlischwur the apple shot, the death of Gessler and Tell's Leap.
Here you see Tell's leap.
We drove on to Altdorf, the capital of the canton of Uri.
Altdorf is best known as the place where, according to the legend, William Tell shot the apple from his son's head. This act by tradition happened on the market-place, where in 1895, at the foot of an old tower (with rude frescoes commemorating the feat), there was set up a fine bronze statue of Tell and his son.
In 1899 a theatre was opened close to the town's center for the purpose of performing Schiller's play of Wilhelm Tell.
Here you see me before Tell's Memorial.
Continue along the lake
and through many tunnels
we drove towards Brünnigpass.
The pass is nothing special but on the way one has a view of the Lungerensee.
And that is something special.
Looks like a post card.
Hiking and driving made us very tired. The way home we slept.
Bye mom,
Ismaya
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Posted Jul 16, 2013, 4:16 pm
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Jasper's home, Switzerland - 22nd July 2013
By: Jasper
Hi mom,
when we woke up this morning, Wolley's bed was empty.
We found a letter from him.
Shakespeare read it to us.
Wolley do not like goodbyes and tears longer, so he has sneaked in the morning.
Goodbye friend, have a safe trip.
Bye mom,
your somewhat wistful
Ismaya
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Posted Jul 22, 2013, 7:25 pm
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Jasper's home, Switzerland - 25th July 2013
By: Jasper
Hi mom,
I have an admirer - a little seal.
She looks at me all day.
I think she loves me - though - I'm not sure if she loves me or my color.
No matter, I enjoy it.
Hugs
Ismaya
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Posted Jul 25, 2013, 3:43 pm
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Munich, Germany - 31st July 2013
By: Jasper
Hi mom,
Yesterday we started at 6 in the morning to Munich.
Fairly early but we had to drive nearly 280 kilometers.
The weather was nice but the time was long.
Then finally - we saw our first destination.
The Allianz Arena. Home of FC Bayern Munich.
We marveled trophies,
soccer stars and exhibits.
Then we took a tour of the arena.
Fan or not - it was very impressive.
With the subway we went to the City.
First stop: the famous Hofbräuhaus.
The Hofbräuhaus am Platzl is a beer hall in the city center of Munich, Germany. The inn was originally built in 1598 by Bavarian Duke Maximilian I. It was built as an extension of the original Hofbräu brewery, but for Weissbier (wheat beer). The general public was admitted only in 1828 by then king Ludwig I. The building was completely remodeled in 1897 by Max Littmann, when the brewery moved to the suburbs. In the bombing of WW II, everything but the ground floor (Schwemme) was destroyed; it took until 1958 to be rebuilt.
First we drank a beer
- ooh so good - and ate a big pretzel.
Then we tried a specialty: pork shank and dumplings.
Yummy, yummy.
Stuffed full, we needed some movement. We looked at the restaurant of a famous celebrity chef
and tried his ice cream.
Not bad.
After looking at the beautiful old houses
we went further to Viktualienmarkt.
The Viktualienmarkt is a daily food market and a square in the center of Munich, Germany.
The Viktualienmarkt developed from an original farmers' market to a popular market for gourmets. In an area covering 22,000 m2 (240,000 sq ft), 140 stalls and shops offer flowers, exotic fruit, game, poultry, spices, cheese, fish, juices and so on.
The maypole at Viktualienmarkt.
The tower of St. Peter church.
the parish church of Saint Peter, whose tower is commonly known as "Alter Peter" - Old Peter - and which is emblematic of Munich, is the oldest recorded parish church in Munich and presumably the originating point for the whole city.
Then was our interest in the Marienplatz with the "New Town Hall".
It was built between 1867 and 1908 by Georg von Hauberrisser in a Gothic Revival architecture style. It covers an area of 9159 m² having 400 rooms. The 100 meters long main facade towards the Marienplatz is richly decorated. It shows the Guelph Duke Henry the Lion, and almost the entire line of the Wittelsbach dynasty in Bavaria and is the largest princely cycle in a German town hall. The central monument in the center of the main facade between the two phases at Marienplatz above the guard house, is an equestrian statue of Prince Regent Luitpold. The bay of the tower contains statues of the first four Bavarian kings.
The main facade is placed toward the plaza, while the back side is adjacent to a small park (Marienhof). The basement is almost completely occupied by a large restaurant called Ratskeller. On the ground floor, some rooms are rented for small businesses. Also located in the ground floor is the major official tourist information.
The first floor hosts a big balcony towards the Marienplatz which is used for large festivals such as football championships or for concerts during the Weihnachtsmarkt. Its main tower has a height of 85 m and is available for visitors with an elevator. On the top thrones the Münchner Kindl. The Rathaus-Glockenspiel, performed by an apparatus daily on 11am, 12pm and 5pm, is a tourist attraction.
Not only we want to see this place.
It was just time for the chimes.
Next to the town hall tower you can see the towers of the Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady), another famous church of Munich.
By Kaufingerstrasse (shopping street and pedestrian zone)
we walked to the Frauenkirche. The picture looks a little funny but the church is being renovated.
That was the only part which is not blocked by scaffolding.
Jasper did her best.
Slowly, it was time to think on the way home.
At Stachus (Karlsplatz)
we took the subway back to our car. Then drive for hours.
We still enjoyed a beautiful sunset
and then fell into bed tired but happy.
Love, Ismaya
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Posted Jul 31, 2013, 10:37 am Last edited Jul 31, 2013, 12:37 pm by Jasper
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Engelberg, Switzerland - 1st August 2013
By: Jasper
Hi mom,
Thursday, 6 clock in the morning. We packed our suitcases once again.
Our destination: Engelberg
9 am - We stopped at Lake Lucerne.
Jasper showed us the Rütli on the other side of the lake.
The Rütli, a meadow, is a historic site for the Swiss. 1291 here three brave men have made a covenant by oath against the Habsburgs (the evil taskmasters). This Rütli Oath is considered the founding of Switzerland and is on 1 August celebrated as a national holiday.
Awesome we looked at the small meadow.
(The small round lakeside lawn - right above my nose)
Then we drove to Engelberg.
Engelberg is the leading mountain resort (Urner Alps) in central Switzerland. In the Middle Ages, Engelberg was known for the educational accomplishments of its Benedictine monastery, the Engelberg Abbey, whose school was well-known and regarded throughout the country. From the 19th Century, Engelberg became internationally known as a resort and spa, but is today visited as much for skiing as for its clean air. With its combination of modern sports facilities and alpine location, Engelberg is a magnet for both summer and winter tourism. The closest large cities are Lucerne and Zurich.
This was our hotel.
After checking in, we went immediately on the way to the cable car and drove to Härzlisee (little heart lake) The mountains here are a paradise for paragliders.
Because mountain air makes you hungry, we strengthened ourselves with specialties of the region and a glass of wine.
Then we enjoyed the great view and the beautiful weather.
On our way back we saw the monastery.
We also had a look at the magnificent monastery church. The monks just celebrated their evening prayers. Out of respect we did not take pictures.
Due to the National Day there was a great feast in the village. There was so much to see.
Jasper wanted to photograph everything, but the masses of people made it impossible.
Mom, it's 9:30 pm and still as bright
On the way to the hotel we saw far away on the mountainside a cross of torches.
Exhausted, we fell into bed.
Bye for today
Ismaya
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Posted Aug 3, 2013, 11:14 am
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