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9月28日 What a weekNot been a great week for Technology though:
It gets worse:
Well, we would go away for 5 weeks, wouldn't we... R42 9月18日 SilenceI apologise for the silence over the last 10 days. As you all know, I've been blogging with about a day's lag. Unfortunately my laptop died last week and since then I've not had access to the Net for much more than collecting email.
To say I'm frustrated is to understate the case.
 The laptop's demise was nothing spectacular - I walked downstairs with the laptop on, as I'd been using it in bed and the battery was about to go flat. Once downstairs the screen had turned off, and wouldn't switch on again. So I did a hard reset, and the computer wouldn't go into Windows boot.
A brief foray into the BIOS (everything recognised, no faults reported), disk diagnostic (all passed), research on the HP support site, reseating the memory modules, I finally contact the HP "Online Technician" for a support chat. He confirmed what I'd diagnosed, a faulty system board, which I can only get replaced in Australia
 Anyway, I may be able to find time to catch up with the blog. Since the last entry we've:
Just 3 more sleeps until we start the journey back home. I'll try to fill in the blanks and photos over the next day or so. R42
9月7日 86 - WOW!! That's a feat!!!So today was my oma's (that's grandmother in Dutch) 86th birthday. It was fantastic to see 4 generations of our family there - Oma, Mum, myself and my brothers, and of course, Amanzi and Charis.
We had a great, loo-o-o-oong lunch, at The Duke's Head Pub in Copthorne. Em (now 17), when she was 5 and learning to read, had once exclaimed: "There's the Duck's Head" so to us, this is how we'll always know this pub. Great food though! Oma herself was full of smiles, and the family really enjoyed each other's company. No small feat across 4 generations, 5 countries, and numerous marriages
R42 9月4日 Travelling with kidsWhat a day - we had to be at David and Natacha's place at 4:15am to head to Geneva airport. This meant an early rise at 3:30am (2:30am UK time). Amanzi and Charis were brilliant, up, dressed, in the car within 15 min. Geneva airport is the best we've travelled through to date. EasyJet here lives up to it's name. There are self check-in kiosks, simply put in your credit card and print both boarding passes and baggage tags. Head over to the baggage drop area (a queue of about 3 people) and voila you're checked in. Unlike EJ at other airports, here you get your gate information at check-in, which removes a lot of stress. All of our other experiences with EasyJet have involved standing in queues of impatient, frustrated people, or around flight information screens waiting for gate information to be published so we could rush to the gate and get good (non-allocated) seats on the plane. Not so in Switzerland, oh no, here they are far more efficient and ordered. Wonderful. Even security is a breeze, with 2 x-ray machines and scanners for about 5 gates. Of course, no trip through an airport can be incident free when travelling with these international girls of mystery. Oh no. Amanzi decided she "absolutely had to" change her shoes in the airport, between check-in and bag drop.
Gatwick by contrast, was as inefficient on arrival as we found it on departure. Swarms, hordes of passengers milling around in mass confusion. The signs are unintuitive, the staff short and terse (although not really impolite per se), and the process disastrous. We landed some 40 mins early, at 7:40am, yet only managed to get through customs to the car rental office at 8:40. An hour to get through the EU passport control (with UK passports), get our bags, and get through Customs (nothing to declare). Still it's good to be back with family and really close friends. I love the wonderful idiosyncracies of this country. Like the sign warning pedestrians, at a road, that cars may be crossing (what the?)
Of course the real kicker is the "No entry" signage for the cars (????) R42 aMaze-ing BathsLast day in Suisse, and we were originally (as in months ago) planning to head up one of the glaciers. But after much discussion we decided not to. Our decision was based on a couple of factors: Firstly, the weather was looking like closing in, with cloud from about 1000m. This meant that, like at Moleson, it would be a lot of travel and schlep, for not much gain. Secondly, with kids you really need doing rather than watching activities, and standing at the top of a glacier, or an adjacent mountain, just to look at snow, would soon lose it's novelty. Especially for cold kids. That was the clincher. At just 2000m, in summer, with not much more than a passing cloud, the girls were expiring from hypothermia. Finally, with an early start on Tuesday to get back to the UK, we didn't want to spend the day travelling, and getting back late. So we rethought our plans. After a brief bit of web research, then consultation with the kids, we decided to take them to the Labyrinth(e). This gave David & Natacha, our wonderful hosts, a bit of a respite, which Natacha used to get David to go baby buggy shopping with her for Noah.
The labyrinth was well worth it for the girls. It is a bit tired and old, all of the activities were weathered, and a couple even missing; but both Amanzi and Charis kept squealing with delight, with shouts of "oh cool." I was delighted too, at the price, although I wouldn't have paid more, in this land of inflated prices, the afternoon was almost affordable. (they did catch me with the lunch though) I was also glad that schools are back in Europe. The attraction of this place would soon pall with thousands of screaming kids. As it was, with only about 8 people in the park, including ourselves, it was a pleasure.
Apart from the maze itself, with 10 treasure chests to try and open, 10 country "monuments" to discover, and a raft of suspension bridges, flying foxes, slides, and even a climbing wall; the park boasted huge slides, trampolines, mini-golf (played with pool cues), pedal-trikes, air-hockey etc etc. All in all you could wile away the time (or dump your kids) quite easily here. For me, I enjoyed laughing with the girls for an afternoon in between two huge mountain ranges.
Then onto Levey Les Baines, which are hot baths. These are, well, hot baths. Actually a couple of pools, one inside, and two out, which are filled with naturally heated spring water. A spa has been built up around the pools, and boasts 3 sauna's, a "polar night" experience, plunge pool, and other attractions. It was impressive enough to be in the pools in the cool autumn afternoon, and the girls certainly enjoyed the waterfalls and whirlpools. This must be a lot of fun when there's snow roundabout.
Anyway - back early to pack bags and get ready for an early trip. Natacha prepared wonderful (somewhat spicy) fajitas for dinner, which the girls both enjoyed, although I noticed that they drank a lot more than they usually do :) We got back to the Chalet at around 8-ish and I promised the girls that if the bags were packed and in the car by 9, they could watch an episode of "Dr Who" on the laptop. Well, you'd have thought I promised everlasting lollies!!! Amanzi took overall control of their room and bags, and did a sterling job of getting everything done with minutes to go. So our sojourn in Switzerland is over. All in all, despite not ideal weather, we've enjoyed our time tremendously, and Switzerland will always remain in that "fantasy" destination category. I would also like to publicly acknowledge David and Natacha, whom were brilliant hosts. Supremely hospitable, and made every effort to help us get the maximum from our stay. Thanks guys. R42 9月3日 On top of the world - as we know itThis morning started spectacularly. We looked out from our chalet in bright sunlight, to see the lake covered in fog. We were higher than the clouds, which turned out to become the theme of the day.
Today it was the turn of Moleson. Moleson, a mountain like Charme, but a good 500m taller. From here we should be able to see the entire area, right up to Geneva in the West, and Mont Blanc in the North. Heading up the funicular railway, it seemed that things weren't going to be quite as planned. There was a single cloud above us, right on the mountain peak. Still, we'd bought the tickets, so continued on up from the rest station (altitude a healthy 1460m) on the old cable car to the summit restaurant. Then it was a bit of a climb to the summit itself at 2002m.
What little view we did get was impressive, through the clouds. But the cloud was disappointing and took away the gut wrenching, awe inspiring, impressiveness of the place. It was impressive to think that I was almost as high as Mt Kosciosko, the highest point of Australia, and on one of the lower peaks in the "Pre-Alps." The scale is slightly different here.
One of the treats, on the summit of Moleson, however, was getting a Happy Father's Day SMS from Em back home in Aus. After turning the girls blue with cold, even the eternal optimist in me could see that the cloud wasn't going to shift any time soon. So we headed back to the restaurant for a hot chocolate, then back down the cable car, and funicular railway, for another day of Adventure Sports. The first was a "bob-sled." This was on wheels, and headed down a plastic track, much like a supertube at a water theme park. Clearly these were not designed for those of us in the +100kg range, and we were given strict instructions to observe the braking signs. They needn't have bothered. This little car was threatening to spill me over the side on the flattest corners.
Then it was the "Deval Karts." A go-kart without an engine, which gets hoisted up a ski-lift to the top of a run, and you steer it down the hill for the ride of your life. Or if you're bouncing around like I was, holding on for grim death!! Unfortunately, Charis wasn't tall enough for these, so she had all of her rides on the bob-sleds. Finally, scooters. Big fat tires, again up the same ski-lift, and down the same course. Only now you're standing and holding on for grim death. Amanzi, had a go at one of these, and came a right cropper. Twice! The first time saw me running up the hill, which is not a good idea on this gradient at 1100m in my condition. The second saw me swap my kart for her scooter. Which lead me to thinking that perhaps the scooter was better than the kart, so I gave it a go. Big mistake, which my thighs are still complaining about. All in all, fun, overwhelming again, but no longer meeting our expectations. Charme, for all it's diminutive size, was a far better experience than Moleson. Although, we are definitely spoilt for experiences now. Any other day, and this would have been mind blowing despite the weather. At least young Noah thought so.
By 2:30pm we were all totally knackered, and headed back to the Pasquier's for an afternoon rest. Then David's world famous Fondue for dinner. The final, and most well known Swiss recipe. A great end to a superb day.
Tomorrow is our last in Switzerland, and we were planning to go to the glacier, weather permitting. But it's looking like the weather won't be permitting, so we're thinking Labyrinth instead... R42 Essential TechnologyI know, I know, it's not without reason that I've been called a gadget freak. With this in mind, it's almost inevitable that I'd blog about the technology we're using on our holiday. It's funny, people get almost religious about technology. There seems to be a reverse snobbery about not having the latest technology. Almost as if one is more sophisticated by not upgrading to the latest operating system, or having a smart phone, or using a laptop. Then there's the "but we don't need it" argument. That old cover-all. It's just as well that progress is not constrained in that bucket. Yet, my experience is that the arguments are all very, very selective. Do we need electricity? We use it to cook, heat, and light our world, not to mention entertain ourselves. Yet humanity has survived for millennia without this relatively recent technology. In fact the very people who argue with me about "not needing" a (piece of) technology, often have these very conversations whilst taking food out of the microwave, or dishes out of the dishwasher. Which they wouldn't do without!! The truth is we don't need any technology, of course. All technology merely gives us benefits that we would not otherwise enjoy. Some of these become critically important. I don't know anyone who'd rather have an operation without electric lighting, medical diagnostic equipment, or biomedical technology (anaesthetic to mention just one); or anyone who'd be willing to fly in an airliner knowing it didn't have navigational equipment. So why this individual reluctance to adopt newer technologies? I think that it's based on ignorance and fear. Often ignorance about the actual impact that benefits which the new technology provides, and fear of the unknown. At least fear of having to learn something new - the pain of the old technology is perceived as less than the pain of learning and adopting the new. The reason I am a gadget freak (and proud of it) is because technology is an enabler. When I was a child in boarding school, my only contact with my family was a weekly letter. My kids have daily conversations with me and their friends, no matter where any of us are on the planet. Our communication has been significantly enabled. Would I ever go back to a 4 day old, weekly letter? Not likely!! So finally, after this philosophical rant, I'll mention some of the technologies that I find essential on our travels. Palm Treo 750W, with a roaming Orange prepaid SIM card with (at least) GPRS data. In my experience, Europe is great for roaming, and high-speed data. The network to go with, at least in the UK, is Orange. The call and text rates are brilliant, as are the roaming rates, and I can get unlimited data for just £1 per day. This also allows me to connect my laptop to the Internet at those places where people don't have broadband (surprise, there are still people in the world in this category) HP Pavillion 9205T Laptop - with (preferably) WiFi access (at least) broadband
Fuji Finepix F20 Compact Digital Camera I picked up the Finepix in Spain. It boasts 6MPx, enough auto and manual settings to soothe the photographic snob in me, and takes great shots. It also fits into my pocket easily. No it's not as slim as the Olympus, nor has the size LCD as the Panasonic, it doesn't have the massive MPx size of the latest Canons, and only has a 3x Optical Zoom. But it does take really good photos. I love it's size, some of the features (like 2 sec timer release which allows remote shooting for low light shots without a remote). Of course, I loved the price as well (as, more importantly, did Lucy) My only gripe is that now I have yet another memory card format (XD). Fortunately my laptop has an integrated XD reader. Archos AV500 Mobile DVR But the absolutely essential technology that I've used this holiday has to be David Pasquier's HP Mobile Messenger with integrated GPS and TomTom. TomTom GPS Navigation That's my list - a phone, a laptop, a digital camera, a media player, but most of all, GPS navigation. With just these devices I've been able to keep in near daily contact with family around the world, blog our travels, keep a photo diary, take and share wedding photos, create DVD's, and navigate successfully in a foreign country. Did I "need" them?
Yes, I needed them! R42 9月2日 Use the ForceWell today we went to Mt Charme(y). Our first trek up one of the local peaks. First of course we had to visit the factory of that other local Swiss speciality, cheese.
The cheese factory had a more interactive presentation than the chocolate factory. This one actually let you see the action through the glass. Unfortunately for us, the actual factory wasn't working at the time of our visit. Still, there were video presentations throughout. Amanzi and Charis are both throwing themselves into trying new things everyday, and both ate the Gruyere cheese samples, which were part of the visit. They also enjoyed the interactive video game with Cherry the Cow, and can recite that a cow has 4 stomachs, eats an amazing 100kg of grass a day, and drinks some 85l of water. All of this to make just 25l of milk, which will produce just 1kg of cheese. Of the two, Amanzi handled the stronger taste of this mature cheese, even to the point of detailing what she liked and disliked about each of the 3 samples. Charis on the other hand stomached the first, and decided to leave the others.
After our visit we bought souvenirs for everyone, then picked up food at a local supermarket, to treat Natacha's parents to the Roger Lawrence, world-famous barbecuing skills. The view from their house is spectacular, right onto the slopes of Charme.
Then it was time for the mountain, and the famous Skywalk Adventure Park. This is a phenomenal experience. Definitely among the best value for money of any I've experienced in the world. Essentially there are bridges, cables, logs, and aerial runways suspended between the trees at a height of 3m - 15m!! That's 10 to 50 feet. If you don't think that's high, try balancing on a tight-rope above the forest floor.
Of course it is safe, everyone has a climbing harness, with two safety carabineers, and a pulley for the aerial runways. Each bridge has a platform at start and end, and a safety cable around the tree. Also there is a safety cable for every suspension. The rules are: Only one person on a bridge at a time, only 3 people on a platform at a time, and clip on both carabineers in alternate directions, one at a time, so you're always clicked onto something. This means that there is no time that you should be in danger of falling.
Unfortunately there was one occasion, when I had just crossed a bridge that Charis got a little confused, and I turned around to see her heel over the edge of the platform behind her, and both of her safety carabineers in her hands. To say I got a fright is a slight understatement. A quick shout and she was clipped on again. She never made that mistake again, and I am confident that she is now the safest climber in the family. Lesson learned.
The park was divided into 4 courses, a green which you had to be 8 (with an adult) to climb or 10 without, a yellow (10 and 12), a red, which was the first of the "difficult" courses; and a black - 15m in the sky, jumping from one rope to another. All great fun, and for the price, far, far better than a day at Epcot Centre or Movie World. There you stand in queues all day for a non-authentic, plastic seated, 30 second thrill. Here there were no queues, and the adrenaline rush was both controllable, and lasted a for minutes at a time. I would do this again in a heartbeat.
After completing the yellow and green courses, we retired (closing time) for a cool ale, and commented on how difficult the red and black courses must be. Then we headed up the mountain in the cable car, to enjoy the view. Finally we finished the day with another Swiss speciality, fried potatoes with bacon, covered in a fried egg.
R42 9月1日 Charlie and the...Chocolate Factory! Which was great, but not at all as we expected. More of a chocolat museum visit than an actual factory. We were looking forward to actually watching the production of the chocolate, in the actual factory itself. Instead we got a self-guided tour through the production work-flow of chocolate.
There was one room, where a very friendly young lady allowed us to feel, smell, and taste cocoa beans, hazelnuts and almonds. After that, having a look at some old machinery, and completing the tour at the tasting room.
Nice tour, interesting, educating even, just... Still, Cailler chocolate is unique in the world in that it is made with (condensed) milk, not milk powder, which makes the flavour very creamy. It is yummy, and has not been helpful in my weight maintenance program.
Then it was off to the local castle - Chateau Gruyeres, which has been around since the 11th century. There are exhibitions in various rooms from each century, which ends with a fantasy art exhibition in the central tower. Also there is a bar and museum dedicated to H.R.Giger, whom, if you've forgotten, designed the Aliens creatures.
The chateau is centrally situated in the valley, and it's easy to see why. The views are incredible, and the castle commands all approaches into and out of the area. Of course nowadays this just serves to be a central tourist attraction.
The girls, as can be expected were a little bored at the beginning of our tour through the castle, but quickly picked up when we got to the garden. Most of these photos are their productions.
In the guardroom there was an Ancient instrument exhibition, where craftsmen take one week of every year to teach students how to make a historical instrument. This year they were working on the historical guitar, a descendent of the lute. I found it fascinating - but I suspect few would. For me, any technology, especially the audio-visual technology is very compelling.
Another fantastic Swiss day R42 |
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