Schloss Oberhofen

NEWS FLASH!!! Just this in from Bern, the Swiss capital: If I keep calling my apartment "Icelandia South," the Swiss authorities will arrest me and put me in jail for one month with no raclette, fondue or rösti to eat. The Swiss Parliament, in a rare unanimous vote, decreed that from now on it shall be known as "Helvetica." Who am I to argue with the law of the land?

Cruel and unusual punishment if you ask me. No rösti indeed!

Friday started easily enough with a trip to the government house, the Thunerhof, to check on the status of my Swiss Work Visa. I had gone here exactly one week ago to finish the process that Philipp Baumann of the Tigers had started for me.

I was asked to leave my passport and told that the Work Visa would be ready on Monday. Since I was in Bern all day Monday sightseeing and coaching our scrimmage against the Bern Grizzlies, I didn't get a chance to return to the Thunerhof until Tuesday.

On Tuesday I was told that the computers were down, mine had been too all morning, and to return on Thursday. I gave them an extra day but today, Friday, still no Work Visa but now because of a glitch in the computer program linking Thun with Bern.

They gave me back my passport and said they would call me next week when the Work Visa was ready.

With my passport back in my control, I headed to the Thun Bahnhof (Train Station) and, for 165 Swiss Francs, purchased a one year Half Price Travel Card. This card does just that, all bus trips outside of my two zone city pass and any and all future train trips anywhere in Switzerland will now only cost me 1/2 the usual fee. As much as I tend to explore I think that I will recoup my money rather quickly.

That taken care of I decided to reboard the #21 bus headed towards Interlaken that I took yesterday but this time I would get off at the Oberhofen Dorf exit about 13 minutes from the Thun Bahnhof.

This allowed for one of those great, random meetings with a character named . . .

Roland

Here Roland proudly points to one of his Carnival pins from Rio de Janiero, Brazil which he said starts next Monday. I did not have the heart to tell him that Lent started two days ago and the Carnival was over already. Some areas one should not enter lightly.

Roland is from Berlin and claimed to be in the crowd when President Kennedy made his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech in June of 1963 in west Berlin in reaction to the building of the Berlin Wall 22 months previously. He also informed me the JFK was killed in Dallas only a few months later, in November of 1963, by Lee Harvey Oswald and unknown others.

All of this dialog started because I was wearing my purple Thun Tigers logo jacket. He asked me what I did with the team so. of course, I said coaching.

He thought I said kitchen.

Type casting.

Roland asked me where I was from so, as always, I said California instead of the U.S.

He gasped, put his hand on his heart and faked passing out from the rapture that is California. He went on to rave about the wonders of the Golden State.

I knew I had a live one when he loudly and joyfully announced to all on the bus that it was "Whiskey Time!" He pulled out a small bottle of Johnnie Walker Red, started coughing to stress the need for a "medicinal" dosage of whiskey to get through the stressful bus ride.

Roland was headed to the dentist and allowed me to inspect his toothless upper gumline and his, count them, six front teeth on his lower gum.

What a guy!

Well, I hated to leave my new friend but we were at my stop and we bid each other auf wiedersehen.

800+ years of Oberhofen greatness

Oberhofen is known for two things . . .

The beautiful Schloss Oberhofen and . . .

Incredible . . .

Incredible . . .

Incredible . . .

Scenic Vistas of Lake Thun

Or as it is known locally, the Thunersee.

Oberhofen School Coat-of-Arms

Not Real

Winston Churchill

Defender of Liberty Memorial

Not sure why it was here but, let's face it, Winston was a hoot!

Another Bernese Patriot

GAMEDAY Next Week!!!

The FC Thun soccer team plays in the ten team Swiss Axpo Super League and entered this weekend's Bye in fourth place with a perfectly neutral record of 7 wins - 7 ties - 7 losses good for 28 team points.

The team they host next weekend, Servette, is currently in fifth place at 8-3-9 earning them 27 points in the standings.

I'll be there for sure rooting for FC Thun.

Sunworshipers

Did I mention that it was a "Beautiful Day to Practice American Football?"

Not a bad day either to sit out having a beverage . . .

. . . or to sit with a girl by the Aare River . . .

. . . or to maybe just meet a girl

I thought that the guy in white was going to use his best pick-up line on the young lass walking towards him.

Here goes nothing!

What the heck???

It turns out that this was Bollywood at its finest shooting a video in Thun.

The Bollywood Camera Crew

Take Two!!!

Hungry Again

After all of the glitz and glamour of the film industry, it was time to hop on the bus and head to Morris for a delicious schnitzel sandwich.

YUM!

Dusk in Thun

My day was not over though, it was time for a solid 90 minute workout with the Tigers at our spacious indoor training facility.

We had a good turnout and we definitely took a good step forward tonight.

GO TIGERS!!!