The falconry park in Buchs is unique throughout Europe with over 60 species . On a tour through the spacious park visitors meet the Eagle, the hawks, different types of Owls, the Buzzard, Vultures, the Milan and other exotic animals.
In the arena, visitors can experience the fascinating animals in flight.
And my favorite 
This was another perfect mini-retirement for 4 days. For me, four days is the optimal time periode for this kind of a short trip. It’s long enough to free your mind, to explore and to relax. But it’s also not too long so that it is easy to find back into your daily work routine I’m looking forward to the next one.
The Olympiaregion Seefeld has already twice hosted the Winter Olympics for the disciplines of cross-country skiing and Nordic Combined. The Games were first opened with the Olympic Fire in Innsbruck in 1964. The second time was 1976. It is a nice little town which has a lot to offer.
We stayed at the Hotel Hocheder which was located perfectly near the city center, the ski slopes and the Olympic Sports and Congress Center. The shot below is from the 5-star hotel Klosterbräu which is right in the center of Seefeld.
Nearby is the Wildsee with nice trails to walk:
The historic town Mittenwald is also quite near. It takes you about 15 min by car.
The Arosa ClassicCar, a international car race from Langwies to Arosa was over the weekend of 10. to 13. September 2009. It is also called the “Monaco of the mountains”. It has grown in recent years, and is a event known across Switzerland and provides many highlights.
The event is listed in the national sports calendar (auto sport Switzerland) and in the international sports calendar of the FIA (Federation International de l’Automobile). Every year around 10 ‘ 000 spectators are expected.
We started at 7am to get to Arosa before the first race starts. The last part of the way to Arosa is the actual race track so we got a feeling of the race itself. Below are some impressions of this day.
More pictures are in the gallery.
This time in August the sunrise is at about 6:30 am. So we started at 5 to be ready for this event. The Mount Säntis is the highest peak in the Appenzell region (2502m). From the summit you can see six countries and the view is breathtaking!
The easiest way to reach the top is by the comfortable cable car. It leaves every 30 minutes.
After taking lots of pictures of the sunrise we had a nice breakfast in the panorama restaurant.
The team (aka Members of the Zoom-Photoclub):
We went to Romanshorn at the Lake Constance to take some pictures of the fireworks which started at 10:30pm. It was also the Summer Nights festival and therefore there were lots of people. But we had a pretty good location because the fireworks were actually let off on the sea (a few hundred meters apart from the coastline). With a wide angle lens we could capture the whole fireworks display as well as the reflections in the water.
Some hints for taking better firework pictures:
If the camera is in BULB mode the shutter is open for as long as you hold down the shutter. This is very convenient and gives you a lot more flexibility compared to the predefined exposure times.
Below are some of my favorite shots:
More pictures in the gallery.
The botanic gardens are situated near the Schloss Nymphenburg. It was created 1909 and has more than 15’000 different plants. The entrance charge is only 4 euros and you should definitely go there. You can walk directly from the botanic gardens to the Nymphenburg where you can find the Schlosscafe in the Palmenhaus. It is a nice place to have some coffee before visiting the Nymphenburg.
This time we took the route to Dübendorf/Wallisellen. It is the longer way but you don’t have to drive through the city. I think it is the fastest way to get to the Zurich Zoo from Buchs. After the exit 65 it is about 20 mins to the parking spaces.
The shot from the bird below was taken in the Masoala Rainforest park.
This time we were lucky because I got some good close-ups of the lions although there was a wire frame in front of the lens.
More pictures in the gallery!
The town of Locarno unites the splendour of the Alps with the serenity of the lakes. It’s Mediterranean climate and luxuriant vegetation contrast dramatically with the ruggedness of the Alps. The region enjoys the most hours of sunshine in Switzerland (2300 hours yearly) with warm summers and mild winters.
Locarno is also a convenient starting point for a variety of excursions into the the valleys and in to the heart of the Alpine chain. In addition the cultural life of the city is rich and varied, offering a program of colorful events.
Piazza Grande is the heart of the town where all the cultural and business life of Locarno happens. In recent years the piazza has become well known not only thanks to the International Film Festival, but also thanks to the prestigious open air concerts. It’s north side is characterised by typical arcades in authentic Lombard style, dating back centuries.
Film Festival 2008
The Piazza Grande program for 2008 has 17 feature films, including 9 world premieres. The selection is marked by a strong European presence, with five French and five German films. The English language panorama varies, with three American films, two from the UK and one from Australia.
We saw two of the films. The first was “Chaos Theory” by Marcos Siega and the second one was “Berlin Calling” by Hannes Stoehr.
Chaos Theory
Chaos Theory (Summary from IMD)
This comedy features Frank Allen, an obsessively organised time efficiency expert, author of the famous book The Five Minute Efficiency Trainer. Frank Allen runs his life with a complicated filing system. His task lists are as famous as his lectures, since if there’s one thing Frank doesn’t believe in, it’s spontaneity. Every decision he makes is thought through, evaluated, designed for the extremely ordered life he has built for himself. His wife Susan accepts these obsessions in small doses, but one day she decides that enough is enough, and tries to get her husband off his dependence on his timetables: she decides to put his watch forward by ten minutes. But in her hurry, Susan makes a mistake and actually puts it back… What follows is a series of incidents that will completely overturn Frank’s life, to the point where he renounces his self-imposed principles.
Berlin Calling
Berlin Calling (Summary from cineuropa.org)
Berlin underground composer and electro DJ Martin (known under the pseudonym of DJ Ickarus) is on tour with his manager and girlfriend Mathilde. The two of them spend their nights in clubs, and are preparing to release a major electronic music album. However Mathilde finds it increasingly difficult to deal with Martin’s drug addiction and the album release is compromised when the DJ, following an overdose, is held in a psychiatric ward. While Martin gets to know the other patients and starts to write music again, Mathilde falls into the arms of her former lover, Corinna, and the album release remains on hold. With the internationally known hit DJ Paul Kalkbrenner in the lead role (who also composed the film’s score), Berlin Calling depicts the nocturnal world of the electro scene at 100,000 beats per minute.
Heading towards the Palfries Berggasthaus I took this shot at about 1715m above sea level. The valley is still covered with thick fog. Click on the picture for a larger version.
The next picture shows the back side of the Alvier which was the goal of one of our last hiking tours.
The Palfries Berggasthaus is a nice place to take a rest and they serve great food! It’s not really cheap but the view and quality is well worth it.
On the 11th of July we went to the Beastie Boys concert in Locarno, Switzerland. The festival was called Moon & Stars 07 and during one week several different acts took place in the evening. Peter Gabriel, Zuccero, Avril Lavigne, P!nk and Muse were also part of the event at the Piazza Grande in Locarno.
Beatsteaks, Locarno 2007
Beatsteaks, Locarno 2007
The opening band was Beatsteaks, a punk/rock band from Berlin. They also have a MySpace profile if you want to read more about them. It was a good opening act as they managed to warm up the crowd quite well.
Beastie Boys, Locarno 2007
Beastie Boys, Locarno 2007
At about 10:30pm the main act Beastie Boys started and it was amazing to see them live. I didn’t know them too well, just a few songs like Fight For Your Right, Sabotage or Intergalactic. Did you know what the word “Beastie” means? I just found in wikipedia and it’s a kind of acronym:
B(oys) E(ntering) A(narchistic) S(tates) T(owards) I(nternal) E(xcellence)
The also had several good instrumental songs and mixes. That evening I also found out that MMM means Mix Master Mike.
Check out the Video:
The show and the location was great and I’m looking forward to the 2008 festival.
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