With various lockdown
restrictions, we decided to spend our Christmas vacation in Oberaudorf in
Bavaria. Once again, Michael my good friend from Hamburg gave this wonderful
suggestion and he drove all the way from Hamburg to this scenic location in
Bavaria. It was a perfect New Year’s Eve with Bayerische Music, Leberwurst and
small fireworks in the nearby location. We did hiking in the nearby locations
of Oberaudorf with our friends in the trip.
Soell is a perfect Skiing
destination in Austria and just 9 kms south of German border city of Kufstein.
It’s the number 1 destination in Austria when it comes to night skiing with 11
kms of illuminated ski runs. Unfortunately Anish couldn’t do skiing because of
his injury. Michael guided and took me to difficult slopes which gave me
confidence to come down with ease. I was so fascinated with the number of
slopes this location had for skiing. It was indeed a skiing paradise with nice
sunshine and thoroughly enjoyed to the core.
Summer holidays of 2021 belonged to Hermagor, a small town in Austria and almost close to the Slovenian border. Thanks to Michael, my good German friend from Hamburg who invited us to join this beautiful location in Austria for the summer holidays. It’s a great Skiing destination in winter but apparently was a paradise even in summer. Pressegger See is a scenic lake on the foothills of the Alps in Hermagor and we could do swimming, boating, chill out in this beautiful spot. The cable car takes you to the top of Hermagor Mountains and we walked down on the other side of the mountain which takes to Italy and we had authentic lovely Pizza there.
We had a chance to try Mountain E-Bike for the first time. It was a great experience to ride this mountain e-bike to get the panoramic view of the Austrian Alps. Anish had a lovely company with other kids of the same age – playing in the Trampoline, evening dinners, hiking, Table Tennis etc. The hotel we stayed in Hermagor was a scenic one in the midst of nowhere and totally connected with the nature. We had a chance to hike to Kohlroeslhuette which is around 1500 m high. The pathway to this peak was very challenging, very steep but the young guys Anish and Hannes motivated us to reach the top with ease.
It was a great family vacation with Michael’s family, his father, mother and his uncle’s family even with the various lockdown restrictions. Michael has always been a great true friend who helped me to integrate in to German society right from the time I landed in Hamburg in 2005. Having lived in Swtizerland for a while, I must say Austria is really cheaper and a wonderful touristic destination in both summer and winter.
It’s always great to catch up with my good friend Prabu in Lueneburg. It was a great Bachelor times with him for a week. We did Kayaking for the first time in Lueneburg with nice weather and it indeed was a great experience. Stand up paddling is one thing which I would like to try sometime in the future. There is a famous Kletterwald (Climbing Area) in Scharnebeck. We finished all the levels and the last level was a tough experience but we finally made it. I couldn’t complete all the levels when we had a team outing in the same place in 2011. Also, had a chance to catch up with Michael and his family. It’s always nostalgic to catch up with Hamburg and Lueneburg friends once in six months and I have great fond memories with the city and the people there.
Schwarzsee is a small lake in the Canton of Fribourg, Switzerland. The lake in the Swiss Prealps is bordered by the peaks of Schwyberg (1,628 m) in the West, Les Reccardets (1,923 m) and Spitzfluh (1,951 m) in the South, as well as Kaiseregg (2,185 m). We did the camping in Schwarzee during the summer and it was a fantastic experience to do the BBQ. As an alternative to the chairlift, descend by monster scooter from Riggisalp to Schwarzsee, one can enjoy the approximately 25 minute ride on the 2.5 mile long gravel path. Go fast or steady - the varied scooter trip takes you along mountain meadows and magnificent views can be admired both of the surrounding mountains and the idyllic mountain lake. You will be thrilled!
Junior Chamber International (JCI)’s National Conference (CONAKO) 2022 was held in the beautiful Alpine town of Crans-Montana in Valais region. It was a great experience with different chambers of JCI’s in Switzerland assembled in one place after a tough pandemic times. The various workshops, the Red carpet gala dinner night, the party in the Cry d’Er Club d’Altitude Located at 2’200 meters of altitude, is a place not to miss whether it's fine dining, clubbing & parties, teambuilding & seminars. Crans-Montana is also famous for its Ski resort. Conako 2022 will be held in St. Gallen.
Europa-Park is the largest theme park in Germany, and the second most popular theme park in Europe, after Disneyland Paris. It is located in Rust, south-western Germany, between Freiburg im Breisgau and Strasbourg (in neighbouring France). The park is home to 13 roller coasters, the oldest, which opened in 1984, is the Alpenexpress Enzian, which is a powered coaster that speeds through a diamond mine. Europa-Park has very high capacity roller coasters, various attractions and the park can accommodate approximately 60,000 guests per day.
In November 2019, Europa-Park's "Rulantica" water park opened, along with the Museum-Themed Hotel, "Krønasår". Europa Park and Rulantica was in our list for long time because of Covid we couldn’t explore this park for long time. Covid turned out to be a blessing in disguise and the waiting time for the famous rides was less than 10 minutes and we could thoroughly enjoy all the rides. It was a great times with three families joining together and the kids had a gala time.
In a mountainous country like Switzerland, e-bike is getting so popular now a days. An electric bicycle (e-bike is a motorized bicycle with an integrated electric motor used to assist propulsion. Many kinds of e-bikes are available worldwide, but they generally fall into two broad categories: bikes that assist the rider's pedal-power (i.e. pedelecs) and bikes that add a throttle, integrating moped-style functionality. Both retain the ability to be pedaled by the rider and are therefore not electric motorcycles. E-bikes use rechargeable batteries and typically travel up to 25 to 32 km/h (16 to 20 mph). We had a chance to experience e-bike in the beautiful Gantrish area with my Skiing friend Stephan. It totally reduces the stress of climbing up the mountains with the great propulsion. It was indeed a great experience during the autumn of 2021.
Todtnau is a small town situated in the Black Forest on the river Wiese, around 20 km southeast of Freiburg. It’s a small cozy town with beautiful downtown and there is Sommerrodelbahn – 2.9 kms mountain coaster run from the top of the Hasenhorn, with chairlift to the summit. Few kilometers from Todtnau is Todtnauberg, famous Skiing resort in Baden Wuerttemberg. There is a Skischule in Todtnauberg where Anish started his skiing lessons for the first time in 2019 winter. I loved Todtnauberg Skiing slopes since it had around 18 slopes and more importantly it was very less crowded than Feldberg. It was ideal to do Skiing during the weekend in Todtnauberg and its just 45 minutes drive from my home.
Legoland in Gunzburg, Germany is a theme park for families with children of the age between two and 12 years. We could explore this wonderful theme park with Jothir and his family. Anish and Tarun being the same age, enjoy their company for long hours. The Lego building blocks are always a strong attraction for the kids to assemble, disassemble and bring it to a shape. We could cover the park in two days and the hotels combine their entry tickets making it a good offer. The rides were pretty ok, very enjoyable and relaxing unlike the Europa park. The kids had a lovely time and they got lot of building blocks back home to build their own stuff.
Gantrisch is a mountain in the north-western Bernese Alps in the canton of Bern. It was a blessing in disguise that due to Corona there were very less people in this country Skiing resort and we could learn this beautiful sport of Skiing. I tried Skiing in 2007 in Bayern region but I decided this sport will never ever for me in my life again. Times definitely change. I was mostly a driver for my son for his Skiing but later I realized why I don’t pick up this sport which can give lot of motivation to take my son and spend quality time together with him. Thanks to my Skiing teachers in Gantrisch, they taught the basics very well and we could pick it up in 3rd or 4th classes. The best part of Skiing is always the connect with the nature, the cable cars/lift to the top and the amount of calories one has to burn for the whole day. There goes a saying: Its better late than never. It’s definitely a must sport if one lives in and around Switzerland.
The Schluchsee is a reservoir lake in the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, southeast of the Titisee in the Black Forest near Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. The Schluchsee, with its height of 930 metres (3,050 ft) above sea level, is the highest reservoir in Germany and also the largest lake in the Black Forest. It was a great re-union with my TUHH friends – Arun, Iyappan, Karthick after almost a decade. We built the tent, did BBQ and it was a full moon day. We recollected our student times in Germany and it was a gala night on the shores of Schluchsee.
Pandemic has totally restricted people with the travel and it was very difficult to meet your beloved ones and friends during these tough and unprecedented times. I always make sure we meet Angela and Torsten once in a year but it took nearly two years to meet this beloved couple Angela and Torsten in Chemnitz, Germany. The long walk in the Erzgebirge areas during the autumn was a great experience. Cooking nice Indian food for them, discussing the German politics, good evening beers with them. Unfortunately, their 25th marriage anniversary celebrations were postponed twice, hopefully it happens in 2022. Keeping the fingers crossed. Sachsen never disappoints me.
Cricket Switzerland and Junior Chamber International (JCI) Basel conducted an Indoor Women’s Cricket Tournament Dreilaender Cup 2022 in Arlesheim, Baselland. There were four participating teams
1. Basel SuperNovas I
2. Basel SuperNovas II
3. Cricket Club Wettingen – Women’s
4. Cossonay Cricket Club – Ladies
All teams played against each other in a round robin fashion. After all the league matches, all three teams Basel SuperNovas I, Basel SuperNovas II and Cricket Club Wettingen all ended up in the same points by winning two matches each. The last league match between Basel Super Novas I and Cricket Club Wettingen was a thriller with both the teams desperately wanted a win to stay in the hunt for the finals ad Cricket Club Wettingen won the last league match.
Super Bowl was used to determine the two teams for the finals. In the Super Bowl, Cricket Club Wettingen and Basel Super Novas II qualified for the finals. Basel Super Novas II held their nerves in the finals against Cricket Club Wettingen, clinched the Dreilaender Cup 2022 and emerged as Champions. Basel SuperNovas 1 won the third place match against Cossonay Cricket Club.
JCI Basel take this opportunity to thank Cricket Switzerland for all their great help, support and cooperation for conducting the Dreiländer Cup successfully. It was a great day of Cricket with various members of the team exhibiting their skills, determination and hard work during the matches.
Junior Chamber International (JCI) Basel and The World Citizen conducted an Indoor Men’s Cricket Tournament Dreilaender Cup 2022 in Arlesheim, Basel Land. There were six participating teams from the various cantons of Basel and Aargau. Novartis Cricket Club and Basel Cricket Club topped the table in Group A and B respectively and they qualified for the finals. Basel Super Kings made their first appearances in a Cricket tournament.
Basel Cricket Club defeated Novartis Cricket Club in the finals and emerged as Champions of Dreilaender Cup Men’s Indoor Tournament 2022. Cricket Club Wettingen obtained the third place by defeating Olten Cricket Club in the 3rd/4th Place play-offs. Zug Cricket Club obtained the fifth place by defeating Basel Super Kings in the 5th/6th Place play-offs.
JCI Basel take this opportunity to thank The World Citizen Basel for their great help, support and cooperation for conducting the Men’s Dreilaender Cup successfully. Every one enjoyed the event after the tough pandemic times and more importantly without the masks.
Cricket in Switzerland is getting popular in the last decades and Women’s Cricket in Switzerland took a giant steps with Swiss National Women’s Cricket Day conducted on 9th October 2021. Women from across the country descended upon Wettingen for the event. In addition to softball cricket matches, there were opportunities for some coaching and socializing over food & refreshments with other women cricketers. After six round robin matches, CC Wettingen & Basel Super Novas II met in a final played in the late afternoon sunshine. CC Wettingen won the match to become the winners of the first Swiss National Women’s Cricket Day. Anita went regularly for practicing in the summer and I was really surprised she was the captain of Cricket Club Wettingen and it was indeed a proud moment for me when she lifted the first Swiss Cricket Women’s trophy. I certainly love Cricket and it gave me one more point to love my wife even further ;)
We had a chance to try Camper Van for the first time in summer 2020 due to various Corona restrictions and explore different parts of France. In the beginning we were very skeptical about it but in the end it turned out to be one of the greatest road trip experiences of my life time. We tried it out only for five nights as we did for the first time but certainly it impressed me to take longer for the next time. The flexibility to take breaks whenever you wish, the home made food at any point of time, quality family time in the midst of nature are certainly the great benefits of Camper van.
We started our trip from Basel in the evening and reached Beaune in the midnight. The camping facilities for recharging the batteries, loading water, unloading sewage water, taking bath were simply outstanding in France. Beaune is the wine capital of Burgundy in eastern France. It is located between Lyon and Dijon. It is an ancient and historic town on a plain by the hills of the Côte d'Or, with features remaining from the pre-Roman and Roman eras, through the medieval and renaissance periods.
From Beaune we moved to Chartres which has a world famous cathedral. Mostly constructed between 1193 and 1250, this Gothic cathedral is in an exceptional state of preservation. Much of the old town, including the library associated with the School of Chartres, was destroyed by bombs in 1944. The weather was fantastic in both Beaune and Chartres. Anita did quite a lot of preparations to preserve the meat in the mini refrigerator and we had lovely food throughout the travel by choosing the best possible natural places to dine with.
From Chartres we moved to Normandy famous for its lovely beaches. We stayed for two nights in Le Point du Jour, great camping location near the seashore. We had a chance to visit Mont Saint Michel – the tidal island in Normandy. Mont Saint-Michel and its bay are on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites. It’s a huge lengthy walk from the parking to this cathedral, the bridge connecting the main land and the island. The connection between the Mont-Saint-Michel and the mainland has changed over the centuries. The new bridge was completely submerged on March 2015 by the highest sea level for a once in 18 years occurrence.
While returning back, we passed via Paris. I was asking Anita whether we will visit Eiffel tower which was never in our plan. We took an immediate decision and we parked the camper just near the Eiffel, went to the top with in few minutes and enjoyed the panoramic view from the top. In a normal day, I am sure it would have taken several hours to find a parking and lot of standing times in the queue to reach the top of Eiffel. Due to pandemic situation, there were hardly any tourists from outside Europe in Paris.
I would strongly recommend to try Camper Van for all nature enthusiasts, spend more quality time with the family, who wants homemade food even during travelling. Many Europeans try camping in Scandinavian countries eg Norway especially in Summer and it has been quite popular during the pandemic times. The road trip which will reside in my memory for very long time.
During the Christmas holidays, we had a chance to visit Matterhorn, Zermatt with my friend Naresh and his family. Matterhorn is always the symbolic icon of Switzerland, around 4,478m above the sea level. Matterhorn is not the highest peak of Switzerland, Monte Rosa is the highest peak in Switzerland (4,634 m). Zermatt is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland, quite famous for mountaineering and ski resorts. To prevent air pollution that could obscure the town’s view of the Matterhorn, the entire town is a combustion-engine car free zone.
We travelled by car till Taesch, parked our cars there and then took a Train from Taesch to Zermatt. One has to take Electric car to take the cable car. From Zermatt, there are two options: One mountain train to Gornegrat and other one cable car to Mini Matterhorn. In 2007, I experienced already the mountain train to Gornegrat with my American friend Andreas. This time we took the cable car from Zermatt to Mini Matterhorn with three intermediate stations (Furi, Schwarzsee, Trockener Steg). The stretch from Trockener Steg to Mini Matterhorn was simply breathtaking and certainly one of the life time experience, the cable car spanning the two huge mountains across the deep gorge was indeed a Mechanical Engineering marvel.
Anish was literally freezing in the top of Mini Matterhorn and luckily there was a restaurant at the top which gave us a good relief. Schwarzee station gives a good panaromic view of the mighty Matterhorn and a good place for the non skiers to take some nice photographs. From Basel, there are two different routes to Zermatt. One via Bern, Montreux which is lengthy but with the highways and no breaks. Other via Thun with Ferry, Car in the train with longer breaks. In the end, both the routes consume the same amount of time and in Summer it will be great to take the Thun route. The weather stayed fantastic and it’s always a pleasant sight when the sun shines in the midst of the snow. It was certainly a life time trip with my family and Naresh family and it will remember in our memory forever.
