Hunkelers Geheimnis

The flight from Zurich to LAX had a good selection of audio programming​ and I listened to this excellent radio play.  The story, characters, acting, etc. were very good. 4/5 stars.

Microcosmos: Le people de cosmos

Fantastic documentary about bugs in the meadow.  Great close-up footage. 4/5 stars.

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mfw@wyle.org | 1.425.249.3936

Fwd: The rise and fall of D.O.D.O

I really like Neal Stephenson's books and also enjoyed his collaboration _Cobweb_.  This collaboration is not as good but is still ok. Time travel stories cannot be self-consistent always make it extremely difficult for me to suspend disbelief. The characters are fun and the plot is ok. 3/5 stars.

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mfw@wyle.org | 1.425.249.3936

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mfw@wyle.org | 1.425.249.3936

7/19/17 - 7/24/17: Switzerland wrap-up

Individual Daily Photo Albums

• Wednesday 7/19/2017: Speed boating Lake Zurich
• Thursday 7/20/2017: Walk around Lake Zurich and downtown
• Friday 7/21/2017: Wup Kusnacht, Pfannensteig
• Saturday 7/22/2017: Berner Oberland, Glacier snow, Barracks
• Sunday 7/23/2017: Berner Oberland, Bern, Laszlow visit in Muri   Album-2
• Monday 7/24/2017: flight home

I have fallen behind in keeping a daily update.  I blame Google blogger :-), that now rejects email originating from outside the USA to create blog posts :-(.

Wednesday 7/19 was a low-key hanging-out day where I finished editing my and my subordinates research papers, as well as the first draft of a conference presentation I am giving on 8/2.  We were on Lake Zurich speed boating for a short time and I was able to spend a few hours hiking the mountains above Herrliberg before a late dinner.

Thursday 7/20 called for rain and thunderstorms so we planned to play paintball but the paintball center was closed (and it was not raining) so we walked around lake Zurich.

Friday 7/21 I was up early and went on a 3-hour hike, then the family drove up to an old castle ruin on Wup and we hiked the region of the nearby river where my nephew tried (and failed) to shoot fish with his hunting bow.

On Saturday 7/22 we packed up two cars and 11 of us drove up to the Sustenpass (Swiss Alps near Bern) where we hiked mountain lakes, a glacier, played in the snow, and then slept in a military barrack with 12 beds all connected and crammed into a tiny room.  It was quite horrible as one might imagine because of snoring and other sounds that kept some of us awake most of the night.

Sunday 7/23 we got an early start and visited a cousin in Muri (very close to Bern).  The 15 of us had a great discussion, then hiked up the Gurt mountain and finally had a wonderful Italian dinner in downtown Bern before heading back to Herrliberg.

There was a bit of a panic when we discovered that Iceland Air (a second time) kicked us off our flight and did not contact us.  When I called, waited 71 minutes on hold, they realized their mistake and asked if we would fly Tuesday 7/25 since the flights were all full.   Instead were re-accommodated on another Swiss flight via LAX on Monday 7/25.  Final arrangements were made at 1:00 AM Monday for the Monday flight, ouch.

Monday 7/24 we flew home.

7/18/2017: Lichtenstein, Chaeserrugg

Photos

We drove (for a few hours) to Chaeserrugg today, where we took the incline and a cable car to the top of the mountain and then hiked the ridge line at the top.  Despite the haze and fog that rolled in and out it worked out well and we had some spectacular views.

On the drive back we stopped at a bird sanctuary in Lichtenstein.

We had a fantastic (but late) dinner at home in Herrliberg.

Photos

7/17/2017: Herrliberg, speed-boating on Lake Zurich

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Today we spent almost the entire day on Lake Zurich -- swimming, speed boating, water skiing, mon-skiing, "oreo" rafting, eating at an island restaurant, and getting sun burnt.

I took a break in the middle to go grocery shopping and I also configured a bastion network with all six security cameras in this house in Herrliberg as well as a VPN to access the camera functions for my brother-in-law.  It has become much easier with web GUIs and Fritzbox than typing iptables commands and editing arcane configuration files.  Now he can watch his house, inside and out from anywhere on his mobile phone.  Tomorrow we shall set up his home-automation system (that requires flash, yuck) for VPN access.

The weather in St Moritz and the Engadin region is stormy so we stayed in Zurich this week.

More Photos

7/16/2017: Regensberg

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Today we drove to Regensberg castle on top of a mountain and hiked for a few hours.  We made a fire at a camp site and cooked lunch, then hiked back to the trail head.   During the hike I had some time to chat with my youngest son and separately with my brother-in-law. The hiking trail had model solar system planets whose sizes and distances from each other are the correct ratio / size scale for a model solar system.

We attended an informal dinner party at a neighbor's house; it was very comfortable and low-key.

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7/15/2017 Herrliberg, Liestal, Solar-Bob

Photos & Videos

We stayed in Herrliberg in the morning, herding the cats towards a hike in the mountains near Forch. In the afternoon we re-united with my youngest son, his friend, and the Basel contingent of in-laws near Basel.  We went to a small bobsled / ropes course that was much better than it appeared.

We had a fantastic bar-b-q dinner in Liestal with all the noisy kids and stayed late.

Eight years ago in a similar bobsled course, I was sitting behind my 4-year-old daughter while she drove the sled and we had a life-threatening wipe-out when we flew off the track:

This time, she drove by herself and had a great time.

It was great to see the family and have the cousins play together.




Photos & Videos

7/14/2017 Herrliberg, Zurich

Photos

Friday was another "down" day of laundry, errands, jogging, short hikes, swimming, and "hanging out" together with my in-laws (my real purpose for this visit).  I was able to meet old friends in Zurich again.

Today we plan to get together with the Basel contingent at a ropes course.





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7/13/2017 Lac de Mont Salvans et Chateau Chillion

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We were up early and on the hiking trail after we checked out of the fantastic AirBnB apartment.  We hiked around the local lakes, along the lake trail, then we toured the Castle at Chillion.

Finally we drove back to Herrliberg through terrible traffic.




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