Laurie Arrives in Thun

Friday's plan was threefold.

First up was to check out of our hotel early enough see more of Zürich in the morning.

Then we wanted to board the train to Thun to get Laurie safely esconced into Helvetica and give her a quick tour of the city.

Lastly, we had a 7:30 p.m. Senior football practice to conduct in final preparation for the tough game against the 6-0 LUCAF Owls on Sunday.

 Starting the day with a latte

That reminds me, Ian Murphy is off to

Boise, Idaho this weekend

My angel with the Zürich Bahnhof Angel 

An ode to my college days? 

The old streets of Zürich 

So it begins . . .

The flags were out today

Nice paint job

Glove Store

Hapsburg Empire's Double Eagle 

We need more flowers in Helvetica 

Mike Contreras Teacher/Coach? 

Zürich's Grossmünster in the background  

The colorful streets of the Aldstadt district 

After a good morning of sight seeing and a light lunch in Zürich, we got on the Inter-City train for the 90 minute ride to Thun.

Laurie with the Thun Castle

We got to Helvetica in time to unpack most of Laurie's bags and still were able to walk into town for some orienteering and shopping.

It was now time for practice and Laurie was armed with a camera.

Post Warm-up Huddle 

Kickoff Coverage

Of the three teams that I have coached in EuroBall, the Tigers spend by far the most time in practice on the Kicking Game. It has shown in all of our games to date as a team strong point.

A lot of credit here goes to Coach Martin Zurbrügg who has taken charge of this key phase of our team. 

Moon over the Tigers' practice 

Covering a Kickoff 

Bubble Screen 

 Rolf Zybach chucks it . . .

and Nicolas Küng grabbed it!!!

Now, if we could just do this on a Sunday . . .

TB Roland Andrist's new shoes

WOW!!!

Talking to the Tigers after our

best practice in a LONG time 

2012 Thun Tiger Coaching Staff

L. to R., Martin Zurbügg, George Contreras, Ueli Sutter and Armin Haymoz

These are three really good coaches to work with, they are both knowledgeable and very patient.

Another GREAT Simon Andrist Game Poster

This Sunday the 2-4 Thun Tigers have a re-match at home with the 6-0 LUCAF Owls. The Owls are currently tied for first place with the also 6-0 Basel Meanmachine.


In our first game in Lausanne on April 29th, the Owls pretty much dominated us on the way to their 23-7 victory. We know that we will have to play a great game if we hope to stay with the high flying Owls whose defense has only allowed only seven points in their six games.


The LUCAF Owls' results to date and their remaining schedule:


LUCAF 13 - Fribourg (0-6) 0
LUCAF 50 - Luzern (4-3) 0
LUCAF 23 - Thun (2-4) 7
LUCAF 27 - Geneva (1-6) 0
LUCAF 50 - Fribourg (0-6) 0 Forfeit
LUCAF 23 - Geneva (1-6) 0
June 3 at Thun (2-4)
June 10 at Luzern (4-3)
June 17 vs. Basel (6-0)
June 23 at Basel (6-0)

Zug and Laurie

Thursday, May 31st finally arrived, the day my lovely bride Laurie would arrive in Zürich to spend the rest of my time in Switzerland with me. I was quite anxious to see her but her plane would not touchdown until 6:30 p.m.

I decided to take the train north to the city of Zug near Zürich in the morning to both see this splendid little lakeside town and search for a man by the name of Dave Court who runs Zug's Mr. Pickwick Pub.

Dave is originaly from Winnipeg, Canada and is a friend of Roger Kelly. Roger is the head man at EuroPlayers.com which is the clearinghouse for all things dealing with imports wanting to play or coach American football in Europe.

Roger had told me that I must get to Zug to meet Dave before I leave Switzerland, so today was the day!

First, let's tour Zug.

Zur's Old Town across the Zugersee 

Old town, New sculpture

On a warm, hot day

these seemed like fun

It was a warm, hot day

Laying out is O.K. too.

How old is that lock? 

Interesting ducks 

Zyt Tower 

Over 600 years old, it sports a fine atomic clock on the bottom.

The Kolinplatz 

This is one of Zug's colorful, main squares in the Old Town. This fountain was erected in 1541.

A military officer holding the Zug colors 

I love EuroSigns 

Oh, to be young and catching

the aroma of fresh bread 

A stained glass sign is a new twist

A Jewish pirate watering hole?

Quirky beer drinkers 

And I also love Heraldry

Saintly Zug

Lots to interpret here

Heraldry and a Mural is a good pairing

Fountain faces are also of interest to me . . . 

Like this one

Our house in Camarillo

needs a new paint job . . .

This would be a refreshing look

OK, it was time to eat and find the Mr. Pickwick Pub. 

It is located in the new part of Zug which . . .

Has a MUCH different art scene

Eureka! I found it near the Zug Bahnhof

A libation before lunch

Dave Court 

As advertised, he is a good guy. We had a good talk over a solid BBQ pork lunch.

If anybody has a 1967 Corvette for sale, Dave would like to talk to you.

But it was now time to reboard the train for the Zürich Airport. The first order of business was to check into our Airport Welcome Inn before going to meet Laurie with Swiss chocolates and a red rose in hand.

By the time Laurie cleared customs, got her luggage, boarded the hotel shuttle bus and freshened up, it was after 8:00 p.m.

Perfect timing for a late, continental dinner in Zürich.

Laurie in Zürich 

V is for . . . 

Not quite sure why a Guy Fawkes mask in Zürich but I loved that movie.

She is bigger than your

average garden gnome 

We had a delightful Italian dinner at an outdoor ristorante facing the Limmat River. She was tired from her flight but still quite the conversationalist.

It was good to have her back.

Reading is FUNdamental

EXCELLENT!!!

The second of two Jo Nesbø books that Rudy Bohren lent me, it was a great read if you like dark, Scandinavian mysterys which I do.

Train travel is very conducive to reading.

WELCOME TO

SWITZERLAND LAURIE!!!