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Memories of visiting Gsteig graveyard (what!) Well the bells of Gsteig church are world famous,
and below you can reminisce on that wonderful sound.
| A glimpse of the biggest and oldest bell? |
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| St Michael |
We recorded the bells of Gsteig on 5th January 2005, as church bells throughout Switzerland were rung
to commemorate the terrible Tsunami of the previous Boxing Day. Click below to have a listen to two minutes of their
wonderful sound, until they stop with St Michael's reverberation dying away.
| Note the bear figure! |
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As I was lifting the sound of the bells from our camcorder, I thought I would also grab a few
picture stills from it as well, of the church and it's lovely stained glass.
This is a church steeped in musical history including Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn and so I thought
I've got to, a bit cheeky I know, but no one noticed.
January 23rd 2008
Proving that she did it, Ria from Holland sent this screen grab.. our
20000th visitor to the website.
May 2007
Very tired and very excited we were delighted to announce the arrival of
Hannah Daisy.
| Did you cry too? |
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| The old funicular carriage is lifted off the tracks for the last time |
December 16th 2006... the new Lauterbrunnen to Grutschalp connection in the Bernese Oberland
launched. The Murrenbahn cable way turned out to be a magnificent new aerial cablecar, but I can't help admitting
being one of those who was so very sad to see the demise of the old funicular in April of 2006! Here it is on 'literally'
its last journey! After 115 years, the Grutschalp Funicular in Lauterbrunnen, one of
the most famous funiculars in the world, was dismantled due to the instability of the ground.
Tuesday 28th November 2006
Poor old Fluff Freeman 'carped it' at 79, and we were sad.
Dear Alan , a DJ for half a century with those legendary words "Greetings, Pop Pickers"
died peacefully at his home in Twickenham, London, after a short illness.
Alan was born in Melbourne Australia, and came to Britain in 1957. He was a big part of my childhood and I
never thought I would meet him. His final broadcasts focused on his beloved world of opera, presenting 'Their Greatest Bits'
on BBC Radio Two from 1997 until 2001. His personal manager for the last 20 years, Tim Blackmore, said: "Alan was a naturally
warm man who never quite understood the nature of his appeal. "We will not see his like again, and our debt in response to
his contribution is without equal."
I worked with Alan on promotion for his BBC double album of classical bits released in 1999, which included
numerous Operatic faves. And it was obvious Alan really knew his classical music. The production was without doubt
one of the most enjoyable I have been involved in. He was a very lovely man that had lots of time for me 'the other side of
the glass'. He was a true pro, and a joy to be with. It comes to us all Alan..... not 'arf!!
Sunday 19th November 2006
'Well it's over' we reported. The Mystery Park in Interlaken was to close.... I can't say I was surprised...
anything good normally 'kicks the bucket' eventually. But in this case I could remember the planning, the launch, the successful
days, the less than successful days, the demise and then, sadly, the closure of what I think was a great visitor
attraction.
It was just about as exciting as things get for the Oberland, a world class author on extraterrestials and
the mysteries of the universe, who just happened to live in that wonderful part of the world, deciding to place his 'dream
project' in his home town.
Eric von Daniken's blue jacket was well known in Interlaken, we saw him crossing roads on numerous occasions,
and his books known around the world. His Mystery Park was a HUGE undertaking, several large pavilions housing several amazing
mysteries that through the centuries have had the world thinking, as well as Eric's fascinating thoughts on each. We
visited twice during it's life... and enjoyed ourselves tremendously on both occasions. But we also remember the railway's
reluctance to build a link to the park ( didn't help) and well frankly, skiers ski don't they, which made the Mystery Park
mainly a Summer activity. The quality of the many shows in the park was very good indeed with the excellent Sennheiser
personal audio giving you translations in all the appropriate languages. The films at the heart of each mystery were great,
3D animations, fantastic specially composed soundtracks, high definition movies shot around the world. Many
were filmed by my friend and world renown cameraman and director Christoph Frutiger who happens to live in Interlaken.
And it's one of his Mystery Park movies 'Magical Oberland', that I would like to nominate as
'my lasting memory' of Eric's fascinating day out of mystery and adventure... It was screened each day at the park, in
front of and underneath your seat making you feel as though you were flying over the landscape, and it is, in my eyes,
the definitive Oberland movie...exquisite and dramatic views over the whole region set to an amazing musical soundtrack written
by Swiss Thomas Zbornik and Dutchman Timo Spekkens (I was lucky enough to interview them for Radio BeO)
As Eric always said, he wanted us all to 'learn the meaning of astonishment again' and I for one did,
and I had a ball Eric... Thank you. Maybe one day I'll be able to shake your hand.
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