Site Redesign

I'm redesigning schwiiz.org and part of that change is switching my blogging softward from blogger to Wordpress. The blog.schwiiz.org subdomain will eventually be retired and forwarded to the new blog site at schwiiz.org/blog.

Pick up my Camera

It's annual tradition for St. Gallen to light up the old town with Christmas lights, and it was five years ago when I took this photo of the lights on Multergasse. The photo is posted on a few websites, and it was recently picked by a photo.net editor to be a part of this year's Editors' Picks: Winter Photos 2007. It's flattering to see that some of my photos still gain an audience. The timing is also right since St. Gallen just strung up the lights for the holiday season.

It's a shame that I don't take as many photos as I used to. I have a nice DSLR camera with an assortment of lenses and accessories, which don't get the use it deserves. I think it's because I spend so much time hiking and cycling, and carrying a heavy camera is the last thing I want to do. Although, I still have my compact camera, which I usually take along.

I've been developing a new script for displaying photos online. There are already thousands of scripts to do this, but I never found one that I really liked. Most album software shows you a small thumbnail with an enlarged image, which I find tedious. The thumbnails are often too small to get a sense of the album, and the enlarged view requires you to slowly page between each photo. I wanted something that displays my photos similarly to a real photo album, which has three or four images per page. Check out the following examples. Use the back button of your browser to return to the blog, and click on an image to switch views.

[ Photos 2006 | Photos 2007 ]

Shopping Blues

My new apartment has something the old place doesn't: space. I want to fill this space with furniture, but shopping for it is daunting because I'm so bad at decorating. If you don't believe me, then come over and see the green shower curtain that I picked out for my bathroom. It's almost as daunting as buying wine, but at least with wine you only need to drink it once. If you buy a couch and don't like it, you're stuck with it.

On Saturday I went to IKEA to find a few more things for the apartment. The store is a massive maze of showrooms, and I proudly never needed to ask for directions. Although, I did have trouble finding the mustard dispenser in the cafeteria. The showrooms were filled with ideas, which I had difficulties extrapolating to my apartment. There were many things I liked, and a few things I thought might work in the apartment. I plan to go back soon and spend some money, but with my fingers crossed.

Shopping alone for furniture is difficult enough, but it must pale in comparison to shopping as a couple. I chuckled whenever I saw a couple pondering a decision about a chair, bed, or anything else. Obviously one of them didn't like it, or they wouldn't be thinking about it. The best was watching a man or woman sit in a chair or flop on a bed, and stare at the other seeking their approval. If there is a 1 in 10 chance you'll like something, then there is only a 1 in 100 chance that both of you will. That's being optimistic, I think. I do have it easier, but I'll still be unhappy with whatever I buy.

Three Days on the #5

I rode off on Friday morning on what was to be my last bike tour of the season. It's not often I have a three day weekend, and even less often that the weather forecast is agreeable. Mind you, not many people would consider highs of 10°C 'agreeable' for a bike tour, but I digress. It was perfect and just required a few extra layers of clothing.

I went west along a familiar route towards Zürich, and got onto the #5 Mittelland Route near Uzwil that continues another 350km to Lausanne. I traveled this route during the 2005 Tour de Schwiiz, but this time only wanted to get as far as Neuchâtel. The morning fog muted the fall colours, but were warmed by my rose tinted sunglasses. It's strange wearing these sunglasses since they look like something you'd find at the Zürich Street Parade, which is definitely not my scene. Being Friday on a cool day, it was hardly surprising that the trails were so empty. I had the most peaceful ride through the forests with only the sound of the wind and the leaves crunching under my tires.

A small aside here, so bear with me. Last month in Canada I had my eyes corrected with LASIK eye surgery. There is also LASEK eye surgery, which I learned after the procedure is not a typo of LASIK. It's a different procedure. I knew it had to be cheaper in Canada than in Switzerland, which is one of the reasons I had it done over there. My prescription wasn't strong and some people asked, 'Why bother?' My vision was blurry enough to annoy me when I went hiking or cycling, and I didn't like having my glasses fog up whenever I walked inside from the cold. The procedure went very quickly, and more time was spent in the waiting room and having tests done. After an uncomfortable 15 hours with plastic shields over my eyes, I left the clinic with 20/20 vision. Simply stated: Wow! The worst side effect was not being allowed to do any sports for two weeks.

Those two weeks of no sports got extended a few more weeks due to a bad cold. Come to think about it, I think I had two colds. This bike trip was my first outing since the eye surgery, and the first chance to test them for the very reason I got them done. Everything I saw became an eye chart: I looked at signs as I approached them and looked for the moment I could identify the word or letters. What an improvement! The landscape looked glorious and I could see the defining shape of each autumn leaf. It's exactly what I wanted and hoped for. It astounding to me that a few minutes under a high precision laser can rid me of glasses and make such a minute but wonderful change to my vision. And the cost of LASIK in Switzerland? Double.

I rolled into Baden shortly before sunset and checked into the Linde Hotel. I've seen the world 'Linde' used all over the place but never knew what it meant, until today. It means lime tree, which explains the apparent abundance of lime trees on the Under den Linden boulevard in Berlin. I'll need to take a closer look the next time I'm there. Anyway, I stayed the night at the Lime Tree Hotel and payed more than I should have. My choices were limited with Baden's crappy selection of hotels, and I was too lazy to double back to the Youth Hostel. I had supper and a few beer at the Pickwick's pub, and crashed early for the night. I hoped the breakfast buffet the next morning would make up for the cost, but that was also a disappointment.

The next morning I left Baden with the goal of reaching Nidau (near Biel). I had some pains in my left knee reminiscent of the pains I had last year. The day before I had modified the position of my new Brooks bicycle seat, and wonder if that could have played a role. That, or perhaps it came from not biking for five weeks? Either way, the pain subsided after a few kilometers and I made it to Nidau. There I stayed at the Lago Lodge bistro, brewery, and backpackers, which I also stayed in a few years ago. Supper was delicious, and the beer even better.

I would have slept well had the guy on the top bunk not kept turning and snoring all night. He was originally on another bed in the room, but switched to the top bunk after another guy took the bed immediately next to his. Homophobic, perhaps? I couldn't wait until morning and was relieved when it was.

I continued a short distance to Neuchâtel and caught a direct train to St. Gallen. Direct connections are the best since you can doze off without care until you get home. I enjoyed retracing the tour I did in 2005, and reliving some of the memories of that trip. It helped clear my head after all that has happened these last few months. I'm sad the bike season is over, but am looking forward to winter.

Sad Days...

News of my mom's illness came on June 13, 2006 during my bike tour to Sweden. I was sitting in my tent in Koblenz, Germany at the junction of the Rhein and Mosel Rivers when I received the e-mail with the subject and body: "Not good / I just got the bad news over the phone. I have been diagnosed with AML, that is Acute Myelogenous Leukemia…" A wave of sadness and confusion overwhelmed me as I crumbled into a ball on the floor of my tent. What did this mean??

Fifteen months later I know the answer. After six months of chemotherapy, a brief remission and then relapse, my mother passed away on September 12, 2007 due to complications. We are fortunate that her passing was quick and spared her from major discomfort or pain. She enjoyed life to her last day, and her eternal optimism and laughter helped us deal with our impending loss. She enjoyed the simple things in life, loved the company of her friends and family, and had a creative touch that is everywhere in her home. I think often of her and miss her so much.

Tour de Vorarlberg & Allgäu

It's been a while since I last wrote something here. August has come and gone, and much has happened that I could write about. I won't, but will say that the month was filled with hikes, bike rides, the St. Gallerfest city festival, and Badenfahrt. A typical August.

This was my last free weekend of the summer, so I packed the panniers, oiled the chain, and got out for a weekend bike tour. This was also a chance to try out my new Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires and Brooks B17 saddle that I replaced since my June tours. The route was to be through the Voralberg region of Austria and the Allgäu region of Germany, located directly east of St. Gallen. Incredibly, this was my first time in the region after living next door for the last seven years.

The area reminded me of Switzerland with the mountains, rolling green hills, farms, and cows. The big difference was that I could understand the language, and everything cost half the price! The area had few bike paths and was almost void of bike signs, and I often had to share the road with heavy traffic. Fortunately, I had programmed my GPS with the route, and this saved me from having to refer to the map.

I stayed the night in Immenstadt. I always saw this place on the map and wondered what it's like. Now I know. It's a cute little town in the mountains, but I couldn't identify anything that made it special as a cute little town in the mountains. Later in the evening I met Attor from Basque. He was in the area to attend the bicycle exposition in Friedrichshafen, but decided to combine the trip with a short bike tour. We had a few weissbier and chatted about bikes, life, and why Basque is not a part of Spain.

This morning I woke and wondered if I should sleep another hour, or perhaps have had one less beer last night. Luckily it wasn't anything that breakfast and coffee couldn't fix. Attor and I rode a short distance together before our routes forked. We said our goodbyes, and with some luck I'll stop by his bike shop someday if I ever get around to walking the Camino (his shop is directly on the route). With the crisp air and warm sun, I constantly had to remove and replace my jacket depending if I was going up or downhill. I went through Allgäu, and have to say that the road between Oberstdorf and Hittisau is one of the most beautiful routes I've ever taken. The highlight was the contour road that provided breathtaking views over the valley. What took me so long to come here? I got home around 18:00, tired, but feeling great about the tour. The new tires rock and the bike seat is very comfortable.


This was my last tour of the season. It saddens me, but gets me thinking about next year. I have a few places in mind where I'd like to tour, but southern Italy, the Loire Valley, and Iceland are all on top of my list.

Some photos are online, and below is a map of the route.


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