Quiet Thun Tuesday

SWISS FACT-OF-THE-DAY

The Covenant of Sempach, drawn up after the Battle of Sempach between the army of Leopold III, Duke of Austria, and the victorious forces from the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1386, has been described as "the first attempt made, by any people, to restrain somewhat the fury of war, to regulate military disciples and leadership by intelligent, humane law." This occurred five centuries before the Geneva Convention.

A BEAUTIFUL SPRING DAY

IN THUN

It was a quiet day in Thun today with no major plans. I decided to take my usual walk into the inner city but to try a few different paths instead of my usual paths.

Home of Thun's Crossbow Club

As in William Tell and the apple fame.

I have got to get my hands on a crossbow as at least a novice member of this fine club.

The Emmental Café and Hotel

Tempting for a cappuccino on the veranda on this fine Spring day, but no.

Why here, I don't ride?

No I don't, but guys who do ride Hogs tend to be large fellows. Most Harley-Davidson stores also sell official HD T-shirts in very large sizes.

Maybe I can find a good Thun souvenir T-shirt that would actually fit me.

They were closed for lunch for another 30 minutes so my odyssey needed to continue for a bit.

The nearby scooter store was open

The three "previously owned" Vespas on the left were nifty.

In Sicily, the brand new white one on the far right would sell as a "family wagon."

Claudio, you know that I'm right on this one.

My first Kepap of the season

Kebob in Sicily and Skåne, this one is run by a Greek family and sports the famous blue "Evil Eye" that is ever so popular on the Peloponnissian Plain.

A mere 9 Swiss Francs ($9.75 USD) bought me a delicious and spicy sandwich.

The Harley-Davidson store was now open for my leisurely perusal.

BAM!!!

There it was!

Harleys and an Alphorn . . . SWEET!

I instantly fell in love with the design, they had a XXXL, which is about a Large in the States, and I had to have it.

Let me just say that this is now the most expensive T-shirt in my rather extensive collection.

By a lot.

Perhaps I should have used this money as a good sized downpayment on one of those Vespas instead.

The Swiss answer to the 99¢ Store

My plan was to head to the Thunersee shore to do a little reading and enjoy the warm day. On my way I ran into this, shall we say interesting, discount store.

Further down the road, I saw two ladies come out of the little church near Schadau Park that was closed last Saturday when I tried to visit.

I had no choice but to enter and admire the church's murals.

Rich Texture

Even Richer Texture

That empty bench was calling my name

I was back in Schadau Park, just one of the many little gems that call Thun home.

So I sat there and peacefully read my

John le Carré spy novel

I tried not to look up too often.

After about 30 minutes of reading, I got the itch to roam again. I headed down the shoreline only to find . . .

An artist at work

I would think that the Thunersee's water would still be very cold but art must go on!

A "Must See" I was told

One of our players told me that I should see this panorama of Thun in Schadau Park if I had the chance.

I did, so I did today.

A small part of the Thun Panorama

This 360º panorama of Thun was painted over a five year period by Swiss artist Marquard Wocher between 1809 and 1814.

It is 7.5 meters tall and 38 meters in length and is painted from the perspective of the chimney stack of a house on Thun's Upper Hauptgasse. Here we are looking at the Aare River as it flows through Thun.

The Panorama is on display to the public from April 28 to October 30 each year. How did I get in to see it on a day in March you ask?

Easy, charm and good looks.

Well, just maybe the workmen who left the door wide open and didn't care if I looked around while they toiled were a factor as well.

Nope, it was the charm and good looks.

Spring is in the air!

I decided to head down to the Panorama Shopping Center, which has absolutely nothing to do with the Wocher Panorama.

The OBI store is the Swiss answer

to our Home Depot

Still trying to get over the high cost of T-shirts in Switzerland, I hoped to find some kind of a bargain here to make me feel better, so I bought . . .

Ten Hammers on Sale!

Maybe the fact that I listened to this song this morning was a factor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUKB3PxG-0E

What can I possibly do with ten hammers???

I mean the price was great, don't get me wrong, I believe that I got a great deal but talk about impulse buying at its worst . . . WOW!

I'll think of something.

News From EuroBall Leagues

In the Italian Football League's 12 team Serie A, after 11 league games, only three teams are still undefeated. The Reggio-Emilia Hogs are 2-0 while the Ancona Dolphins and, our favorite team, the Catania Elephants are both 1-0. The Dolphins are at Catania this coming Sunday.

As for the pride of Skåne, the Hässleholm Hurricanes, in the Swedish Football League's seven team Division I Södra, the 2012 season won't start until the weekend of April 28-29.

The NLB (Division II) season of the Swiss League starts the weekend of March 24-25 but your Thun Tigers have a BYE that weekend. We open our season at home against the Basel Meanmachine on April 1.