The End.....

Well, it's finally here, the end of my trip. Haven't updated the blog as much as I'd hope, but I still managed to use it :)


The last set of pictures have been upload to http://picasaweb.google.com/derek.hecht

and I'm uploading the last of the movies to www.youtube.com/derekhecht

I'm especially proud of the last photo in the 'Bookends' album.  I wasn't sure I was going to be able to find the opportunity to take such a picture :)

New photos!!!

Just finished uploading new photo albums..  Close to the end of the trip and I've been busy.

http://picasaweb.google.com/derek.hecht

Ascano, Switzerland
Milan, Italy
Gruyere, Swizterland
Frog Museum in Estavayer-Le-Lac, Switzerland

My friend Cindy came to visit for a week (she's flying back today) and we went to Milan over the weekend.  Unfortunately, it was in the mid-90's and very humid so it wasn't the most comfortable weather to walk around in, but it was Milan.  Got to see the Duomo, and went to one of the castles in the area.  Also got to see a bunch of Ferrari's that were there for a convention at the hotel we were staying at.  On the way back stopped off in Ascano (switzerland) which is in the italian speaking area.  You would swear that you were on the Mediterranean. Beautiful little city with classic italian design and color. They even had a Jazz festival when we stopped by.  Monday it was the Frog Museum in Estavayer and yesterday it was off to Gruyere (where they make the cheese).

Cindy is flying back today, so I'm back to being by myself for the next 5 days and then I'm home!!!

Lucerne and Meiringen

Running out of weekends! This weekend will be Lucerne on saturday and Meiringen on sunday. Lucerne is a city that people say you have to go to.  Classic picturesque, on the lake surrounded by mountains.  I'll be spending the day there and then in the evening visiting one of the pilots Ian (call-sign Nacho) and his wife Gwen.  Swiss BBQ followed by watching the USA in the world cup.  Will be spending the evening there and on sunday will be heading to Meiringen to go to the Sherlock Holmes Museum (a second one) and Ballengberg. Ballenberg is a swiss outdoor museum similar to colonial Williamsburg - http://ballenberg.ch/en/Welcome

Should be a good weekend with hopefully easy walking. This time there shouldn't be 900+ stairs to attack :)

Interlaken

This past weekend went up to Interlaken, and I had company. Ellen [Funderburg] stopped by Switzerland on her way to eastern Europe.  Have to admit it was nice having company where I could make comments and references and they understood them :)

Went up to the Interlaken area where some of the tallest mountains in Switzerland, Europe, and the world are.  Was hoping to get to the top of the Schilthorn but unfortunately the weather was drizzly and it was so misty you couldn't even see in front of your face.

We did, however, do a lot of walking in the Interlaken area.  Stayed at a hotel in the little town of Brienzersee on the north edge of Lake Brienze.  First stop was the town of Giessbach where we saw the Giessbach Falls.  Saturday morning started early and drove to Lauterbrunnen where you start walking the 'Valley of 72 Waterfalls'.. However, I don't think there were really 72, or at least not that we could see.  It was about a four hour walk through the misty valley with a stop off at Trummelbach Falls.  They are actually inside of a mountain so it was a pretty cool thing to see.  After that we continued to the little, and I mean LITTLE, town of Stechelberg. Pretty much a food stand, bus stop, restaurant/hotel and a cable car to the top of the mountain.  Not by any means a booming metropolis.

Afterwards we drove to Grindelwald where we went to the Grindelwald Gorge that is created from glacier runoff.  Definately a cool place to see where there are actually bungee jumps into the gorge.  Crazy, that's all I have to say. Then it was off to the Upper Grindelwald Glacier.  890+ fun filled steps up to the glacier on top.  All I have to say is OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW, but I made it, and so did sock monkey.

Unfortunately, what they don't tell you is that there is no frickin glacier on top.  Oh, there's a glacier allright, but it is way way way way up where you can't go.  It was a climb to a rock!! But it was a rock with an amazing view :)  Then you could actually continue over a suspension bridge a little further up.  Anybody with a fear of heights need not apply.  Nice deep drop to a glacier run-off river. After all that it was eat, lay down and rest the feed and legs.

And then the next day...  Montreux and Lasaunne. I had been to Lausanne before but not Montreux.  Montreux is a beautiful city right on the short of Lake Geneva.  Definitely understand why they call it the Swiss Riviera.  After several hours of walking, we left Lausanne and headed back to Estavayer for an end to the weekend.

Ellen left this morning at 6:15 to catch a train to eastern europe where she'll be karate chopping her way through lots of old cities and scenic views (she has a travel blog).

As always, new pics on http://picasaweb.google.com/derek.hecht .  There's a Lasaunne 2, Montreux, and Interlaken album.  Also some updates (I think to Cows and Animals).

I'll also be posting some movies tomorrow to my you-tube account http://www.youtube.com/derekhecht .  Movies of the indoor falls and the suspension bridge.

Until later.

Rheinfalls!

This past saturday I hopped in my car and made the drive up to the Rheinfall in northeast Switzerland.  As the name implies, it's where the Rhine river turns into a waterfall :)  As far as the spelling, I've learned that things around here have several variants of names (german, english, french, swiss, etc..), so you can almost pick a spelling and it works!

Spent the day there taking the boat rides that will bring you to the various parts of the falls. Have to say, it's not the biggest of falls, but it is definately a pretty one.

movies on youtube! www.youtube.com/derekhecht
pics  picasaweb.google.com/derek.hecht

There are also updates to the 'Cows and Others' and Estavayer-le-lac-2 albums.

This coming weekend, Interlaken. With the Funderburgler!

Roma!

I think I'm almost recovered from my Rome trip.  My feet aren't going to forgive me though. 2 weekends in a row of 10hr days walking.  My dogs are killing me!!!!

First, there were a lot of pictures from Rome (600+), so instead of a single Rome, Italy album, there are about 11.  There is still a Rome Italy album with some miscellaneous pictures, but I ended up putting each big 'thing' in its own album. As usual, a lot of snarky comments from yours truly.

http://picasaweb.google.com/derek.hecht

Also, I'm starting to upload my movies to my youtube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/derekhecht

They will slowly trickle up over the next day or two.  There are 12+ and they take time to upload.

All I can say is wow!  Unfortunately I didn't get to see the Sistene Chapel or Pompei, but they can always be for future trips :)

My feet are killing me!!!!

Okay everybody, I just had an absolutely tiring/incredible weekend. This was my long weekend, and I managed to see Nice, Marseilles, and Avignon France.  Started off with a nice 7 hour drive through the Swiss Alps (there is a photo album just for that) getting to Nice France.  Made a quick trip to Cannes for a little bit. Unfortunately, I couldn't go to   Île Sainte-Marguerite.  as the last boat left about 2 hours before I got there. I was really hoping to go, as this is where the man in the iron mask was held.  In 20/20 this would have been the only thing worth seeing in Cannes.  With Cannes done, I returned to Nice to spend Thursday night and Friday in Nice. Friday I met up with a friend Pam who I had met at another friends wedding (Rich). We spent the day in Nice, and then drove over to Marseilles for dinner Friday night.  She returned to Aix-en-Provence Friday night, but I stayed in Marseilles all Saturday walking like a lunatic wearing my feet down to nubs (Did I say ow!). After a busy busy day in Marseilles, I promptly passed out and left for Switzerland Sunday morning.  With some prodding, I ended up stopping off in Avignon on the way back. It was sunday so not much was open, but I did walk about a bit.  Got back on the road for the remainder of my 11 1/2 hr drive back.  Combination of heavy traffic and the slight delay.

 All in all, an amazing weekend. Pictures have been placed on my picasa web site  picasaweb.google.com/derek.hecht  .   New albums, Swiss Alps, Nice, Marseilles, Avignon.

Next weekend, Rome!

Two posts in a day!!

I realized I didn't have any photos showing the way into Estavayer, so earlier today I limped up to the entrance to take some... Way too much walking yesterday :(

Decided to take pictures showing from just entering to get to the hotel.  It was a whole lot of the fun first time driving in.  I'm glad I don't get freaked out by narrow roads.

Also, I changed some of the cover photos for the albums, no changes to the contents. Can't remember if I mentioned it, but I now have two specialized albums: Landscapes and Cows. I think with the landscapes I'm gonna try to get fancy with some editing effects (as fancy as I can get :)

htttp://picasaweb.google.com/derek.hecht

Basel and the surrounding area...

So I went to Basel, Switzerland yesterday. Before hand, though, I stopped off in Augusta Raurica.  It the largest ruins of a Roman town in Switzerland.  It's about 15 minutes outside of Basel. Then it was a whole lot of time in Basel, walking from one part of the town to the other. It's pretty cool, as the Rhine river cuts the town in half.  Apparently, hundreds of years ago, the northern half was the poor area and the lower half was the rich part. One the way back stopped off in Rheinfelden on a whim. It's a little town that is right on the Rhine river right across from germany.  The German border was right there. It was pretty cool.

pictures on

http://picasaweb.google.com/derek.hecht

My first youtube posting :/

I just posted my first video to you tube. And no, it is not a video of me running into a wall, or falling down drunk, or drinking a glass of Tabasco sauce :)

Its a video I took in Avenche, Switzerland where they have the remains of an old roman amphitheatre.  Not quite the same as being there, but a video is the next best thing. 

Hope you enjoy!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3lBrfnU-pE

Cows and Swans!!!!

Due to popular command, I now have a on-line photo album for cows! The first two or three photos are from right off the base where I am working.  The rest are from Cow Fest 2010!!!! Actually, this isn't the name, it's a local fair that just happens to be going on in Estavayer.  Just this weekend to.  Cows from the local farms being auctioned off, kettle carmel (mmmm), desserts, and absinthe :/  Weird combination, huh?

No traveling this weekend, due to rain. Has been a constant rain all days yesterday and today and I didn't want to be walking around somewhere getting wet and then catching a cold.  So local pictures and me planning my trips.  I'm off to Rome! Got my train ticket and my hotel reservations for the weekend of the the 24th.  Other than the Colloseum, I have absolutely no idea what I'll be seeing yet.  But luckily, I will be getting there friday about 7 and won't be leaving till monday about 2, so I should have time to see just about everything that I put on my list.

I've also added some photos to the Estavayer album. I think I'm going to create a part 2 shortly. The weather is really starting to change and once this rain disappears I think we are going to be pretty close to summer. 

Until next time!

Freiberg, Switzerland

Went to Freiberg today. Another one of the many cities in Switzerland that is split language wise. Half speaks German and half speaks French.  Its really weird when you can literally walk 2 blocks and the language completely changes on you.

Climbed another gothic church :)  368 steps up, and the the time I was at the top I was out of breath and ready for a nice slow elevator ride down. The only good things, is that I noticed that every other person who made the walk was just as out of breath. 

And I got a really good laugh on the way down...passed an Italian couple on their way up. The husband was dressed in t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers (the right way to attack a 70+ meter church). The wife/girlfriend...well that was a completely different story. High heals, spandexish pants and top. I don't understand a word of Italian but I could tell she was not having fun and she was barely 2 stories up :)

Until next post...

Falling behind...

Just wanted to say sorry for falling behind - even if it was only for one town on one day.  Before I forget, you won't be seeing many blog posts during the week. Between having to work (I am here for some reasons), dinner, relaxing, and the fact the Estavayer-le-Lac is a very sleepy town during the week, there's really not much to say.

So catching up....Sunday April 18th, went to Neuchatel, Switzerland.  Got some nice pictures, but unfortunately, it really isn't much of a tourst/picture taking city. Lots and lots and lots of stores, and I get the impression it is more of a shopping area than anything else. Kinda explains why most places were closed or under construction.

Today, was a busy day. Went to Lausanne, which is on Lake Geneva, and close to the area they refer to as the Swiss Riviera.  It was a nice day of walking (a lot of hours) with me and sock monkey. Glad I have him along for company ;)  I'm not going to guess how many miles I walked, it seems like they purposely made all the tourist places as far away as possible.  As you can see from the photos, it is extremely foggy/misty/ashy.  Not sure yet if it is the time of year or the volcano.  Not a lot of people seem concerned so I think it may just be the time of year where the morning mist doesn't get a chance to evaporate.

I didn't really the Olympic Committe was headquartered in Laussanne. Thus the Musée Olympique  (link on wikipedia).  The weather is starting to get really nice, so I'm expecting the photos to get more and more colorful.
 
For my dad, I will soon be creating a 'Cows of Switzerland' photo album on picasaweb.  He's been asking me where the cow pictures are, and I realize that I have been lax in my duties.  Since there are so many, and they are the key industry here (Cheese and Milk and Chocolate) and they are all over the place, I figure it doesn't make sense to mix their pictures in with other pictures.  There are many a cow right near the airforce base (Payerne AFB) that I'm working on, so I'm hoping I'll be able to get some really nice photos.

That's it for this blob post. I think it is officially my longest one :)

Before I forgot, the new albums (Neuchatel, Lausanne) are on my picasa web album.  Here's the link again:

http://picasaweb.google.com/derek.hecht

I'm going to try to get them sorted better.

Murten and Avenches pictures are posted...

Photos for Murten and Avenches have been uploaded:

http://picasaweb.google.com/derek.hecht

Murten and Avenches

Yesterday was a busy day. Went to Murten in the morming. Murten is an german speaking city that is on the lake and surrounded my a medieval wall.  Spent a couple of hours walking around, climbing up to the ramparts and getting some really nice pictures.  After spending a couple of hours there, I went to Avenches, which is a french speaking town (its hard to learn french when I keep on going to german speaking towns on the weekends).

Avanches, although smaller was really really cool.  It is built on the remants of Aventicum which is an old roman town.  They have a roman amphitheatre, theater and other really really really cool things. Spent  some time wandering around the area taking lots and lots of pictures.

The pictures, for both locations, won't be uploaded until monday night. i left my laptops power supply at work and I can't get in on weekend.  Currently it has about 5 minutes of change left, not enough time to finish commenting and uploading the pictures.  Once done though, I'll post another message.

Another day, another post...

Hey All,

Uploaded some new photos to the Estavayer photo album on picasweb. Just some pictures of the room and the view from the room (requested).  Tomorrow is my first day alone, the other guys from work are leaving :(

I'll be going to another city this weekend, so there will be bunches of new pictures. It also looks like there will be events almost every weekend starting in a couple.  Hopefully there will be some cool stuff going on around here.

Link to album: http://picasaweb.google.com/derek.hecht

My first weekend trip - to Bern.

Decided to go to Bern today. Bern is Switzerlands capital, but often gets overshadowed by Geneva and Switzerland because it's not as large - it's a beautiful city though. Got there about 9 am and walked for a good chunk of the day.  One thing I learned right away is that I'm not in good walking shape :)  Hopefully after a couple more weekends, I won't be as tired.

A lot of people think Europeans are thin because they walk so much. That may be also true for the Swiss, but the main reason I think that they are thin is that the food is so damn expensive. They can't afford to eat. At some point I'll try taking a picture of a menu and posting it. Suffice to say, a cheeseburger, medium fry, and medium soda at McDonalds if 12 Franks, or for us americans, 10 dollars! That gives an idea.

Got to see Albert Einsteins house today. He actually came up with the Theory of Relativity while in Bern. Also got to climb up the Berner Munster - no relation to Herman Munster :)  100 meter tall church, and I thought my legs were going to fall off when I got to the top.

Unfortunately I forgot to bring my sock monkey with me, so he missed out on my trip to Bern.  I'll be better in the future so he is included.

For those who are interested, the link to my Bern photos...

http://picasaweb.google.com/derek.hecht/BernSwitzerland#

I also renamed my Estavayer album, its new link is...

http://picasaweb.google.com/derek.hecht/EstavayerLeLacSwitzerland#

Until my next trip....

My first swiss posting...

I made it!  A couple of days in to my job assignment and its starting to dawn on me how long I'm going to be here.  Hopefully it won't be too long before I  can string 2 words together and not sound like a complete idiot trying to say something in french :)

I've put some pictures up on line on my picasa web album (http://picasaweb.google.com/derek.hecht/EstavayerLeLac#) so feel free to take a look at em. You can even comment!  Looking forward to traveling on the weekends, just gotta start putting together a list of places that I want to go to.

I think by the time my trip is over, I'm going to like traffic circles and will miss them back in the states. It's amazing how well they work and how easy they make driving around.  No waiting at traffic lights!

My next post will probably be early next week, hopefully with information about wherever I've been and lots of pictures. Until next time...

Almost time....

Well all, its starting to get close to my trip.  About 2 and a half weeks left and slowly been getting everything purchased.  Got my new camera, so I'm ready to start taking hundreds of photos.  It also support video at 720P so I'll be attempting to take some videos and uploading them to youtube....I can believe I just said that....I've been bashing youtube as being stupid since it came out :)

Welcome to my Blog!

Hi Everybody! Here is it, my first blog.  I've entered the 21st century :)  The main reason for the blog is my upcoming international travel for work.  First trip up: Switzerland, April 13th to July 12th of this year.

I'll be spending my time in beautiful Estavayer-le-Lac, Switzerland ( http://switzerland.isyours.com/E/guide/arc_jurassien/estavayer.html ).  Weekends will be my traveling time, and I'll be sure to take hundred and hundred of photos on my new camera (once I buy it :)

So coming in a couple of months, journals, photos, and links. Between now and then, planning, planning, planning, and posting of my plans.

Woohoo! Europe!