Some info as of 5/22/08:

Luzern -- The Picasso museum has been merged with the Rosengart collection on Pilatusstrasse and is now housed at the latter's location. Much of the Picasso stuff will not be ready for display until June. Even if you aren't a Picasso fan, this collection is worth a look. It is mainly stuff from his last years: creative and playful paper cutouts, photos of his personal life, etc.

The Swiss Transport Museum is a ridiculous waste of time.

Bern -- The Kunstmuseum is currently featuring a large Holder exhibit. Also showing is a fascinting collection of art created by psychiatric patients.

Zurich -- E.G. Buhrle collection on Zollikerstrasse is closed until further notice. A lesson in calling ahead.

The Swiss Pass is a great value above and beyond its rail travel utility. My girlfriend and I went to 9 different museums or attractions and all were covered by the Swiss Pass. That's about $150 value on top of all the trains, cable cars, buses, boats, and trams we took.

Berner Oberland -- Paragliding Jungfrau was an excellent company for tandum gliding. Professional and highly skilled. Oh, and a huge rush.

Olle & Maria Eggimann have a terrific B&B in their Gimmelwald home. Olle basically gave us the run of the place. He let us use his telescope to study the ibex on the west side of the Jungfrau, gave us lots of great hiking information, and had top notch hiking boots and poles for us to use. He even got us perfect seats for his performance of Rigoletto in Bern. And he loves to talk about politics, music, and literature with his guests. As far as I am concerned, no other hotels or B&Bs exist in the region.

Edward,

I recently saw the Holder exhibit. I had never even heard of him before, but what an amazing collection - spent a wonderful afternoon there.

I have been a few times to the Rosengart - recently - but hadn't seen any changes... Wonder where they will fit all the other Picasso works?

E. G. Buhrle was recently robbed of 4 significant and very valuable paintings which is why it is temporarily closed. Degas, Monet, Van Gogh and Cezanne. I believe 2 have been recovered.

g.

Sorry you did not enjoy the Swiss Transport Museum. I've found it to be very interesting.

I wouldn't say the Swiss Transport Museum is a ridiculous waste of time. My family found it quite interesting and wished we had more time to spend there. Lots of stuff for the kids to do.

I also haven't heard of an artist "Holder" before. Maybe it is because the current exhibition is a "Hodler" exhibiton? LOL

Thanks for the summary. I also disagree on the Swiss Transport Museum, but in the end it is subjective.

I.

Oh, thanks for notifying me about the Hodler exhibition, I would have missed it otherwise. Hope I'll make it. I love Hodler's landscapes.

BTW, I do not consider the Verkehrshaus a ridiculous waste of time either.

Oops! Sorry - my typo too. I knew it's spelled Hodler... guess I should go to bed earlier!

g.

Edward,
Please tell us more about the paragliding trip – where did you do it? DO they pick up from hotels? We’ll stay in Wengen and would like to try it. How long were you ‘in the air’? How do you dress for it? I assume it gets pretty windy. Can you take pictures from up there? Thanks a lot.

I used Paragliding Jungfrau (you can find them on the web). I called them in the morning and we set up a meeting time that day for 1 pm.

We met at the cable car station in Murren and then walked uphill to the launch point just above town. They have a number of other launch points in the region, including near Interlaken and Grindlewald (and even the Schilthorn in good weather).

It will be windy and cooler during the flight than whatever the conditions are at the launch point, so dress accordingly. I had a windbreaker and a couple other layers.

They have a camera mounted on a boom to take pictures and a video. They put it on a dvd for an extra 10 bucks. With the dvd, the one jump cost about 180SF. They have day-long excursions for around 600SF, where they do multiple jumps from different sites, serve lunch, etc.

Thanks Edward, this is really helpful. Will do the shorter (and cheaper) trip, since this will be my first.