After I finished the academic year at Berkeley, and before I started work in Germany for the summer, I got back to Switzerland to visit some friends and get back into the Alps for a hike or two. While there I stayed in Baden, the town where I lived for the five years I, Read More
I had a few days to kill between flying in to Europe and flying down to Switzerland, so I took the chance to visit my friend and travel companion Jolien Blankestijn in the Netherlands. We met up in her home town of Apeldoorn, jumped in the car and drove west towards the coast. We, Read More
It finally came time to say goodbye to Switzerland, and to the town of Baden which I’ve come to know and love so much. Baden is a gorgeous little town just outside of Zurich that I’ve called home for the five years I’ve lived in Switzerland, from 1998-1999 and then from 2000-2004. A panorama, Read More
Shortly before departing Switzerland, I took one last day trip into the Alps. Out of all things I’ll miss once I leave Switzerland, the thing I’ll miss the most are definitely the mountains. Whether it was snowboarding in winter or hiking and mountaineering in the summer, it was great to have such a fantastic, Read More
I’ve been wanting to get to Florence for absolutely ages. After many long weekend trips from Switzerland I can tick off most of the northern half of Italy – including Milan, Venice a couple of times, Tuscany, the Cinque Terre, and of course Rome. But somehow I’ve always missed Florence. Now that I’m going, Read More
Rugby Club Zurich won the Swiss Cup for the first time in 2003. It was a fantastic day for the club, with all three teams (Mens A, Mens B, Womens) winning their respective national trophies. It was great to be a part of such a day. First team photo before the match. , Read More
In the summer of 2003 I took a week off work to join a guided mountaineering tour in the Alps. The location was in the mountains surrounding one of the most picturesque villages in Switzerland – Saas Fee, "Die Perle der Alpen". The town lies in the Oberwallis or Upper Valais region of the, Read More
I did this hike with three mates from work: Milan Pathak, Andrew Rennard and Simon Crease. It was a nice little half day hike up past a few alpine lakes to the top of the pass. I love the colour of the water!
Baby (Ian Stone) and I decided to head out for a short hike on a sunny July day, and ended up in Kanton Uri in Central Switzerland. We hiked for several hours up the mountain, but given we couldn’t find any fresh water along the route we couldn’t go as far as we wanted. , Read More
This is one of my favourite hikes in the Swiss Alps! My mate Andy Passmore and I did it back in 1999 and liked it so much we returned in 2003 to do it again with our friends Ian Summerside and Alex Derksen. Here’s an email that I sent after the earlier ’99 hike:, Read More