Max the Stork says summer is gone!
FRIBOURG, SWITZERLAND – Max, the Swiss-born white stork who has been tracked for longer than any other bird in the wild, left her summer home in Tuefingen, Saturday 10 September.
The Fribourg Natural History Museum, which banded and tracks the bird, says that for the first time in her 13 years of winter migrations, she left together with her partner, the father of this year’s offspring.
Max winters in the south of Spain or sometimes Morocco and her migration will take about three weeks, with stopovers in France.
The band she is wearing now is four years old and was slightly damaged, according to the museum.
Tracking is not as constant as in the past, and it’s not clear at the moment where precisely the bird has gone.
Geneva's summer city centre tourist angels
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Geneva’s tourism and convention office is giving out wings this week, to a new group called Tourist Angels, whose mission from 11 July to 15 August is to help tourists.
Eight brightly clad teams of two will walk around the busiest tourist areas, mainly the waterfront, the old town in Geneva and the international organizations district, answering questions and offering help to tourists.
The service, from 10:00-20:00 daily, is designed to make the city friendlier and more welcoming during the summer weeks, especially during the Fêtes de Genève in early August, when non-stop concerts and several events attract thousands of out-of-town visitors.
The 16 angels will hand out minimal paper as an environmental gesture.
Swiss mountain passes are popular with bikers in summer
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – The police in Vaud handed their Valais police colleagues a nice story Wednesday morning, of a local man in his 40s stopped for going 130kph on his motorcyle in a 50 zone. The man was going through the village of Crassier, near the Vaud/French border and the French town of Divonne.
The news comes just as police in Valais announced, Wednesday morning, the details of a safety and accident prevention day for motorcyclists Saturday 25 June in Bourg-St-Pierre, in Valais.
Motorcyclists are 20 times more at risk of serious injury or death than occupants of a car, statistics show.
One-third of biker accidents due to inappropriate speed
One-third of motorcycle accidents are linked to the rider losing control of his or her bike due to excessive or inappropriate speeds. Valais police note that two motorcyclists have lost their lives in just the one canton to date this year.
Number of deaths down, but serious injuries up: 1,435 in 2009 in Switzerland
The prevention day is part of a safety campaign that is tied to the heavy use of Swiss mountain passes by motorcyclists in summer, but also a drive by the Swiss to reduce the number of road deaths and serious injuries.
Champion Xavier de la Rue during the Xtreme events in Verbier, a centre for winter extreme sports, for competitors and tourists
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The Swiss parliament has taken 10 years to work out federal legislation, but in future tourists visiting the country who want to do extreme sports will have guides who are certified to work throughout the country, not just in one canton.
A rafting accident in 1999 that killed 21 people in canton Bern led to the legislation, which was finalized Thursday morning 9 December. Companies that offer extreme sports, which including canyoning, rafting, bungie-jumping and several winter extreme sports, have been working with cantons to improve safety conditions and develop certification at that level. Seven cantons currently offer certification and, according to TSR, 60 percent of companies in Switzerland are already certified.
Links to other sites: TSR (Fre), Travelchannel, My Switzerland and tourism office in Lake Maggiore,
Youth electrocuted in Morges, Pakistani woman dies on Interlaken luge
Three climbers die in Valais
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) – The hot, fun days of summer have been accompanied in the region by a series of fatal accidents.
A 20-year-old man died in the early hours of Saturday 17 July when he crossed the rails near a train parked in the station at Morges in canton Vaud was electrocuted. He had stepped onto a locomotive, putting him in the line of its electrical charge.
People near the station saw an electric flash at 02:40 and alerted CFF rail company staff. Emergency teams arrived quickly and found the body of the youth, a Swiss man from the Lausanne area, on the tracks, say Vaud police.
A Pakistani woman visiting Switzerland died Monday after she was thrown from her luge at the Heimwehfluh luge park near Interlaken, around 13:00, for reasons that are not yet clear. She was found several metres from the piste and was rushed to hospital, but she died later from her injuries.
Two climbers in Valais lost their lives Monday at 08:45 in a 900-metre fall on the north face of the Liskamm, near Zermatt. The two men, who were roped together, have not yet been identified.
They had left the Capanna Gnifetti to climbe the Liskamm and appear to have been at an altitude of 4,470 metres when they fell, for reasons that are not yet clear. They were at coordinates 630/000 – 086/130.
A third climber in Valais died near Arolla 18 July, Sunday, at 12:30 while climbing down from the Grande Dent de Veisivi. The 51-year-old Frenchman had climbed the peak alone but came down by another path and found himself in a couloir, where he fell 100 metres to his death.
Links to other sites: 20 Minutes, Tribune de Geneve
Wind-surfing on Lake Geneva, Lausanne in the distance: hard work this week
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The weather is warming up, but beware the wind, still blowing hard around the region. Three days into summer, officially, it finally looks like temperatures will actually rise to something closer to the season’s norms, in the high 20s all weekend, with sunny skies.
The first day of summer, 21 June, saw snow closing several mountain passes and leaving sheep, who normally are sheared by that day, wearing their warm coats just a bit longer, in many areas.
Click on image to view larger
Wild winds on Lake Geneva Thursday afternoon created beautiful streaks of colour (photo: obwoodman on flickr, reproduced with permission)
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The weather will get a bit warmer every day and there are so many things to do you’ll have a tough time deciding. Welcome to early summer, that season when the pools are open but the kids are still in school, the big music festivals haven’t yet kicked off, World Cup fever is still limited to speculation, and our friends haven’t dispersed to far corners of the world for vacation.
GenevaLunch tips to get the most out of the weekend
- be sure to check the weather forecast on our weather page, for Geneva and Zurich (maps for all of Switzerland)
- our events calendar is bursting at the seams, so look there to see what’s going on in the Lake Geneva region now, and to plan ahead, for example for a summer’s worth of fun in Lausanne
- head for a great cafe and do one of our new crosswords by local crossword designer Chalicea, whose other work is published internationally (you can do them online or print out and do them by hand)
- enjoy our blogs, which give you another view of life in the region, and note that we’re opening up our food blog, now called Savouring Switzerland, to a group of writers.
Three lanes: now two again, for a month, on the A1 near Morges-Lausanne
Morges, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Prepare for summer traffic jams: the A1 autoroute between Morges Ouest (west) and Lausanne is about to undergo surgery that will last until 25 June. The facelift reduces traffic to two lanes in each direction fom 06:00-20:00 and one lane each way during the night.
The A1 has operated far more smoothly since the start of 2010 when months of roadworks were completed, giving it three lanes in each direction during rush hour. The combination of heavy equipment and a colder than usual winter damaged the surface of the existing lanes, however, and these now need to be removed and the roads re-covered. The highway department notes that even when it appears that there are no workers the lanes are closed for a good reason, as it can take several days for the surface to harden fully.
The new roadworks will add to the headaches of travellers between Morges and Villeneuve, given the heavy roadworks scheduled along the A9 between Lausanne and Villeneuve. Long stretches in each direction have been reduced to a single lane.
American tourists should be back, even if euro spenders are down
Lucerne and its Four Cantons lake is a favourite with US tourists
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - The latest tourism forecast for the Swiss government by BakBasel shows overnight stays expected to drop slightly during the May-October summer season, down 0.7 percent, mainly due to the weak euro and unemployment in Europe. But American tourists are expected to return after a 2009 summer where they were scarce on the ground. The latest figures for the winter season that has just ended show what Bern describes as a surprising increase, up 0.2 percent.
The tourism industry will remain in something of a slump in 2011, but should see growth again, 17 percent, in 2012.
Click on image to view larger
lakefront, Saint Prex, August 2009
Saint Prex, Vaud, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Prepare for a weekend of 18-25C temperatures and sunshine alternating with some cloud cover – a change from this week’s sweltering heat, with Geneva recording its hottest day of the year, over 36C, Thursday 20 August. But before the great Saturday and Sunday weather, prepare for late Friday highs closer to 30C and local thunderstorms with wind whipping up in some areas. MeteoSwiss map and forecast
Weekend entertainment highlights: St Prex Festival starts, wine & chocolate for the family in Romainmotier and music at dawn in Geneva
This is the final week-end before Vaud students return to school and among the week-end entertainment offers featured on the GenevaLunch events page is the Saint Prex Festival which takes place in arguably one of the prettiest villages along the lake (also the home of GenevaLunch). The festival opens Friday evening 21 August and runs to 29 August.
Summer travel crashes have taken the lives of several people:
- Eight people died, including four children, when a minivan headed the wrong way on the northbound lane of the Taconic State Highway near Pleasantville, New York in the US, just north of New York City, Sunday 26 July. CNN
- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is calling for stricter road controls after an oil tanker veered into traffic Friday 24 July bursting into flames as it crashed into a bus, leaving 21 people dead, in the latest in a string of deadly accidents that killed 29 people last week alone. Moscow Times
Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The summer travel season begins in earnest 30 June and the Swiss federal government has issued its list of roads and dates when travelers can expect heavy traffic.
Les axes routiers et les jours présentant un fort risque de perturbations sont les suivants :
Autoroutes
Heading south
- A1 St Margrethen – Geneva, between Zurich and Bern, between Lausanne and Morges (roadworks), customs at Geneva/Bardonnex
- A2/E35 Basel – Chiasso – Milan: Bâle/Weil am Rhein customs, between the Belchen tunnel and the Wiggertal junction, between Erstfeld before the north end of the Saint Gotthard (see Gotthard below), the Chiasso/Brogeda customs, to the Como/Grandate toll booth
- A3 Basel – Zurich: between Basel/Saint-Louis customs and the Wiese junction
- A13 Sargans – Bellinzona: between entre Nufenen and Hinterrhein (roadworks), to the north entrance of the San Bernardino tunnel
- Ring roads around Bern (A1/A6), Lausanne (A1/A9) and Zurich (A1/A3)
Times when you can expect traffic jams
Fridays between 15:00 and 21:00 and Saturday from 08:00 to 16:00
Dates with particularly heavy traffic
July: 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25
August: 1
Heading north
- A1 Geneva – St. Margrethen: Geneva/Bardonnex customs, betwee entre Morges and Lausanne (roadworks), between Bern and Zurich
- A2/E35 Milan – Chiasso – Basel: from the Como/Grandate toll booth to the Chiasso/Brogeda customs, between Quinto and the south entrance to the Saint-Gothard tunnel, between Reiden and the Härkingen junction, to customs at Basel/Weil am Rhein
- A3 Sargans – Zurich – Basel: between Zurich/Brunau and the end of the autoroute, Basel/Saint-Louis customs
- A4a Zoug – Sihlbrugg: between Baar and the end of the autoroute at Sihlbrugg
- A9 Martigny – Lausanne: between Bex and the Glion tunnel
- A13 Bellinzone – Coire: at the southern entrance to the San Bernardino tunnel, between Hinterrhein and Nufenen (roadworks)
- Ring roads around Bern (A1/A6), Lausanne (A1/A9) and Zurich (A1/A3)
Times when you can expect traffic jams
Fridays 15:00-21:00, Saturdays 10:00-20:00 and Sundays from 13:00 to 20:00
Dates with particularly heavy traffic
July: 11, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26 and 31
August: 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29
September: 5
Saint Gotthard tunnel
Heading south
Tailbacks are likely at the north end of the tunnel on these dates: Friday 3 July from 12:00-24:00, Saturday 4 July 05:00-18:00. The nights of 10-11 and 17-18 and 24-25 July, non-stop from Friday 12:00 to Saturday 18:00. Traffic jams are also possible Saturdays from 08:00-16:00 during August and up to mid-eptember, as well as Sundays in July from 10:00-16:00.
The entrances to the Göschenen, Monday to Thursday during July, noon to 20:00 are also likely to have traffic jams.
Heading north
Traffic jams can be expected at the south entrance to the tunnel these days: Fridays, 10-31 July from 12:00-22:00, 7-14 August from 10:00-23:00, 21 August to 4 September from 13:00-20:00, Saturdays 11-25 July from 10:00-22:00, 1 August and 8 August from 09:00-01:00, 15 August to 5 September, 10:00-21:00, Sundays, 19 July to 6 September, 11:00-21:00.
Traffic jams could occur Saturday 4 July, 10:00-18:00. From mid-July to the end of August, traffic jams can also be expected occasionally afternoons Monday to Thursday, noon to 20:00.
Main roads inside Switzerland and customs stations
Heavier traffic can be expected on the following roads within Switzerland: Spiez-Kandersteg (start of holidays), Gampel-Goppenstein (end of holidays), Bellinzona-Locarno, Wädenswil-Hirzel-Sihlbrugg, Sihlbrugg-Zurich (Sihltal), Flüelen-Brunnen (Axenstrasse), as well as on some Alpine region roads, including main Alpines passes. Expect some delays at these customs stations: Au, Koblenz, Sankt-Margrethen and Thayngen.
For traffic updates
• Telephone in French, German and Italian: Viasuisse (No 163 – 50 cts/call+50 cts/min)
• Radio DRS/RSR/RSI
• web sites: www.tcs.ch, www.cff.ch, www.teletext.ch (rail: p 486/487, road: p 491 – 497), www.bls.ch.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Geneva will host a 2009 edition of the fabled 1001 nights when the Sultanat of Oman comes to town as the guest of honour for the Fêtes de Genève.
The fete, which is Switzerland’s largest tourist attraction, consists of two weeks of partying and music in the streets followed by nine days of fun fair and a giant fireworks show. The pre-fete is 16-29 July, followed by the Fêtes themselves until 9 August.
The giant party is home to 150 food stalls and restaurants, 65 rides and 120 musical offers every evening.
The 2008 Fêtes brought the city thousands of visitors, with Geneva earning an estimated CHF120 million. The fireworks over the lake are widely considered some of the best in Switzerland.
Details: city’s Fêtes de Genève web site, Tribune de Genève article
