jw

Hi, I'm still puzzled about the Panorama. Do you think they might not have realized you were actually trying to make a reservation rather than just requesting information? Maybe they really have not made the transition to techno-travel correspondence, yet. I'm sorry that your friend didn't phone, because I'm sure he could have gotten the story straight in Swiss-German, and our curiosity would have been satisfied. I'm really sorry that I contributed to that snag in your planning. The Moosmann looks terrific (and beyond my budget), but did you ask them about how to get there? It looks a bit of a walk from the dock. Maybe they'll have someone meet you there? Or, perhaps you have figured out that the dandy thing to do is travel there with just a little tote bag of overnight stuff. That way you can hop off the boat and skip on over to the Moosmann w/o a care in the world. You are going to love Switzerland. J.

judy

hi jw. well, it's ok about the panorama -- at least i found somewhere. according to the email i got from the moosmann, the dock is close -- a 2 minute walk. and since we're only going to be there 2 nights, we are indeed only going to bring backpacks. just minor toiletries, a change of shirt, etc. they even told me when the last boat is so we know what time we need to get going! (we will be going there after spending the day in bellinzona.) so now we are all set, and i can stop having weird dreams about places i've never been! thank goodness.

jw

Hello. Do you know I've never spent any time in Bellinzona? Changed trains there over and over, but never gave it the courtesy of a visit. I promise to do that next time. I know you'll visit the castles, but I hope you have time to see the fresco in Santa Maria delle Grazie -- That's what I'm looking forward to. Did you mention how much time you'll actually spend in Gandria? Is it two nights but just one day? Regardless, please consider exploring Gandria early in the morning and late in the evening, and boat to other places during the day. I will envy you the opportunity to enjoy that beautiful little 'perched' village w/o the crowds.<BR>You did say that you saw the Burt Wolf piece about it?<BR><BR>Ursula, are you nearby? Yesterday the Burt Wolf Travels and Traditions program focused on Basel, so I thought of you. I was fascinated by the large paper lanterns that are part of the fasnacht celebration. They are beautiful! Can you tell me how they are illuminated? I have a question about the celebration: the program's narration said that the parade is the Monday after Ash Wednesday? Is that correct? In Louisiana, the festivities end on the evening before Ash Wednesday. Anyway, I love the pagentry and the costumes of the Basel fasnacht, and I hope that when I retire, I'll be able to attend one time. The other segment of the show that grabbed my attention, of course, was the bit about Jean Tinguely and the Tinguely museum. The fountain sculptures are especially marvelous. We are very familiar with his work here, but now I am convinced that my students would love to experiment with kinetic art. <BR><BR>Good wishes to all. Ingo, are you well?<BR>J.<BR><BR>

Ingo

Hi all,<BR><BR>jw: thanks, I am fine. It took me two weeks, but now I am ready to go to work again. Have you seen the thread "Mittenwald to Bellagio route?". I was glad to be able to recommend a route via the Engadine, lunch in Guarda and coffee in Soglio.<BR><BR>Judy, I too envy you your stay in Gandria. You should not miss to have dinner in a grotto right across the lake in Cantine di Gandria. There are two nice "grotti" in this small hamlet with simple, but delicious food (fish!). The atmosphere in these typical restaurants is fantastic. As far as I know the last boat goes at 22:00 back to Gandria.<BR><BR>Ingo

Phil

jw:<BR><BR>Yes your tv programme was right. Fasnacht at Basel starts at 4 am on monday *after* ash wednesday. I'm not sure at the reason, but it is said, that Basel, after the reformation, just wanted to provoke its neighbours, who had remained catholic. But I doubt it, as the tradition we know it today is not older than 200 to 250 years. Fasnacht, however, had already been celebrated in the middle ages (it was mentionned for the first time in the 14th century, when a dozen appretice boys were fined for parading in the nude remember: in february!).<BR><BR>The large paper lanterns are generally illuminated by butane gas, traditional groups might still use candles. Many of the larger lanterns are painted by well known artists from the Basel region.<BR><BR>All the lanterns are gathered on catherdral square (M&uuml;nsterplatz) on tuesday after ash wednesday, and illuminated after night fall, so people may inspect them at their leisure.<BR><BR>If you come to Basel for fasnacht, you might want to reserve your hotel room well in advance, and preferably in a centrally located hotel.<BR><BR>Enjoy your travels.<BR><BR>Phil.

judy

i'm going to have to print this thread out so i can remember all the stuff i have to go see! right now i am drowning in little scraps of paper with things scribbled all over them...i will try to remember the fresco, jw, i promise. and i will look for your village, ingo. we will be spending 2 nights in gandria -- is it really a big enough place to require a whole day? we were going to use it as a base: come from zurich, spend day 1 in and around bellinzona, spend night in gandria. check out gandria in the morning of day 2, then go to lugano for the rest of the day, then back to gandria. day 3, locarno and surround, then back to zurich.<BR><BR>am i reading my map correctly -- are there vineyards around lugano? (we looooove vineyards!)<BR><BR>now i'm suddenly realizing that i've planned ticino to a fare-thee-well, and i have no idea what we're going to do in the lavaux! well, time for some more research!

jw

Hi Judy, You will enjoy exploring Gandria in the early morning and late evening, and that leaves plenty of time for the day-trip to Lugano. I don't remember any vineyard-walking opps around Lugano. But, Lavaux is a vineyard-walker's dream. You will go crazy over the walking paths throughout the area from village to village and always with a view of Lac Leman. I'm so envious just thinking about it. J.

jw

Hi. I have to confess, I'm really just trying to get this thread nearer the top to see how everyone is doing? <BR><BR>Judy, you'll find as you read our previous ravings about the Lavaux that you would need two weeks to do it justice. It is the most relaxing place. Combining the lakeboats with the vineyard walks, exploring lovely Lausanne or Montreux, the beautiful little towns of Lutry, Cully, and St. Saphorin, visiting the castle of Chillon or maybe even the chateau at Aigle with its wine museum. J.

judy

hi s -- are you there? can you tell me which train station we want to get off at in chexbres? the swiss rail site offers me several choices when i look for trains from geneva to chexbres. the hotel address is en genevre 8, if that helps...<BR><BR>the other night i saw a show (on the weather channel, of all places!) about switzerland -- it was too short, and didn't talk nearly enough about the places we're going, but it got me so excited, my husband was laughing at me doing my "switzerland dance".

s

Judy, <BR>I use the Chexbres-village stop to get off, which is right in the center of the town. I wish I had paid attention the few times I've been there to see where the other stops are, but I hever have!! Just for curiosity's sake, you might use each Chexbres stop and then click on the "journey guide" to see how journey goes sequentially.<BR><BR>I've been having some trouble getting the fares for my planned trips in Sep.; I'm assuming the guys are re-tooling their summer fares for web posting. I hope to get some good stuff soon.<BR><BR>jw, like you, my next trip seems so far in the future that I sometimes feel depression edging in (I can't remember where, but I thought you posted about this recently??). Somehow just reading the words "Lucerne" or "Lausanne" make me feel better. How warped is that!<BR><BR>On the lighter side, when you first mentioned the great site, www.burttravels.com, I didn't read it very carefully and thought the first "r" was another "t." I thought to myself, hmmmm, that doesn't really sound like good old jw . . .<BR><BR>s

jw

Hi. You know S', I thought the same thing when I first saw that web address. I think it was my blended bi-focals. Are your September plans different from previous visits? Anyplace new? It is so hard for me to imagine a trip to Switzerland w/o the Lavaux or Lago Maggiore. And btw, have you read anything from Ursula lately? I feel like there is a friend we should be checking on. J.

Ursula

Hi all! <BR><BR>Arrived early this morning after a 2 weeks trip to Vietnam (Hanoi-Saigon) and 1 week beach holiday in Thailand. Must have mentioned it somewhere, if not here, then for sure in the Asian Forum. Anyway, everything was and is fine. Just terribly jetlagged, little dizzy and, above all, cold. Br....<BR>We went through a real heat wave in Asia, so it's kind of difficult to get used to Swiss temperatures again. But spring IS in the air.<BR><BR>Will be back in a couple of days, before heading to Paris on May 9. )

jw

Great to hear from you! Yesterday we had spring; today it is summer -- 90 degrees F. Bushes and allergies are in full bloom. I could sure use a bit of Swiss sprintime just about now. J.

jw

SprinGtime. The humidity makes the keys sticky and my fingers lazy. On the other hand, we have the pleasure of the New Orleans Jazz Festival and the Festival Internationale in Lafayette (music of French-speaking countries) this month. Too bad I'm so buried under senior exams that I can't enjoy.

Ursula

jw: I case you are around and have time to do some reading: The today's New York Times (travel section) has a Basel Special. Quite interesting -- even for me!

jw

Hi Ursula! Can you tell me how to access it? I'm a net dunce. J.

Ursula

jw: Sure! Go to:<BR>www.nytimes.com<BR><BR>Head for the Travel Section. You can't miss it then. You will most probably have to register with the NYT. But that's no big deal.<BR>If you can't access, I can mail you a copy.

judy

hello all! i haven't been in a while, so i thought i'd check in and see what was going on...i have a silly question, also: are shorts ok? (i can't handle jeans, or really long pants of any kind, in the summer. i'm feeble.) i was looking at another thread about packing, and people were talking about jeans, capris, slacks, etc, but no one said anything about shorts. i know they are frowned on in some places...

jw

See what Ursula and Ingo think. I've never been in Switzerland in August; but my opinion would be a cotton skirt. J.

jw

This evening driving across the basin, I heard a story on NPR about a French art thief who stole art and artifacts in Switzerland over a number of years -- and when he got caught, his mother dumped the artifacts in a canal and cut the paintings into little pieces and threw them out with the trash? Incredible. Do I have the story straight? wow. J.