GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - There's plenty to do in the region in coming days, so pull out your calendar and start marking the dates.The cinema festival Visions du Réel is honouring British filmmaker Peter Greenaway 18 April, awarding his its Sesterce d’or Prix Raiffeisen Maître du Réel prize for the ensemble of his work - the Monday night event is open to the public. The award ceremony will be […]
Coming up: treasure chest of things to do
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - Happy (if a bit chilly) Easter weekend to all. The Lake Geneva region has a wealth of good events coming up in the near future and plenty of things to do. Here's a sampler - start marking your April calendar now. Indoor and outdoor sports - get fit or stay fit! If you believe it's still winter, you're in luck in the Jura, where the snow cover is still good, with "excellent […]
Busy Geneva days – cars, Syria, films, snow
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - I'm about to leave Geneva for 10 days in China, to join the amazing Laser Egg entrepreneurial adventure: the hot-selling pollution monitor device, brainchild of Swiss Liam Bates (also my son) has just gone on sale in Apple's China stores, quite a feat. Meanwhile, a lot is happening in Geneva in the next few days, and I'm sorry to be missing the bustle.The train into the […]
Bring on Geneva’s March events!
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - March is nearly upon us: you can tell by the number of posters advertising events that will pull in thousands.The biggest of all is the Geneva Motor Show, which runs from 3-13 March and is expected to have some 700,000 visitors, if previous years' numbers are repeated. All eyes will be on energy and fuel consumption this year, if with some skepticism following the scandal […]
Avalanche app for off-piste
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - If you're an off-piste skier and you don't yet have the White Risk app from the Swiss national avalanche research centre, SLF, it's time to get it. You'll find a wealth of useful, frequently updated information about the state of the snow and slopes throughout the country. […]
Realtime: the snow and the slopes
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - This is the first really good snow and weather weekend for eastern Switzerland - if you're debating whether or not to head for the hills, just do it!The weather forecast from MeteoSwiss: mostly sunny with scattered "showers" - some cloud cover on the plain, with mostly sunshine on the mountains. Weather is expected to turn warmer for the next few days, with the high […]
Swiss news roundup: radio, snow, Davos, Yemen
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - The Graubünden resort of Davos is in world news as the annual World Economic Forum opens to gloomy forecasts. On a more local level, radio stations are showing a small amount of growth, nabbing a small percentage from public radio.Snow continues to fall in the mountains, a bit late for the tourist industry which lost out over the Christmas holidays, but to the delight of […]
Swiss news roundup: murders, tunnels, puppies
Weather forecast: colder, with rain on the plain, snow in the mountains Details, MeteoSwissGENEVA, SWITZERLAND - The greater Lausanne area has seen its second murder-suicide in one week, with the death of a couple north of the city. A thermal door is being tested at the north end of the St Gotthard tunnel, to increase road safety. A Christmas present in Martigny: 10 new St Bernard puppies […]
Happy 2016 to all
I'm still on holiday, in the south of Spain, where 6 January is a major holiday, celebrating the Feast of the Three Kings with family time and confetti-throwing parades.It is known in French-speaking Switzerland as the Petit Nouvel An and in many areas as the Epiphany.Here is an explanation of what it means and how it is celebrated in different parts of the world and by different cultures. […]
Weekend forecast, to ski or not to ski
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND - The weekend promises to be warm, up to 10C in Alpine resorts - a bit too warm for skiers, who could use some fresh snow. Sunchairs at the top, anyone?Ski resorts are nevertheless gradually opening up their slopes. Zermatt now has 150km of pistes open as of this weekend. The Monts Jura resort area now has limited cross-country skiing and more downhill runs open, as well as […]