ZURICH -> LAUSANNE a territory survey

Survey 10, Promasens-Lausanne, 30.7.2011

2011-08-06T20:05:00.001+02:00

As I left the house, I saw the sign what I missed twice on the last evening.

House in the clouds.

The Second World War memorial walk (Monsieur Guisan) is probably a closed circuit - that the people could run in circles.

From the geographical conditions it's still the same landscape as at the first day.

Lausanne is one of the few cities from the Romandie of that size, that has no special name in German, maybe like Lohsan.

As closer to the cities, the more possibilities for alternative fund-raising are open for farmers.

Railway guard's house without railway.

Might be from me.

You know that you are in suburbia when fear is a visual guideline of social interaction.

Architecture is the game of following rules and breaking them as soon they are understood.

There, behind the forest, in the mist, there is the Lac Léman.Well hidden for such a whale of a lake.

Fairy ring in English, Hexenkreis (witch circle) in German...

"Tourisme pédestre" - if there is no word for 'hiking' there is probably also no traditional culture of it?

The design model of Lausanne?

Different kinds of horse transporters.

A body sculpture park.

A possible answer to the things later.

The evidence of a failed society.

The miracle of doing: sometimes it just fits.

The new métro terminal - and the city grows.

The last alley on my way.

Perfect confusion: I'm not sure how serious intentioned it is.

Step back into town.

The surrounding wall of Lausanne, as usually I come through the backdoor.

If I could find it.

Again I was way to early - I spend my time at the Lac de Sauvabelin. Where I was completely alone.

If you just count the people of my generation.

The amusements there.

Later I went for the look-out - and still on the third day in a French speaking region I was able to take the wrong ascent. But I was probably not in the newspaper on the following day because that crime.

View to east.

View to the west.

View from behind.

A big closed something.

I was so happy to be back. A city build from stone is the natural, healthy and good environment for human.

And finally at Doll - the destiny of everything.

The welcome feast, first course. Spring roll and chicken wings without bones.

Second course, duck.

And later I went to the train, to drive back everything I walked in the last 10 days in about 3 hours, from door to door.
Anything I had to hold me was one beer of each language region (from one European company).

Survey 9, Autigny-Promasens, 29.7.2011

2011-08-06T17:57:00.001+02:00

To defeat the mosquitoes you have to look to the world as they do.

Despite the blur it's visible how rich this breakfast was - only for me!

The whole house was rich on everything.

Laureen and Daphne on their morning workout.

Just imagine what would happen to our landscape, no the whole society, if there would be masses of hikers!

The forest without any depth.

From time to time it's healthy for the eyes to see some hard edges.

After an unfertile attempt as a painter he decided to start a career as fibre cement facade designer.

What a theatre.

The later the more I have to confess, that I have no idea of all the things what are going on in the catholic church.

Probably he liked the form but not the smell of a silo.

Roofs and clouds.

There was certainly a reason for that picture - but I can't remember.

Fully equipped mini farm.

This It Is.

Built to work, and this is what it does.

No, not the foreground, the painting!

roofsandclouds.

The gap between conception and reality.

French has the marvellous ability to blow up your confidence, even when you are from the last hicktown in this universe.

There was still a little bit of usability remaining in that bike.

From unknown reasons have banks and insurance companies the interest to convince us, that exactly this is our dream of life. And they did this communication job very well.

My current dream was closed.

Film set?

Just a little discourse about the deficiency of technique: I saw a huge ball of birds on the sky. In the time it took me to have the idea to make a picture, to take out the camera, switch it on, the ball flow twice over my head and split up in several groups.
As I was ready, there have been just a couple of birds left on the air.

Maybe Moudon.

Osmosis massage studio - isn't it disgusting?

Not all of them are the same clever.

More modern point of view as on other barn paintings.

Complete different view as on other barn paintings.

This one was completely unreadable to me - guess, I like it.

A whole village vanished from the map.

A bright and friendly place

turns out to be the hell of the psycho suns.

Guess it's not having a siesta.

Another verse in the epic song of roofs and clouds.

Time was never before so much on my side.

Le château de Landi a Vauderens.

Basket: 4 points / goal: 2 points / handspring: 10 points

Beware of the dog! ...and its owner.

From the village of Rue I followed the signs what are guiding to the castle. The way was very nice, but the castle itself, at the top of the rock, was private, means closed to the public. So I had the wonderful chance, to walk that nice way twice without any interruption in between.

The intensive use of colour is a safe indicator, that the builder of the house realised, that there is something wrong with the house.

On a certain point it didn't make any difference to me, if I sit in a restaurant of the Romandie or from the Bretagne - I was just happy to be here.

As I like it.

On my last guest-night I had the luck to sleep in a real All-Star Swiss Hüsli.

Interior view.

Lullaby operetta.

Survey 8, Ependes-Autigny, 28.7.2011

2011-08-05T21:54:00.001+02:00

What I call a single-family house, everything smaller is a kennel.

Yummy.

How wouldn't like to live in Rainbow.

New skills in shingle construction.

The only fields that are left are this on the windows.

Le canyon grand.

Good ad for good stuff.

This community administration set a big promise - good luck!

Where the party never ends (what a line-up!)

Energy efficiency.

It's just a collection of rooftops.

Folk art movement in Fribourg.

It's tile.

I like the door situation.

I would say, less as twenty hours left to walk.

Good titles don't need a picture.

Laws are invented for people who can't adapt a situation.

The immortal Michael.

My home is my castle.

Until now I thought it is just an urban myth.

The pure life needs a lot of image manipulation.

Finally I decided against the frog legs - everything alright.

On this day I was just to early - so I put myself below a tree, and wait there for the next rain.

Birch I guess.

The legend of football.

Where I spend the night in Autigny. A very welcoming place for St James pilgrims, but also for me.
I met half the village in that kitchen and the whole family of the host. They spoke French, me German, there was an apéro (Martini Biancho or Cinzano Rosso) and at the end a supper with a broad variety of local cheeses - excellent.

But the very best was the included laundry, the first day since more as a week I had real clean stuff again.

Survey 7, Schwarzenburg-Ependes, 27.7.2011

2011-08-05T20:00:00.001+02:00

To have still a minute to decide, which car you like to drive today.

I thought, today I follow the Way of St James.

Another design.

To have it in a Berlin style.

As written on the Way guides: this part was very nice.

As I told before.

But like every time when it's getting to nice, the army comes to solve the situation.

The bridge between Berne and Fribourg.

But the way doesn't care, it stays nice.

A walk-in-pray-station.

Living the revolution! Forest furniture has not every time to be build from logs.

That's Jack!

*breath in - breath out* Well, if I had a bomb with me on that walk, in anyway it wouldn't be possible to bring it until here.

The Swiss All-Star Hüsli, from east to west, from north to south - it's everywhere. Just the hedge is new.

I bet: if I would return in ten years, 50% of these cubic houses have a steep roof on the top.

A famous chapel on the Way with a comic about chicken on it.

My stomach was ruined that days, this glass and a second one was my lunch.

Four astounded ghosts.

Where I found the Röstigraben.

But there is no correct existence in the false.

The only real upgrade to the innovation 'street' is the tree-lined alley.

It was here where I made my first longer talk in French. A call with which I ordered a bed for the next days night. I succeed.

The multi option fence.

Raver.

Where dogs are not allowed to dance.

Time changes everything.

Design stops nowhere.

Yes, certainly.

The old priest house, where I spend the night.

With a view back to Fribourg.

Because the local restaurant was closed, the very kind host of this b&b prepared a special stomach curing dinner for me. It helped.

Survey 6, Berne-Schwarzenburg, 26.7.2011

2011-08-05T00:34:00.002+02:00

Another morning, with my washings of the last night in the view.

Somehow they didn't leave me a choice, so I started the day with a croissant massacre.

I had now idea what the farmer is growing here - until I discovered the little one in the front:
adult asparagus.

The florist's holiday ticket.

Other times, other typeface (and other durability).

Possible advertising text: living in the tree house.

Slowly I am getting into new territories, stone is a possible construction material.

On any summit again.

A record of about 2 kilometres of my walk. Done by my mobile phone camera inside the knee bag of my hiking shorts.

For embedded hikers.

I mean, it was like a direct offer.

Without this charge the horizon would disappear.

I think, there are some rare cases in that world where function is following the form.

Max Bill was definitely a hiker too.

I told before, I will do that again.

The string-tanga house.

It's so much fun!

This was one of the most painful moments on the whole trip - I had to decide between three excellent solutions.

I took the middle one. It was unbelievable good.

My most intimate recommendation from the whole trip:
Restaurant Bären, Oberbalm: http://www.schweizerkueche.ch/site/de/finder/portrait/?restaurant_id=1263

Real fans are not depending on a stadium, even not on the physical presence of their team, all they need is a stand.

Not much to say - was just nice to walk here.

The house with the most interesting colour combination and the nicest underroof swing.

The business card of my best fellow.

Social romantic from the 1990ies.

The diploma work of pininfarina?

The main existence reason for farmers in Switzerland is, to please our eyes.

With every step the houses look slightly different.

When trees have to sit down.

Not Peru - but a ruin in the forest.

The power of flesh.

The power of water.

It's just the way it is.

I can't be sure about that, but if I ask my stomach, it was here where I enraged it.

If fashion is detaining you have having goats: they are now also in grey available.

The call of Mordor.
I took cover underneath a barn roof, where I have been rescued by a man in a car who gave me a lift into the town - so, 2 km of the whole way I didn't walked.

My room mates.

The Fribourg style house where I spend the night.

Strolling through Schwarzenburg.

How a hedge looks from inside.

The Beatles mansion.

Nice house to be broken down.

All the people like the historical centres, so why the hell are they doing this?

The most interesting space situation in the banlieu.

The situation, how the people like it, but they can't build it anymore.

Comforter.

Survey 5, Sumiswald-Berne, 25.7.2011

2011-08-03T23:45:00.001+02:00

Like every day breakfast at 7 am - good and healthy in that hotel.

Guess it's a copy of an Anker.

An very odd couple.

The beauty of a curraged roof.

An historic Celtic path.

Even holes in the wood are looking good.

And by luck another castle Trachselwald...

They say it was used until the 20th century as a jail.

Didn't found a toilet so far.

This was the only light in the third floor, below it was not better in any way.

Medieval wellness treatment.

Nice view from the guard's room.

Lot of tasty things to try, but to early in the morning.

Another friends of mine, I call them brownie and flury.

Yeah.

It's just how rural people are.

Guess, that is from the same artist.

"It's been told that the hiker is a sinner
Because he's rarely going to church.
In the nature a glance to the sky
Is better as a false prayer!"

Fascination wood construction.

In the name of industrial heritage.

Rare - very rare.

Some people are good, really good.

dir donners Schnuuderihüng?

National ceremony day - the top holy day in Switzerland.

I really thought, that I give up to collect that... but, well, this one was a little bit different as the others.

Private house very much in the mind of a castle.

The new skills of the carpenters.

How Hornussen looks, in real, and the appropriate dress.

Carrier pigeon, not common city pigeon they told.

In this summer, path attendant is a dream job.

My constant fellow on the trip: Ms. Death, Mr. Pain obviously missed the connecting plane and Dr. Ennui went to have some beers.

Unexpected interesting graphic design.

Full identification with the own business.

Almost the archetype of that farm house type.
Actually, they are not that big because the Emmental farmers have been more able as others - they had just until the newer times a very good slavery system, search: 'Verdingbub'

Hires navigation backup.

Just one reason, why we never would like to go back in former times.

Michelangelo told, that no he himself is creating his sculptures, it's the stone, who is telling him what's inside.
A good farmer sees as well, which other functions are bearing in a machine.

He must come through this hollow way, no other path leads to Berne

I like them especially, when they are fresh and sweet.

Very simple relations, I'm here and I must go there.

One of the several moments, when I thought that I am on the top, but behind the next curve I saw, that there is still a way that leads more up.

Blueberry fields forever!

They are almost growing into the mouth.

I would like to say, that I had mostly that kind of weather. But it was different.

Just in the name of completeness: an Emmental cheese dairy.

The only hiker I met who was not on an religious mission (Way of St. James).
Pascal Bourquin from Swiss TV, also on an surveillance mission: http://info.tsr.ch/twitter/surlaroute.php

And again I was on a very nice path.

In fact very nice: raspberry everywhere, and as it looks, I'm the first one who sneaks by.

My main protection strategy against any danger in the world: to watch the world through the camera screen.

In less as two days I did 81 kilometres... not bad, especially because I marked on the map straight directions with a daily distance of 17 km.

No comment.

I'm still not sure why, but I mean the name of it is "Rössli Heistrich' - very recommendable for a short excursion out of Berne: http://www.roessli-heistrich.ch/

One of the rare moments where I got a local beer what not belongs to an international player - and it's tasty.

Fits well with the Rössli-Teller.

"It was the only possible solution"

I know, roofs and shadows, one of my spleens.

The most impressive moment is, that they are not giving up this pavilion.

In the meantime I came way to close to the Alps, that was the reason, why I had steady to go up and down. (and yes: I saw that rooftop of a castle, but I thought, just for once I'm allowed to leave it there unvisited)

How a barn looks from inside.

Current handling with traditional wood ornaments.

"Bringalot"

"Vegetable - please come in" - the last desperate effort of a broken farmer without fields?

Look left, look right - equals shake the head.

There are two good things to say about that municipal administration: they are not wasting public money and second, they know from own experience, how the precarity lives.

The farmer's great-grandpas pride.

"Do you remember, are we now visitors of 804 or 408?"

But not the worst settlement at all.

Finally back in suburbia - I have it almost like Andy Warhol who told, the best in foreign countries is Mac Donald's - in the suburbs I know exactly who I am and where I am (I am customer, and without car I'm on the wrong place).

Suburbia with all its opulence.

It's unbelievable. Already at the outer boarder of the city Berne is the tourist office placing some clerks to attest that it is the most sedate town in the country.

But the colour of the river Aare is truly special.

Irresistible - I drank of it, smells good.
(In fact I had the following days a bad stomach, but I can't say it was the Aare, it's also possible that it have been the berries what I had, or the water from a bad fountain on the way...)

Bern-Belpmoss international airport with one operator.

Where I spend my night, with CHF 65.- not even expansive, in relation to everything I know from Zurich.

Nice rooms with international chic (mind the view to the parking slots).

The lobby, also an art gallery.

My middle of the walk feast: a beer to remind myself to my last year walk to Munich, and a meal that was owing this international place.

The skylounge, regrettably there was nobody to help me with the whiskeys.

Survey 4, Willisau-Sumiswald, 24.7.2011

2011-08-03T15:25:00.001+02:00

When I got up at this morning, I saw something new, might get an enjoyable walk today.

The breakfast room.

Beside of me the main guest is the army.

Reconstruction of a possible sequence of events.

Ciao.

Just archiving.

He will become a FABulous cook.

The later the more I'm sure that all the stories about low birth rates in developed societies is a pure lie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQvZ4N1RfS8

I start to get bored.

The monument of the nation builders.

Just one example of what the local tourist office calls a 'broad selection of interesting museums'.

Well, I'm in a catholic part of the country right now.

Populating like popcorn.

My most loyal fans.

After all this baby announcements I was just in the mood to make a nice picture again.

Wood in several aggregate states.

Another one in the name of beauty.

Because they are anyway disturbing every picture I could also do a picture just with them.

But in fact here was the first moment on my trip where I really had the feeling to be somewhere else - like holiday maybe.

It was in fact Sunday.

Action painting.

Here I hit for the first time the way of St. James.

Recycling as a decorative exercise.

I liked that, I guess, I'll do that sometimes more.

You know that you are a foreigner if you can't read that instantly and act in the appropriate way.

Woodwallstreet.

By a 40 years old guy it is clear, what should be on the panel.

After the renovation there was even something left to pleasure the wife.

Small is beautiful.

But less is bore.

Some fathers love some of their children more as the others.

I can remember a time when a lady was killing for the sake that nobody knows her age.

Where else if not in Switzerland.

Just slowly I came to the insight, that a little bit more integrated design would be a good upgrade to that movement.

'Hambörger' as soon we take over the English language.

Fruit trees are not really well prepared to survive our clime.

A professional Hornussen ground.

A friendly welcome on the boarders of the canton of Berne.

A really bad photoshop erasing job done by nature.

Happiness is a warm gun - shoot from behind.

Just a nice brand.

Winner in the category integration of the announcement.

Successful traffic calming without any involvement of the respective office.

By the whole house well accented entrance.

It was on the time, when I get pissed by this panels - but there it was also the end of the area where the people did so.

How much nicer it is to shoot cats.

I love cats, they have a natural sense to put themselves in decorative relations.

I was really climbing for several hundreds of meters. As I arrived on the ridgeway I saw, that there is right beneath a parking slot, where the people changed from city suit to the hiking gear.
Not (much) against that, but I went angry, when they came to me, freshly showered, in a cloud of perfume and asked me: "Aha, also on a hiking trip?"

Organic stairs.

A place to leave the business card.

Walkingwalking.

A forest ground tribal.

How they teach semiotics in Swiss schools:
If you see a steam plume you know there is a nuclear power plant.

Just an eye cookie.

I'm a little bit too stupid to understand the system of closed restaurant on Sunday.

I get what I want anyway.

Actually I ordered rösti with cheese and pear, and not with cheese, pear, melon, pineapple, tomatoes and chive - I can't see any reason for that.
But beside of this it was well feeding.

The mountain farmer's pride.

23 ways to ruin your wood house.

One traditional roof (well, without straw) and seven misinterpretations.

Search the human intervention.

The railway station where the last train went and never returns.

An it-bag for men.

Nice roofs.

Just a variation of the picture above - I thought maybe it's nice to have not as much grey sky on it.

A picture that explains everything about the place where I will sleep tonight.

As I saw the visualisation of the sofa I did know, that the future is getting worse.

Untypical but nice.

Things I like.

I find no words.

My sleeping place.

In fact it is very special - but the host was also very kind: http://www.hirschen-gruenen.ch/

The daily job: typical water colour of the first hand washing process, without soap.

After that I went into the guest room to have some beers, first with local guest, and finally just with the most local ones.

Survey 3, Rickenbach-Willisau, 23.7.2011

2011-08-02T23:52:00.001+02:00

Breakfast at the breakfast room at the breakfast time of 7:04 am.

Sheep's weather.

How clouds are making bolts in reality.

After Brian O'Doherty's white cube is the next hot thing the grey sphere.

Such a nice house.

Another contribution to my folk art archive.

Optimus Prime.

An interesting, very natural tree constellation.

Symbiosis between nature and technique seen from the point of view of a tree.

I bet 4:1 that this was originally an ammunition storage of the army.

A limitation of useful area by water.

Back on the mosquitoes track.

Archive stuff.

The place, where Chinese Art has been invented.

Keywords: swiss, ambassador, collector, contemporary, chinese

Truly temporary spaces.

Another beauty.

Reasonable handling with public money.

Probably the nicest kindergarten in the world in a former gravel quarry.
In Ettiswil: http://www.naturlehrgebiet.ch/

SUV.

Obviously I am getting in to a former tributary area.

Just a nice chapel, next to Schloss Wyher.

And the way out.

German for beginners:
'Völkerwanderung' = very bad for empires
'Volkswanderung' = very good for local gastronomy

Folk archive - variation of the basic idea for people without children: also later birthdays could be announced.

I'm just recording.

It's probably that the man could erect a pole for a second time on the same occasion.

As I saw the castle, the château and the interesting wood building next to it, I did now, that I have to make a detour.

Therefore I entered truly hostile tribal area.

Ritual objects manufactured from industrial intermediate goods.

Fully equipped public picnic place (mind the shambles)

A really felicitous analogy to a castle made in wood.

Also the château was very surprising, in the same house very representative and balanced to the valley side (long rang effect) -

but folklike to the entrance side - just realised by an box-cut.

When I saw this wooden hallway I thought, that it makes sometimes sense to have feudal structures, in some matters they had better tools to act comprehensive.

It's just important to have also the tools to take the power back from time to time.

Description plate: This is one of the best preserved ruins in Switzerland...
I thought, Albert Speer was the last guy who was thinking in this dimensions...

'Mega butcher'.
I imagine that means in the first silo is a pile of beef, in the second of pigs and in the third of chickens and in the ground level are rotating chain saws.

The frontier of Willisau.

The vomiting house.

There are people they think, in Switzerland the rules are way too much limiting.
I think they are wrong obviously everything is somehow possible.

Preurban variations for the archive.

My room in Willisau, next to the historic centre - when I remind my self in the right way, that was the cheapest place on the whole trip - who wonders.

Original since the 1960ies.

Outside view, I was of course in the building at the right.

Somebody lost some letters, in a very decorative way.

Where I started to think about the meaning of live: in almost every restaurant in the German speaking part of Switzerland is Cordon Bleu on the menu - beside of the French name, I was not sure if I ever saw it somewhere outside of that area.
But as correspondents told me, at least in the French speaking part of Switzerland also exists.

A very concise centre.

Litmus test: as soon it needs such a sign you know, something went wrong (maybe the architecture, but more probably the social parameters).

Typical educative toy.

Finally the heavy metal church.

Privileged real estate in the background.

As it looks, also the official community is involved in that folk movement.

Only the urban layout could deliver the reason to build a dormer.

Political brisance in the province.

With a distance of about 100 m to the example, how a street space could be solved in a good way this training ground for the wrecking ball.

The most recent upgrade in my hotel room.

Survey 2, Boswil-Rickenbach, 22.7.2011

2011-08-01T16:03:00.002+02:00

As almost every upcoming morning I had breakfast at 7 am, so that I could start the walk about a half of an hour later.

No need for suntan lotion today, but sunglasses can't harm in that environment.

The scales fell from my eyes - because that wrongly positioned buddha. The gardens are not designed that the owner is feeling well inside, their focus is the appearance to the outside... that the owner is making a good impression to the passerby.

As so many times later just a documentation of clouds and roofs.

And again I have been hit into my pride:
It's something of unbelievable stupid to drive in the car through the forest and throw the garbage out of the window. I as walker carry it for hours until the next bin - in the car that would just take minutes.
Guess that are the same guys who are driving into trees (next time take a rock!)

Hum, roofs, clouds and trees.

And suddenly I saw the mount Albis again - and for the last time of my walk. Somehow that means, I'm leaving the outer circle of my homeland.

Just enjoyable names.

Birdies forest loft.

It's kind of a miracle. The landscape looks flat from above, but from the bottom there are fair hills.

Might be in Bavaria too.

A good farmer is not trashing anything what still could have a use later.

From the other side it was such a nice village.

Beef meat, eggs, and young dogs (for people with special savour?)

Also the ducks are getting trained for single family-houses.

One of my main carbohydrate sources.

The best fountain on the way: fresh water with plum taste.

Economical handling with framing material.

It was motivating to see the lake that I will cross, but there was also a downer, that I have two mountains to climb after.

In a life before he was a petrol station owner.

One bar for the hands, one bar for the ears?

Farmhouses are often also good illustrative material for masonry lovers.

Where I lost about one litre of blood - guess, the mosquitoes are still celebrating that day.

Was also nice to walk.

Everything could be so simple.

When there is written "mountain" so there will be a mountain.

Irresistible to leave it undecorated.

Dolphin? Here? On the roof?

The racoon house.

A masterpiece.

Menziken is one of the few places in Switzerland, where it is still possible to smoke in restaurants. In this working class place I had lunch, the classic Schniposa (Schnitzel, Pommes, Salat/chipping, French fries, salad) - was good, and most remarkable: without any foolish decoration like a leave of parsley.

It's not such a stupid idea to give the children toys what they don't like. Like that they stay longer fresh.

That's probably the reason for the smoking restaurants.

Architects without any sense of shame.

It's a wise idea to set the school on the most beautiful place in town.
(Maybe it's possible to see the school of Schilten from here?)

And suddenly I understood, there is a new movement of folk art. Everyone who has a child announces that fact with at least one panel with a funny painting and its name.

It's first broken when we say it is so.

Folk art is also the name finding.

According the clockface it could be also a kindergarten.

New approach of the church to get back the followers: Jesus has now breasts.

Countryside Pollock

Beside of panels are also tried trees possible.

The return of cool.

Cloud fencing.

Another nice part of the walk.

To be in the forest while the sun shines is almost unsurpassable.

Only open in summertimes.

On the approach to my second station.

Learning from the fittest.

My new room.

What the view out of the window would be.
Actually, I found that place very recommendable for short term holidays with children:
http://www.bauer-fritz.ch/

My decision makers.

Art education is still on a very basic level.

This swing was exactly positioned in direction of Lausanne - with a certain technique I could earn some walking distance.

Never saw so many humble bees.

Also tonight, clouds on the screen.

Preparation of the disco barn for the next day.

Daughter.

Mother.

Papa?

The night show.

Survey 1, Zurich-Boswil, 21.7.2011

2011-08-01T11:50:00.001+02:00

Fulfilled with motivation until the edge I got up on this day already at 6 am. The backpack was ready, almost everything prepared, only breakfast was left to eat.

But due to some miraculous delays it was finally after 7.30 am when I left my house for the trip.

It was a weather where even angels are getting dirty feet.

I was captured by the complexity of the topic, what I have to research on the upcoming days of the trip - it was not the whole world I would like to explain, but the almost the whole Swiss midlands.

But slowly the certainty grew in me, that here in Switzerland the things are just, what they appear to be.

Patina is not a result of uncontrolled processes, it's only existing, where it is allowed to be.

After a silent call from Theo van Doesburg my self-esteem was established.

What should I care about clouds as long we have electrical light.

A farewell bouquet.

Instead of walking, this would be the only other possible travel solution for me.

A last wistful glance back to my hometown.

During which I have been already caught from the call of the unknown distance.

And I crossed the city limits.

Right behind already the first shop, where the people with to large gardens could buy unspeakable ugly furniture in mammoth sizes to fill it up.

But also a good example of successful combination of the construction materials brick, concrete and wood.

A forgotten colour combination.

A forbidden colour combination.

At least they don't pretend with the garden filling to be nice.

The price of Switzerland.

In its pure form the milk farm is rather similar as human:
At the top hole you fill in the food (hay).
At the bottom hole you receive dung.
And somewhere in the middle it produces sometimes something good.

Other countries, other street credibility.

The canton Argovia is the only one I know that is promoting itself solely because its excellent passage possibilities.

Therefore a very typical picture.

Where I was seriously thinking if I should have lunch at 10 am... to honour Robert Venturi.

At the first point with a certain long-sight I took a bearing. Now I was sure, that it's also in Lausanne raining.

"We search"/"We search" - best conditions for a business.

The reincarnation of - a walrus.

This was not the first and not the last memorial I saw on that street.
But to be serious about my thoughts: he looks like a speedster and he died like one - the only thing I can't understand is, why the dependants are keeping on to punish the tree, it's the only one who is innocent.

A nature preservation.

Just an example of nice old graphic design.

Not the same nice design, but some kind of autonomous youth organisation.

When Disneyland clerks are building a new village centre.

I can't read it exactly, but I think it's Switzerland out of the point of view from a hunter.

My rain brake lunch brake - fish and chips, local style.

From outside, after the rain.
I don't know why, but I think, the Swiss are the only ones who fail completely when they try to stage stolidity... it's not the fact, that stolidity isn't part of their being, no it's opposite, the sense for staging is not well developed.

An erotic dream came true.

Rural ornaments.

The number of different roofs applys as an indicator of richness.

Almost as real.

When houses don't know, what they are.

Also schizophrenic, but good: half villa, half farm.

Camouflage chickens.

The new is not bad because it's new, it's bad because it's out of proportions.

Typical Argovian economic space.

Farmers garden.

The dimensions in that landscape.

To let - or let it be.

Traditional farm house in Boswil.

, Permanently closed - so it's the perfect wedding-church.

It's not that obvious, but the picture is just about the 'bubble' flowers.

A charming flower shop.

An interesting variation of a topic.

When people are taking their business serious - the bbq-car.

It's the variation of the rule what makes something special.

To retain on past stories.

The house is the message.

Under the volcano.

View from my first room, back to there, where I started this morning.

My first dinner.

My typical evening occupation (it took more as five days, until I started to read in the book that I carried with)

As so many moments later it was a great tempest ambience.

It's so good to enjoy it from inside.

But also inside I had fun with the cam.

Zurich -> Lausanne, hops planing

2011-07-19T22:53:00.000+02:00

My last year walk from Zurich to Munich was about 240 kilometres in a beeline, and I did it in 10 days, that means, I did 24 km the day. But actually, this was not true, to walk 24 km beelines I had to walk at about 50% more (to follow bridges, to walk not straight over the top of mountains and so on), so apparently I walked about 35 km the day.
The walk from Zurich to Lausanne is way shorter, 170 km beeline. And this time I thought, it would be nice to walk less, just to have the time to jump in the water on a hot day, and do not to suffer so much on body pain as last time.

As it appears now, the idea was good, but the terrain is crossing my plan of recreation heavily - I didn't have been aware of it on the map, but using the google earth profiler something unexpected appeared.

First the profile of the walk to Munich:

Second the way to Lausanne:

(Attention: the length and the height in both graphs are not the same, they are stretched to fit into the same box)

Obviously this way is much more hilly.
If you just mention the first rise at the left, approx. 4 km: that's the mount Albis... and the Albis is already something to walk over. Measured on that, I have to walk now about 8 of it, almost one for every day. Cheers! On a good day I could have even 2 of it.

But at least I will have a good view on many times.

These have been the facts. Now the fiction: the scheduling of the walk.
I plan to start to walk at Thursday, June 21 2011, if nothing is disturbing (hail, thunderstorms, diseases, panic...) this would be the stages:

Thu July 21: From Zurich to Boswil in the Freiamt
Fri July 22: From Boswil to Rickenbach, close to the Sempachersee (lake).
Sat July 23: From Rickenbach to Willisau
Sun July 24: From Willisau to Sumiswald
Mon July 25: From Sumiswald to Muri/Bern
Tue July 26: From Muri to Rüschegg
Wed July 27: From Rüschegg to Marly/Fribourg (language boarder!!)
Thu July 28: From Marly to Autigny
Fri July 29: From Autigny to Rue/Moudon or Oron... depends a little bit to my final track plannings and the free hotel room situation
Sat July 30: from there to Lausanne - today I think, I will hate myself in the future, if I wouldn't cheat the concept at the end and take a walk a little bit to far in the south, to see the Lavaux from inside... I'll see.

x x x x CALL x x x x

Who ever like to be involved in real, for one daytrip or even longer: this above is the schedule. Of course I can't promise if I stick to it or if I get delayed - the frequent infos on my twitter account will indicate my progress/inform about changes: http://twitter.com/#!/Zueri_Lausanne
Appointments with me could be done via twitter messaging or by contacting me with a text on my mobile: +41 76 563 73 85.

Conditions:
1. I guarantee for nothing.
2. Everybody is responsible for his/her own accommodation and aliment (but I could tell, where I think I go to sleep at the relevant evening). I suggest to carry an apple and one banana for surprising hunger, some grape sugar against lack of energy and a container for about one litre of water and of course enough money... I prefer to buy my food in stores, petrol stations and restaurants (less to carry).
3. I have nothing to spare: decide for clothes that are suitable for the (weather) conditions of the relevant day(s).
4. Usually I try to leave places with breakfast at 8 am, places without already at 7 am.
I don't know yet, when I arrive at the evening, latest about 5 pm is the target.

But keep in mind: I break for nobody, and gentlemen never run.

If you are still curious: I look forward to meet you.

Training 13, Sun. July 17, 2011, up the river Sihl (16 km)

2011-07-19T01:12:00.001+02:00

At my last visit in one of this outdoor/trekking shops they told me, that the most exciting thing to have is now merino wool. I put all my financial capacity into high-end synthetics that already oil production companies started to like me personally and now I should change everything into that basic material.
In matters of reducing pain I'm very willing to follow new movements, so I gave that thing a chance, first with one pair of socks.

I started the day pretty much at 7 am at the lovely Sihlquai. Just about two months in ahead this place was still crowded with all the symptoms of street prostitution. But the city decided to clean that thing up.
Everything has improved since than - the avalanche of gentrification took over another spot.

The beginning of the river Sihl... some people would say that should be at spring, but I'm not sure about. I think, the rivers have been named at their most powerful site, and after the name were growing from there until the finest parts. Or was it democratic decision of all the people who have been living on it? Anyway: how get mountains their name? I can imagine, that they had a different name from every valley they have been seen - and somebody fixed it, as the first map has been drawn. We don't know.

The Sihl is the smaller of the both rivers in the city of Zurich, but it is punished much more.
Here it has to crawl through the railway station, between the ground level and the subways underneath of it.

Maybe even because of this permanent punishments it's not so much trusted as the bigger river, the Limmat: all the houses have way more distance to its surface.

I mean to remember, that the 'Neue Börse' (new stock exchange) was nationally awarded once as a trend-setting building... times changed.

One part from the landlord was ordering this nice wall painting to amuse the public, the other part ordered the privacy screen.

Fascism likes to appear together with competitive sports.

As I told.

The human scale.

Another treatment they invented for that river.

It was probably in the 1950ies, when the auto enthusiasm was the biggest in Switzerland, where they had the idea to bring the national motorways directly into the heart of the city to spice it up with life. Because Zurich was already existing and it was not the same easy as let's say in Paris to brake hundreds of houses down to do so, somebody, probably the most clever one of all developers had the idea to build it above the river, because like that nobody will loose something.
After that the 1980ies came, with them the waldsterben and the opinion changed - this happened right here.

Swing.

Two wall flowers.

The renaissance of gesture - the death of a formerly hip brand:
He's holding a iPhone without having one in the hand.

In matters of a secularised society I read often 'paradise', and mostly in combination with 'children'.

On the first look it appears like perfect condition for natural grass - but probably the groundsman decided, it's way better to have artificial ones.

"Kunst muss hängen", Martin Kippenberger
The Smiths: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AlH2oYedfk

Thanks, I'm fine.

Dragoon - any sexual insinuations are completely accidental.

The "we had a outstanding night" monument

And the "we swear our clique will never tear" piece.

Where the Sihl feels a little bit like the Thames.

When men would really (without any disturbance) rule the world.

And right after pushing the button I've got the feeling, that somebody else must have made that picture already in the past.

The last piece of resistance.

Swans in Sunday suits.

Nice planning - looks even nicer on the picture without the railway tracks right beside of it.

The truth might be somewhere in there.

The impact of "Lord of the rings" to our society.

Once in the night Christo was sneaking by.

Yes, my curse is broken.

Another treatment.

And suddenly nobody knew anymore what to tell.

It was the only toy they could find what was fitting to the house.

And suddenly they fall like leaf in the fall.

Maybe punk is not dead, but hip hop definitely is.

In fact it's way easier to make documentation shots of winding towers.

But it could be also art...

How Bernd and

Hilla started their working day.

The occasion was human.

Just the weather might be nicer.

Somehow everything ended at the moment when Mickey decided to be a two-dimensional life form.

A succesesful get-together of culture and nature.

The urbanists survival camp.

This river breathes a lot.

A roof like the weather.

And the impact of hundred years wood impregnation to the ground.

After 3.5 hours of walking, and 16 km distance I gave up - it was the rain.
But at least because of that, the museum shop in the wilderness park got one visitor at that day.

Training 12, Wed. July 6, 2011, around Maur, distance 25 km, in the summer heat

2011-07-06T23:23:00.001+02:00

It was 7:45 am when I arrived in Maur. There is not much to say about that town, only, that it joins more or less the coastline of the lake Greifensee. So I decided quite early to take that walk on a hot day, like today.

Directly after my arrival I was staring into this black hole - for me it was clear this is the entrance into that evil town behind, so I took a big detour.

Right above it a witness of another time.

"Watch into the country"

Another successful attempt to create a big part of the village without any distinction.
Contemporary local 'Plattenbau' - probably in ten years they will start to paint every one in a different colour.

Good friends of nature are taking the car to get into the forest, like this time of missing each other is much shorter.

Yeah, don't have been that slim since ages, and it didn't took years, not months, not weeks, just a second.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc9wIzi96_E

Well, there is something good about that parking lot - it's not in the middle of the forest.

Smallest airport in the metropolitan region of Zurich.

Just a nice selection of trees.

In my opinion dogs are the minor problem:

Welcome to Texas, Maur.

Somebody came with a watercolour palette

Landscape in Switzerland is readable like a book, literally, you can't walk more as a kilometre without getting educated by any sign.

Another national major mountain.

The Forch Monument is a memory of the Swiss soldiers who died during WW1.
Beside of the 8-10 Millions of soldiers who died in whole Europe, also about 3'000 Swiss soldiers died, mostly because of the Spanish flu - well, you know, all neighbours have been building such things, so luckily they found also a reason here to build that. But it was about 16 years earlier as the Endless Column by Constantin Brancusi.

This is exactly, like an inn at that place should look.

Nice house with a greasy surface.

I think, the region of Zurich is misnamed with 'metropolitan region', Nashville would fit - and more people would be happy.

A lot of Peter Pan trouble is going on.

Another mystery of photography: dangerous verticals situations in reality looks just declivous on pictures.

I'm lost in the eye of the information.

Restaurant with very simple opening times: only by snow.

"Tread on it on own risk"
And another time during this preparation walks I played with my life.

But this picture was worth the price.

No, I have really no explanation - I just like this little wooden cottages.

It's so contemporary!!!

At least a certified information: I did not half the walk, but I did already more as 12 km.

It's a pity they didn't refused completely to have windows.

What art can't afford.

Actually, Rorschach was Swiss.

Analyse this!

Real land art.

The checkpoint where I was searching for an entry into that forest.

This was motivating.

About the power of human:
There is a band what had about one pinboard chart hit about 25 years ago - and since than they are filling with that only song the biggest music arena in the country.

Without the fault it wouldn't be the same.

Other people's nemesis is a big white whale - my one is a stupid grey bird.

Convincing sign - rejecting opening times.

Another invitation to play with my live - what I can't refuse.

First suicidal approach.

Because it was that nice (for me) - here a close up.

Ok, I'm not the same good as Miroslav Tichy yet - but hey: I'm about 50 years younger, means alive - and not at least: digital.

What else pictures could be done on such a hot day?

Another nice farm, with shop.

The self-service shop.

Farmers sense of humour.

And the nice neighbour house (mind the forecourt design, the street is going until the house)

Looks like I walked to far, until Scandinavia.

When I took that picture, this was the nicest greyish gradient I've ever seen. Now on the picture it's just the lakes surface.

A camping pueblo.

It's just what it is.

Have been here already, almost 4 month ago: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiukAcRZjvvLi99HBXNuRW-hQ2gn5_8X97uF2jzxHZEiY7nIPKD0Xoj5HSfLQWq-2MQDCeC5GQjEFhrAi-V_ulfV93IX2GVbLRiivOrmR1vBRXnsn4p6JtlcZ6usGjONTEcw-VuFGFe4w/s1600/P1010898.jpg
I think, I like the concept of seasons.

Just in the name of beauty.

An impact of traffic what Erich Mendelsohn never dared to dream of.

Without the wood it would look boring - without the glass it would burn better.

Looks like somebody had a little business idea in that town.

In Poland they had the Moloka bars, we had the Milchhüsli (milk cottage) at least in my earliest childhood. This one was make me feel good.

Back to start - about 7 hours later.

Well, one little thing is left to say: proportions is obviously not part of the building laws here.

Training 11, Wed. June 29, 2011, around Stallikon, distance 30 km (incl. detours)

2011-07-01T01:11:00.001+02:00

This was the day, when I was about to walk around Stallikon (don't be silly, already my mobile was kidding permanently and was changing Stallikon into stallion... after a while that's not funny anymore).
Weather forecast was rather sure, that there would be some thunderstorms, well, the day before was sunshine and something above 30 degrees temperature. Rain seemed pretty fine to me.

Well shrunken shoes for city hikers.

Somewhere out there are people, who don't believe in dinosaurs.
But beside of all fossil evidences, horse tail is kind of a stepchild in time, what is telling nothing else as the story of a chewing brontosaurus behind the next tree/fern.

The stonee brothers have been the toughest guys in town since ages. Not even one single wink during the whole tattooing session!

This is the way, where I would be intended to come back.

As soon the community has no budget left to pay that flowers on every village entrance they declare bankruptcy.

O.K.: What you could see on this picture is, how steep this passage is, but what you can't see is, how exhaustive and long that way was, you don't get any impression, how sultry the air was.

There is a plant, that put all its effort into one single berry and it is representing it like on a golden salver. I'm rather sure, it's not the most exquisite thing that I ever ate in my live, it's more like the last thing...

A real organic candy shop.

I see the marks, but where is the path?

I'm a spider web cleaner and I'm okay
I sleep all night and I work all day
He's a spider web cleaner and he's okay
He sleeps all night and he works all day

Guess, this is was more a service to my follower as on the natural environment.

- but more fascinating was the fact, that I was - in the same time when I was singing this classic hikers song above - thinking about a complete different song: http://www.myvideo.ch/watch/1779155/The_Nits_InThe_Dutch_Mountains_Original_Clip.

As we have seen some pictures above, there are some communities, they have so much money, they even don't know how the get rid of it.
This, en contraire, seems like a very clever idea: a library bench.

With a broad selection of books (in relation to other forest benches).

Paranoia supreme.

The best is the visualisation of the water.

Sometimes there is nothing better as to be right here, right now.

If you think, that looks rather strange in our latitude: I have to say it's even worse in the rain.

Self-image of Swiss villagers.

It's a street, it's a street, it's a street, but during rain, the idea of driving in a car through the rain, listening some good music, is a very welcoming one.

Yap.

I felt very sheltered here. After some meters the situation became narrowere, and I felt much more like a car in a car wash.

I was rather sure, when I will follow that path, I will be Blair witched.

Burj Chalifa, Swiss Edition

This is rain, and it is wet.

And beautiful.

Best tree trunk sculpture everywherr - forget all the owls and mushrooms.

There is an old German proverb about right behaviour during thunderstorms:

Vor Eichen sollst du weichen,
Buchen sollst du suchen.

Thou shalt avoid oak,
beech you should seek

After some heavy researches, they figured out, that this rule is not correct (I don't have any information, how many scientists died during this observation), they believe any tree is a killing trap.
With my experience I would say know, that they just understand it in the wrong way; probably the proverb was never about flashes, just about rain. I figured out, that below beeches you could stay try for a very long time.

The appearance would just slightly change with sunlight.

Haha, the mount Albis is already boiling from anger, because he knows, I will defeat him again today.

At least in this moment I was the most exciting thing on the whole earth for three foreign subjects.

Maybe I really should buy myself a wooden trekking pole.

A very self-evident renovation.

Believe me or not, but this house is in the middle of the forest - and the owner have been very pissed that I found it, anything just because I was following the community boarder.

But the biggest task on mount Albis is, to find a track, where no biker have been on it.

Run, Fury, run!

Into the void.

Sorry for these pictures - but it was such a great experience to be in the middle of the steam, and to realise in the same time, that I was one of the biggest producer of it.

No, no gorillas around.

Actually, without a clear view, and without the light of the sun I lost my way, one our later, I came back to that point.

This tree was erected by the Federal office of Meteorology and Climatology.
Very powerful, good climate.

Under certain conditions architecture is allowed to be funny.

I'm not sure, if he's getting the joke.

Well, the best joke is not funny anymore after telling it three times.

The Blair witch kindergarten.

Finally, at top of the cableways Adliswil I met some - well, let's say pedestrians.

And from now on I had to run - in one hour I had to catch the train.

Training 10, Wed. June 23, 2011, around Wallisellen and Opfikon, distance approx. 30 km

2011-06-25T00:14:00.001+02:00

Unlike other sports, hiking is a sport what is using all capacity of the human being, muscles in the legs, in the back, the arms... and of course the mind.
Now it's just one month left, until I have to go to the big walk to Lausanne, so I thought, it's time to get in touch with the French culture - I bought two French books (well, translated to German, but it's about mind, not language).

The first one by Pierre Bayard, originally published 2007 with the title: "Comment parler des livres que l'on a pas lus?"/how to speak about books, that you didn't read before - I thought, that's a good point, I quite often speak about things what I really have not the slightest notion of.
And second, from Xavier de Maistre a book with two novels with the titles "Voyage Autour de ma Chambre" (1795) and "Expédition Nocturne Autour de ma Chambre" (1825) - so mostly 'the (nightly) expeditions around my chamber' - more or less the same as I do.

Another working day I started with the masses, here it was 7:39am.
About today's target, Wallisellen and Opfikon is not much to say - if you have a look on their internet presence they also tell, that the best thing on them are the short connections to the City of Zurich and to the airport.
Well, but otherwise, Wallisellen is one of the only places is Switzerland what was worth a pop song, but for very sure exactly because the point mentioned above: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAKz0QY9n4A

One of the most common prejudices about Swiss German is, that every words ends with a *li - what's not true: sometimes it's even somewhere in the middle.

God has a down button on his forehead.

First architectural point of interest of this day - looks like a nice single-family house.

Nice fence...

doorway? I'm not so sure anymore, that this is a family house...

Yes, I'm rather sure now...

I am in front of a mortuary.

...for real.
So I take everything back what I told on an older walk, that architects have nothing intelligent/useless left to do, since there are to many churches. As I can see, the recent hot thing for them is, to build morgues.

The appearance of disappearance.

Well tempered garden green, perfectly fitting to the house.

Looks like somebody missed the address (and the century), instead in the valley of Engadin, they build that house in the valley of the Glatt - but beside of this, not the worst house I've ever seen.

And suddenly I understood, that I will get more and more troubles to make a clear shot, as more summer it becomes.

Bunker mentality in green.

Guess, there inside is a stretch limo

A green like a jail yard.

Extreme fencing!

Wallisellen is that marginal, that even aliens use it as a test ground.

Very likeable: the first thing what I saw from Wallisellen, was a sign, on which they wish me farewell.

Of course they have a rabbit and chicken breeding society.

Really tough tattoo guys are also tattooing their houses.

An attempt to make something simple looks more complicate.

What else?

Does he know, that he made a sculptural intervention to the environment?

I told once, that I will mention it, as soon there is not a dwarf, a slug or a mushroom made from a tree trunk.

Well decorated forest cottage.

Far away in my early youth there was a time, where they called the most recent music stuff 'underground' (remember: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KHfNIOGXa8)
Wonder, what's the word today... emerging?

It's incredible how loud a forest is, as soon it's silent.

A bark beetle trap with visual teaser.

Once again: wood is good.

On the website of Opfikon, they describe this landscape with "Liebreiz" - grace.
Well, taste could be different.

"Clear views" certain conditions are making humans frugal.

Hopefully the refuse collectors could clearly discern between garbage and art.

Nice steps.

Best highway viaduct graffiti ever.

Sometimes I wonder, why we are so sure about that the walkers have to go underground, and the cars are lifted to the sky.

"Grand collecting basin - keep access free"
'Gross-Sammelbecken' is not really the Germanic word for suburbia.

Le look le plus romantique.

Also nice.

Family garden shack of the day.

"My leisure-time" defended by barbed wire.

Evil robots assembling to take over the world - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Nl06tWXJGk

Contemporary interpretation of half-timbered construction at the schoolhouse Leutschenbach by Christian Kerez.

It's not so much surprising that there are video cameras by a TV studio. But that one of the clerks had the need to install a parabolic antenna to enjoy a programme of his taste during work...

After some studies on my maps I came to the conclusion, that the nicest house of the day - with that great art work - is just a setting in the fire-fighter test grounds.

This whole meadow is called Glattpark - according to the mission statement of the community this should be used to develop new ways of housing and working.
But everything they invented was boxes of different sizes with straight levels and slightly different appearance.

"Here arises a city."
Wrong!
This structure is called 'a camp'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bX81qzmkzq0

Exactly like Stalin would love it.

Suburban hiker's path.

D'oh!
That's already the third manifestation of military power around Zurich, and it's not the last - it's almost like in former times, when there was a wall around the city.

What an effort for such a boring expression.

I must confess that this simple trick was working with me: first, I didn't like that building complex until I smelled the lavender, after I felt a little bit happier.

The enigma of recent technologies.

Good intervention.

Where else should they be, if not in Opfikon (nowhere is the only logical answer).

Nice materials, nice detail - the plastic change between breast and staircase windows.

And very suddenly my path found its end.

What happens after sending back the empty toner cartridge.

I really can't see any way, how in this environment something like style could be instilled.

What could be done here is create wealth out of nothing, just about four years before there was a huge sign on top of this building where was written on: UBS Warburg.
Since some events in the past this sign came out of fashion - but I'm pretty sure, that still today the same guys are working there inside.

This funny comic theme park is a clarification plant.

Usually here are about 5 to 10 adults to watch the big birds start.

While theirs kids could have fun here.

Cool interior design.

For an international airport there are quite a lot of national planes.

The Eeaster egg pine.

Artificial horizon.

Lying with the camera.

Alpine resort in the suburbs.

In terms of a bourgeois house this is a beautiful forecourt.

But this one not, in any terms.

Favourite front of the day: not one aperture on the same level!

Excellent rims.

And on his twenties birthday the apprentice had the big chance, to design something of his choice completely free.

"The little chocolate house" - aka angler-fish

Lying with the camera part two - a peaceful nature preserve...

which is only that untouched, because it's way to close to the highway.

One thing that's somehow possible below bridges.

The comment of the dog owners.

Venetian electric supply.

And even on my second time here I was fascinated - how rivers and walkers could be treated.

"Ok, you're allowed to go out and have a little bit fun"

A way better idea, what could be done below a bridge - a bocciodromo with heating.

National defence, in the foreground mentally, in the background physically, the OAZ, the officer training centre - the suburbs of Zurich are really a battlefield.

Lunch brake - with a broad variation of carbohydrates, proteins and water.

Accidently I made a wrong step, and I entered the area of Dietlikon, but this failure was obvious from the first second.

No, I have nothing to tell about the blue balconies.
My point of interest ledge above the basement - I call it the insulation notch: since all houses have to be improved (for cheap money and thoughts of the kind), this detail is emerging all over the country.
It's another lesson about: form is following laws.

Training 9, Wed. June 8, 2011, from home around Uitikon, distance 27 km

2011-06-12T02:30:00.001+02:00

The target of this day would be Uitikon.
But with a perimeter of only 12.32 km this town offers too little training opportunity.
By luck, fortune placed a mountain between me and the village, the good old Üetliberg. So I could walk over its hillsides to get at least some pleasure.

The main connection between my place and the city boarder in this direction is the Triemli-Fussweg. Mainly some kind of a walker's highway.

For some people the soundtrack of the season.

A building that refuses to connect with the ground.

Urban layering.

Nicest garden shack of the day.

Counter example: A building that's connected with the ground, as Thor would hammered it in.

Tourism ad. In the white box: Just more personalised.

Allemand fédéral.

Zurich offers a broad variety of nice skyscrapers - but still they are not beloved.

When railroad workers could express their creativity.

A fur explosion.

I still wonder how exotic our local plants could look.

Probably one of the reasons, that there is such a small percentage of unemployment in Switzerland:
when even forest guideposts are designed individually by a professional.

Exposed digger in the middle of the forest.

A sacred lumberjack place, where they worship their mighty gods.

In the middle of the forest, there was something like a park.

Interesting:
"Our consideration gives nature a chance".
Sounds like we are the winner.

About the cruelty of evolution:
With a bad name you're doomed to die.

Curigers Arsenale a Uitikon.

I have not the slightest idea what the purpose of this building is, but it's very secured for a (four) forester's lodge.

Under consideration that it has no face it looks quite content.

It's now my third time here - and I can't see any reason, that I will ever return.

A micro intervention, but a sculptural improvement.

When I was a teenager, I had a bad feeling about the future prospects of our society. That changed completely in the meantime. My current behaviour is just pure panic.

Cows with rallye stripes.

It's not a very common knowledge, but the potato was first used as a ornamental plant on the Spanish royal court, before somebody felt the desire to eat its roots.

The truth about spinach.

I was staying here and I had two possible ways to react:
1. to resist
2. to enjoy, but with a certain chance, that I will suffer on echinococcosis about 30 years later.

-> as so many times in my life I decided to give my body a reason to die in some years.

WSL - Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research... not invented by Kafka, it's existing.

This is, how a street face of a house should look, when a carport is needed.

The elevenses of that day.

Another temptation I had to follow.

Regrettably without any side effect - just some days to early.

Another strange cohabitant.

Sometimes luck means nothing more as to be on a nice path.

hmmmm.....

It's written that there was the 36 year old Friedrich von Dürler, who tumbled to death in 1840.
After, his friends where placing that stone there, to keep that incident in memory.
But the message I understand is, that somebody took a lot of effort, to get drunk.

Swiss Olympic lunch in the railway bistrot below the summit ('Gmüetliberg'!!)

The office of the station inspector at top of the Üetliberg.

A mammoth tree alley - I already wonder how it looks when I return in about 100 years.

It was just an obvious and simple solution.

The exposed digger, still on the search of his master.

Text tip for blind people.

This balcony facing says: "Hey, I have been made new after the last renovation!!"

Riddle: Where in this picture is the hidden mowing machine?

Switzerland, seen by its residents.

Training 8, Wed. May 25, 2011, from Zurich to Kaiserstuhl, distance 30 km

2011-05-28T16:29:00.003+02:00

At this day I made the first reality check, I walked a distance what was even a little bit longer as what I'll have to do on the final walk to Lausanne at each day. As well it was this time not as circle around a village, it was one straight line connecting two points in the landscape. Measured the air-line distance on Google earth it's about 22.27 km. But from experience I know, that to make that distance on the real Swiss background (following roads, cross rivers on bridges, not walking over the peaks of mountains) the distance is scaled by a factor of about 1.5. So it's reasonable to presume, that I walked in fact 30 km and even more.

As every time, I missed the alarm again, and I got up to late. It was already about half past eight when I left the house.

About the aberration of vision and image.

Where Zurich is thought in another scale - and it's appearing Mediterranean.

Gardeners on speed.

The Golden Eye.

If you are hiking through a city on a direct line it might happen, that you are emerge on places, where walker are not intended to be.

At the traffic sign on the background: "Police Dep. of the City of Zurich, apparel"

In this former dairy the campus of the Zurich University of the Arts will be established - like on the bottom of the city.

Sculptures who nobody needs.

Two opposite visions of city like buildings.

I climbed hundreds of steps to get here. Because of that my heart was pulsing up until the temples.
Dazed by that every fuse of self control went lost, and I started to sing that song - actually more the male part (hell, from which dark part of my soul...) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_pLleIU41A
But no suffer without insight: staying here I know, nobody would dream to have an apartment at that place, without the invention of motorisation - to hear Comanchero every day in the inside radio will directly guide to suicide.

What will happen after engineers are designing something without help of an educated designer.

Not at the bottom, at the top of the city the campus of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH). In the rather ugly brown building at the left is the one of the leading architecture departments of the world (self-perception). According to the embedding casing I guess there education concept is to shock and awe.

The backside of the hump.

Very sensitive colour concept.

Tautological demeanour of a gardener -

with great result.

"Loneliness" - other good terms in that context: timetable, electricity bill, anchorage, cheescake or maybe even slotted pan head screw.

The lost shadow puppets.

Bricks used as a surface, not as much as a material.

As we live a life of ease
Every one of us has all we need,
Sky of blue, and sea green,
In our yellow submarine.

Skinny house with heavy disorders - never saw a better way to enclose the lift superstructure into an overall design.

Squirrel's zebra.

The undercover horsy.

Object-lesson how countryside buildings are related to streets traditionally.

Play it again, Sam!

I made far above a dozen attempts to make a nice macro shot of that lady bug. Not one was precisely sharp.
But for the retrieval of my honour I have to say, to make a macro shot under very windy conditions with the hand in stinging nettles is a very advanced concept.

Architecture completely lost in time and space.

"Kiosk" would fit better, but I have to admit, with 'Ranch' they probably sell better.

It's really just a matter of your position, and you could see Switzerland as country of forests.

Poor petrochemistry - in the meantime they have even not enough money left to pay a professional photo-rendering guy.

An exciting snack.

The city of Regensberg.

At the left: how it really should be, at the right: the truth.

Anywhere in the yearly budget of that community must be an item: flowers at the street signs on the village entrances.

Well shaped building for a beer garden.

Somebody took a lot of money into his hands to make that village centre ugly.

"Good taste has a future"
I agreed with that conclusion so much, that I bought my lunch there.

Where I had my lunch brake.

Suckling pig - a power meal.

Hmmmm, maybe I closed here its circle of life.

Eggleston! Here I come!

...

Behind the luck there is the love.

How to draw a house if you are not gifted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY-oQEy1KFU

Even the sky is against such things.

By the way: without planes this would have been a boring sky on that day.

In German there is a kind of a proverb for places in the sticks, what translated says: where the fox and the rabbit are wishing each other a good night.
As it looks on the flag of Neerach they have a local variation of it: where the moon is smelling at roses.

It's very uncommon to use wood for supporting concrete construction - and probably this stay as the only example on the world.

A very visionary description of the view. More realistic people would just plant a sign at edge of the field and say: rapeseed.

Just a visualisation of how hot it was at this day.

Rural ornament.

A isolated farm is a sculptural statement.

Bachs is the place to be from July 29 to August 1.

Just a functional building, but the builders put a lot of love in any detail (I don't mean exactly the timber with the birdhouses on it).

There in the very background, in the middle is the Üetliberg, that is more or less the place where I started this morning.

Fire in the hole.

Nature is much more enjoyable after human intervention.

Raised hide camouflaged as a hiking path marker.

Changed management guidelines.

The prey and its predator.

They didn't have any idea what to do with the garden - so they made that fact obvious.

Wood is good, part III.

Such a nicely painted barn.

Weiach, the deepest place in the canton of Zurich, offers a broad variation of traditional farmer buildings.

These mountains are the Black Forest. At this point I was so happy, that I don't have to climb them again, my walk will end at their feet.

An ancient rural graffiti.

On the last meters, shortly before the river Rhine, the path was the nicest.

There, beyond the bushes is the deepest point of the state.

And this is its kerbstone.

Burg Rotwasserstelz at the opposite end of the bridge from Kaiserstuhl.

Oh, it's so incredible poetical, there where the kids will jump soon is the boarder between Switzerland and Germany.

The mighty gate tower to the not so mighty city of Kaiserstuhl (about 400 citizens) is presenting the time of my arrival.

Training 7, Wed. May 18, 2011, around Oberengstringen and Schlieren, distance 22 km

2011-05-21T13:22:00.002+02:00

It was a hiking day like any else, I set the alarm clock to 6 o'clock, but again at pm instead of am... so it was already 7:42h when I left my house.
Right in front of it, the area of the day walk was nicely framed by a portal made from shoes (it's kind of a local tradition, established some months ago, since a week there are to pair of shoes hanging, since yesterday there are already 3 pairs. Maybe, I'll prove it on the next walk).
Anyway, behind that door, and the upcoming houses, lays the land of the dragon, the Limmattal. Limmat is the river, Tal the valley, and the name Limmat is more or less that, what of hundred of years is left of spelling Lindworm.

In some decades, you could call that the skyline of Zurich.

There are people out there, who are telling things like that the ground is already to narrow in Switzerland, and because of this, the boarders should be closed for any foreigners (well, let's say, at least for that foreigners, who are not bringing goods of wealth). But as far there is enough place, even in the biggest city in the country, to put new soccer grounds side by side, and not on top of each other, I think, there is enough place.

Not many people know about the fact, but there is one of the biggest Swedish colonies in the world.

At least 99% of all office buildings are looking like a slice of a cream cake, sometimes with different flavour, but usually in very much the same dimensions.
So there is plenty of reason to bring heavy industries back into the society.

Standard course in the dragons land.

How the location-marketing people are watching the world on the poster, and how it actually is around.

Since there is no industry anymore, almost everything becomes a piece of heritage and consequently it's protected. But what might the sense of a shape without function, what's the thing to be understood?
This gasometer is at least funny, usually, they leave just the chimney of a factory, kind like a lost Christmas tree in the centre of shopping mall, to give that place a touch of historical importance.

Mind the plastic chairs in the two level space at the top.
I still don't know, if I should like it that they are placed there, because it fits in the working class environment, or if should hate it, because they are just the worst thing in the world.

One of the nicest logos around, probably since 1961 it is indicating the quality of this relocation agency.
I wonder, how long it takes, until it will be replaced by a very modern one, which nobody will recognise anymore.

A last glance back, maybe in that time they didn't know ways, how to build factories in a cheap way, but evidently they expressed with the construction, that work is something precious.
I read lately, that new buildings of huge companies - like the Swiss Post - are only designed to last for 10 to 20 years, not 50 to 100 years like some years ago.
Because they think, that's clever; nobody knows the processes of the future.
Of course, this sentence itself is true, but it's used in the wrong way: In the future, the use will find a way that the historic buildings from our time are meaningful. And this will result as the climate, as you could see in the picture above. But if our generation is not leaving something for them, there will be no continuity.

I was late, but not to late.

Under the bridge there is a bridge (yes, it is this one from the picture above).

It's like to be in the stomach of the dragon.

Optimism is a principle of nature.

From a structural point of view it's pretty much the same like the way underneath the bridge.

For the human eye this view was to bright.

If there ever was something like an ancient archetype of this sculpture, I'm rather sure that the proportions have been quite different.

There are many situations, where simple solutions are working the best.

One of these moments in life, when I was to early.

From the Lavaux with love.

Do you think the result is eatable?

A note to myself: there is the nice open air bath "Zwischen den Hölzern".

Quite often at such places I ask myself, why I am alone there.

Found that CD in the forest, written on it "Holger Brunner", I thought, I take it at home, I'll open it, and when the content is interesting, I'll upload it to the net. Kind like a wikileaks for simple minds.
Well, but it's not from "Holger Brunner", it's a record from Holger Burner - you could find it easily on youtube - I had to go to the forest.

If you see it on a picture: it's cute.
If you find it in the forest: it's partly scary.

I was standing there, and I truly asked myself, why there are so many people working right now in their offices. Of course there is the story of the seven poor years after the seven fat years... but how could we be sure, that working the whole days long are not the poor days?

How things could change in less as two months:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJaY5NlaBy1zb2kcMaq7T6Rwg17n4iLIkqpLwapIJWGMu90qWpxMaGoi__4lByh5k9j7HOB8PYP5t9yT9BEOey0A8-AefWtRP8vFD7Aq2QVuxu8i6OiP6qkdxzgixPzzhHg0bsqVRY8w/s1600/P1020105.jpg

Intermezzo.

A lecture about statics.

A lecture about material property.

Maybe-maybe I'll make this time a spin-off product from this blog, a calendar. This might be one of the pictures.
Occasionally it reminds me to a lecture of Luigi Snozzi, where he told story from his time as teacher of architecture at the university. He asked his students what they will do on a rather small parcel of land, with a huge and nice old tree in the middle. Of course, the student answered, that they will build the house very much at the limit of the lot, that they will be carefully with the roots, and set windows, that the tree could be admired from inside.
"Bullshit", answered mister Snozzi "you should see all the furniture you could build with that local resource for your house".
Following him, I saw here a juicy, big horse sirloin steak frying in my pan.

In this yard, movable playground equipment makes perfect sense. But should be more, much more.

Often when I look to older houses with closed shutters, I think that the proportions between windows and walls are odd.
The left house is offering a solution. After some years of patina building, the proportions are staying in shape even with closed shutters.

To my own surprise, I found it rather nice to walk here, even more surprising for me was, that something was crawling out of the deepest storage in my mind, a song listened by me as a fourteen old boy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvK0gXJaiw0 it's how bad songs could getting older - shocked I changed to another song, maybe even from their role model - and surprise, this song still lives http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WBVqy9QGIo.
Today it's probably not the time for dwarfs and battle hymns, more for kisses - but between this two songs are ten years, let's meet us again in ten years, and listen to Manowar.

It's nice and comfy now inside.

Allotment garden of the day - the stinging nettle farm.

Tiny castle.

There will be a day in the future, where I will have a good shot of a heron.

This is a picture, what just had to be done.

If I ever would be forced to live in that house - I think, I could arrange with that situation.

INDUSTRY! INDUSTRY! WE WANT MORE INDUSTRY!!! (we are kings of metal)

"The city garden" is a home improvement store.

The leading confectioner in the state.

It really not happens often, that private companies are placing art in the public field - but everything I know to say about it, is cynical.
I guess, that's something like a mental checkmate.

With a piece of art in your yard you could have a lot of fun with your neighbours.

Hiking in suburbia has many benefits. One of it is, you could easily meet friends for the lunch brake, and they even don't have to leave their company's building.
I had Spaghetti Bolognese - very sporty.

Just a little thought experiment: what would change on that situation, when there would be from any ground floor balcony a stair to the grass?

When you own a house you could even do that with it.

When houses could sing.

Why here?

"Missy missed"
...and suddenly in its life, the dog understand the language of the human, and it took the consequences.

The playground of the dragon.

It's already my second time here, and I will be back for a third time.

And again I was just walking through the forest and there was really nothing interesting to tell about it because it is just that normal, and this was bothering me.
I must confess, I have a happy life.

Tavern of the jolly forester.

For your own safety: use a rubber!

Almost in the same time as the modernist Bauhaus movement there was in Switzerland the "Waldhüttli-Bewägig", from unknown reasons they never had the same international impact.

Fascination dragonfly.

I thought to make a nice shot of the violet flowers, but my camera was more interested in the leafs.

Later, I found almost the same product in white - luckily this time we shared the interest.

Old customs are hard to put away.

Another chapter of 'wood is good'

Writing this text and watching to the decoration I have to admit: Still I don't understand that setting.

What would they think about me, when they are there, and I am watching on them and I am realising in the same moment, that they are sitting under that cow?

But I think, that I descripted that one, it's a dolphine in front of a stairway (to haven) with horseshoes (means luck): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFg6Y7zbRg4

There was a big chance to make something great - but somebody missed it.

Remind yourself to the beginning of this walk - try to imagine, what could happen in this building in 50 years.

Finally, I was back to start at 15:26h, and I really earned a beer.

But after I found accidently that shop at the Badenerstrasse 799.

Somehow it was different as the other kids in the moulding box.

Once in the past, I was searching for such things.

The sausage beard man!

Something I'll never find in the forests.

Ok, that at the right is Lara Croft, but the guy at the left? Dominique Strauss-Kahn?
Sounds like a great theme for a summer blockbuster (b- or p-movie).

"Bambi - children's paradise"
Language is a very flexible matter, after some years of adaption, maybe are thinking on such kind of buidings and environment, when somebody is telling about the paradise.

Training 6, Wed. April 27, 2011, around Zollikon and into Zurich, distance 18.2 km

2011-04-28T00:05:00.001+02:00

Again it was about 8 am when I came to the starting spot - obviously that's a personal defect, I must learn to deal with.

One of the best graffiti works in town is actually created by the city services themselves:
Every time after some night guys made some efforts to mark the ground, one of the city guys came with a bucket colour and painted it over in an abstract way. After a while he changed the colour.

Kind of pollenlution.

Nice sidewalk sculpture.

Italianata for dwarfs.

Specimen Number 74:
Build a house with a flat roof - don't care about the rest, use a muted colour, what is fitting to anthracite (use a lot of anthracite), create any English word mark (don't care about any sense) - and the people are ready to believe that you sell cutting edge designed furniture.

Zollikon is that extraordinary rich, that also the thieves have to proof that they made the latin proficiency certificate before they are getting the allowance to start their business.

I'll say, at least it's something completely different.

From two diverse centuries of framework construction.

Probably nobody told them ever, that transparent is not exactly the same like invisible.

Sculptures are usually directed. This bull is heading against Zurich. Maybe, because the people from that town are not ready to share more taxes with the neighbour city, what is providing all the nice services to them (Opera, theatre, public transportation, business...)

Lightweight construction at its best.

It's a common agreement, that a view over the lake is one of the most desirable things to have in life.
Question: how many hours the day do you spend with watching out of the window?
Question 2: Is Kilchberg appearing that nice to you (see my former blog), that you wish to look on it your whole upcoming live?

Gold heap.

Wow.

Interesting and gross.

It's not that obvious on the first sight, but this is not an air conditioner producer, it's an insurance company.

Right here I had the first time the impression, that I look into the garden of really rich people.
They are that rich, that they could care themselves about the issues of the garden, many details have been chosen with big care.

They really should invent a special tax for charging the use of 'park' in real estate advertising.

English relations.
After that spot I have been chased by that song. (Actually, that was rather merciful from destiny that song would be much harder)

That's why we need landmarks.

Superior powers ordered me to make a brake.

After rain dust over the banlieue of Zollikerberg.

Pitiful blowball.

It's not agricultural, it's not natural, it's a golf court. It needs a special gift to design something with trees and grass that misfits so much in a surrounding which is build with the same elements.

One of the mystic miracles in life: mostly I'm on the wrong side of the barrier.

It's really good to be complicated.

"Fascinating"

The easiest way to get rid of garbage is to exhibit it (remind the bull above).

There is nothing wrong with taking the pavement directly to the house. Actually, in the most cases it's the best solution.

Wood is good.

Hangman surrounded by an uprising lynch mob.

There are many things that can't be qualified for sure. But as soon I see a boundary stone, I know I'm doing well right now.

Ok, fly agaric is the most popular shape what the woodcutters are leaving, to please the people. Followed by snails, dwarfs and pines.
I'll tell it, as soon one is really surprising me.

Actually, the 'Pfadiweg' at the Werenbach is the most exciting path I made during the 'excentric Zurich' walks so far.

The first time I managed to shoot a heron.

At the Enzenbühl cemetry. Apart of the corpses it is the prospering live, probably corpses are a good fertiliser.

A remarkable tree, it has the capacity to express infinite sadness.

In the realm of death.

One of the best constant exhibitions in Zurich are the selection of exemplary tombstones.
This one here is rather small, but it has a own fragrance, it looks like that the curator is deeply in heavy metal.

After I walked further in the adjoining mist creek (Nebelbach) - what name might fit better in this environment?

The masterpiece of a complete unknown follower of Carl Andre.

Kind of Swiss German.

As soon the settlement cores of two villages have been grown together it would make sense to merge them also politically.

Groaner of the day.

As I arrived here, I thought that I have to make a travel advice for a hot day:
- Take Bus Nr. 34 (Leaving from Klusplatz) to Kienanstenwies.
- Walk down to "Trichtenhausen Mühle", there are two Restaurants, a Korean Japanese one and a local one.
- Following the street up again, until the end of the sawmill, there is the 'Pfadiweg' leading into the creek.
- Follow and enjoy for about 1400 meters.
- Cross the third bridge over the beck, climb up until the Rehalp cemetery.
- Enter the cemetery and cross this one with the center axis.
- Cross the Forchstrasse and enter the Enzenbühl cemetery, follow the centre axis as well, until the end.
- Follow the Rebwiesstrasse for some meters until the next beck.
- After that just stroll down the hill, more or less heading north.
- At the railway station Tiefenbrunnen it's easy to cross the railways and the street with a subway.
- Follow the shore of the lake in direction of the city.
- Enter the beach bath Tiefenbrunnen.

Terra cognita.

Sitting there, enjoying the view my travel watch jumped into my eyes.
At this time when I bought it, I thought it's just a cheap digital watch like every else. What's not true.
Even here are differences. Some have the power to tell something about their carrier, like a certain Casio.
I am thinking now, if I should change that, with the hope that it will provide me with a venturesome aura.

Some people think that this is an interactive sculpture, so they push the buttons.

The city's depollenlution clerk at work.

Training 5, Thu. April 21, 2011, around Adliswil and Kilchberg, distance 23 km

2011-04-26T01:51:00.000+02:00

Once more in my life I failed on my ambitious guidelines: I tried to get up at 6.30 am, but when I was in the kitchen, it was already 7:21. Later at the next day I figured out that my digital alarm clock was ringing at 6:30 pm. Probably also some kind of a Freudian slip.

Swiss-Swiss hermeticism.

And existentialism: right for the cars, left for me.

I watched it for a longer time - but I still didn't have the slightest desire to eat it.

Like it's written on the cottage: the city's forest.

Right know I'm here - but by looking at the tower on top of the next hill with a clear vision of my exhausting future.

A tenement with an interesting shape from below. I called it 'the rock'.

But most of Adliswil's tenements are probably from the 1950ies. Almost unbelievable today for about 8 apartments only 3 garages, maybe in a close future that will fit again.

"The rock" from behind.

How to distinguish and to disguise something in the same move.

A typical countryside hippie.

I'm not getting tired to tell everyone: it's more as a pity that this restaurant and especially it's garden is closed.
(Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam)

"The rock" from above.

I just thought that trees are probably the most exceptional life form on earth. But just some parts of a second later I understood that we humans are also very well in it to place them on exceptional places.

1000 years and more after Cato also the Zurich folks proved some persistence with destroying all manifestations of foreign power in proximate distance to their city. This is the rest of the castle Balderen.

To gain what?
The mount Albis pretends to be nature - but in real it's an enormous park, much bigger is the Central Park in New York

Yes, a park with a central direct connection to the city's transport system.

Unexpected pleasures on a countryside walk.

A plausible statement for uninterrupted roofs.

Quality in arts is something very difficult to measure. But there are some indications. Like "arts" and "tea" are such kind of copulations that fits only hardly well together. Very natural combinations are "arts" and "alcohol". You know, it's like Nordic Walking and hiking, from a certain distance it looks almost like the same, but the mind behind is like opposite.

"ATTENTION: WATER CONSERVATION AREA"
Does that mean any harm to me?

The most exciting discovery of the day: the "Albisstübli", well hidden some meters underneath the ridge... with full facility, a fire place, even a flagpole - if there isn't the possibility to rise a national flag, real Swiss can't be happy on a party.

The view.

The drink.

Sanitation.

A typical plant like they used it on the star trek sets when captain James Tiberius Kirk went for a walk on extraterrestrial planets surface.

Fashionable door design.

For real: a forest kindergarten.

After all the hours I spend already in the forest, I made good friend with some of its residents, so we meet for chats. This time at the wilderness park at Langenberg.

Meaning good might be the opposite of doing good.

Actually the most wild being at the wilderness park is the little creek. (But I have to admit, compared with other captured animals these ones have well conditions).

Sometimes architects have the trouble that they build a wall without any window in it. This causes a a great nervoussnes in them and they make the most crazy and creative design in their live.

Others stay very, very cool.

Time to remind a very forgotten song

hmmm, there are some things they should better remain forgotten.

Lovely interior design.

At the first sight a typical old factory what's refurnished to be usable for post modern needs.
But according some records it was the second biggest 'Internierungslager' (detention centre) in Switzerland for Jewish refugees from Nazi occupied countries during WWII: www.geschichtsverein.ch/artikel_sieber.pdf.
It's not my intention to tell that something horrible happen there inside in that time - but I wonder about my school education: we had history lessons about Switzerland in the war times, but as far I can remember, we never heard just one word about the involvement/reaction of Switzerland to the Holocaust.

First subtract everything what's without reason or what's not needed, and you will be surprised, how boring this houses are.

The winner of the 'worst design award' of this day.
It's not about that the balcony could be made in any better way - I suspect that everything what the designer of this house stays for - what he is thinking - is horribly wrong.

Spongebob car port.

The average citizen of Kilchberg is rich, the weapon of choice to protect this wealth is a tall hedge.
The best way to get rich in Kilchberg with an own business is to cut the rich peoples hedges.

"In the beauty" (male)

And it was truly smelling like tasty chocolate there.

The "Seestrasse" (lake street) is a very good example for the principle, that the lost opportunity for planning is guiding to boredom: While the richer people bought the nicer areas at the lake shore, to build there fancy mansions behind hermetic fences, the people with not the same level of richness had to buy apartements left of the street in houses that looks like they are greedy to get a look into the garden.

Likable exceptional case from the rule 1:
It looks like English men are not only aliens in New York.

Likable exceptional case from the rule 2:
Some lots stay empty from unknown reasons (I bet nobody was interested in this one because there is a massive bunker underneath that bench) so the community made little parks there.

One of the more interesting moments at the Seestrasse.

Lyrics for the masses.

When the Phantom of the Opera would be a house.

Behind the wooden curtain is Zurich.

It's a self education video: I asked myself so many times how they make that rubber hay balls.

It was in the 1960ies when there was the last wave of church building in Switzerland. Since that time the society didn't found such nice task anymore to occupy architects.
That's a serious problem: there is nothing more simple as to build a church, mostly they have just to build a hall for a certain number of people, with a stage in the east and an entrance at the west, additionally a tower to hang bells... that's a very good basement to build everlasting monuments.
What might be the churches of today? Spas? Way to complicated, water is like the natural born enemy of any construction. Museums probably, but permanent exhibitions of art needs the much better conditions as people do, who are only once in the year in the space.

The form is very dislikeable, but at least they had many thoughts about the way of welcoming people.

Checklist, needed equipment

2011-04-13T13:49:00.000+02:00

Preparations

Slowly I get to the amount of equipment what I should have for the final walk:

Checklist

_Logistics
- hiking maps
- Rucksack
- Compass
- Trekking poles
- Hiking boots
- 2 pairs of socks
- 2 pants
- 2 hiking trousers
- 2 synthetic shirts
_Accommodation
- tent
- sleeping bag
- thermo mattress
- torch (headset)
- Fleece jacket
- earplugs
- lighter
- penknife
- money, credit cards (if possible, I prefer to sleep in guest rooms)

_Sanitation
- tooth paste
- tooth brush
- dental floss
- razor/soap
- deodorant
- synthetic towel
- soap (washing, cleaning)
- hankies (multipurpose)

- first aid set with tweezers
- perskindol
- patches/compeed

- disinfectant
- insect spray
- parapic

_Catering
- Water bottle (1 x 6 dl aluminium, recharchable/1 x 1.5 l mineral water as emergency reserve)
- dried fruits, nuts
- glucose candies
- chocolate

_Awning
- rain overall
- rain protection for the rucksack
- umbrella
- shades
- sun protection hat
- suntan potion

_Leisure
- mobile phone (and charger)
- digital camera (and exchange battery, and charger)
- mini tripod
- note book
- a novel
- French dictionary

What's missing today:
- 3 tent pegs
- dried fruits, nuts
- 2 exchange rubber sockets for the trekking sticks
- 1 synthetic shirt
- glucose candies

Training 4, Wed. April 6, 2011, around Dübendorf, distance 19 km

2011-04-12T01:17:00.003+02:00

In opposition to my very ambitious concept, that I get up early that I can enjoy the fresh morning hours for the walk, it was again 8:24 am when I got to the starting point. Well, you know, it's kind of an achievement to be inconsistent in Zurich. Everything is optimised to keep things in order - even they know the word "educating design". That dust bin (called 'Shark') is an agent of it: The top of it is sloped. Because of this, the people can't leave things like bottles on the top of it. So they get educated, as the designers told proudly. - I wonder, which part of that lesson the people could use later in their life.

Always be ready - Christmas might be back immediately.

There was exactly one reason, why I made this picture.
It's that nice lenticular mirroring of the neon tubes in the backside windows.

Déjà vu's are usually very scary

Forest in D minor

I'm not the only one who was hit by the springtime lethargy. It was like the animals alarm clock was also ringing just now.

It's sad, isn't it?

Yes, that's a possible way to do it.

A stroke with the brush of nature.

Apart from the street in the foreground I would say: hikers delight

and woodpeckers fun park.

Cowslip is opening a window in understanding the being of bees. As child we took off the whole blossom, on top of the green cup, after, we sucked them out like straws from the back end. A tiny taste of sweet appeared on the tongue, that's the nectar. It needs plenty of them to get a sugar flash.

The cat tail way

Take a wild guess on which one the teacher was sitting.

When the weather is wet and cold, becks appear depressing.
When the weather is normal, they are unimportant.
When the weather is hot, they are invigorating.
Heraclitus was maybe completely wrong interpreted.

First time of this preparation walks, that I crossed a place to the second time.
There is something remarkable about all the pictures: I look every time heading forward, never into the past.

It was very much like to be in a gothic cathedral.

It's flat at the Glatt.

West Virginia.

Actually it's not easy to seee, but somebody had the strong need to write 'Fuck the police' to the backrest of that bench. I don't know why, especially not why exactly here - but for this guy it was important to tell, so I thought, I will mention that effort here.

Seeing such things is proofing, that it's never wasted to put love even in the most ordinary functional needs.

As I was staying there and taking pictures I started to understand: if I would stay just 5 minutes longer, I'm not a walker anymore, I'll change to be Walker Evans.

I was never deeply into the graffiti thing, but I mean to know, that this one is a good one.
Because somebody told me that the most important quality characteristic of a graffiti is, when a philistine like me can't read them.

Yes, that's a school building.
And no: I have no idea, how small the number of truants is.

The "Lazaritenkirche" (church of the order of Saint Lazarus) is a good example, that buildings have the integrated ability to get better after a time - just by aging.

Obviously it had hard times. It was never healthy for the decoration of churches, to be in evangelic areas during the religious revolution.

But this one was cured by gifted hands.

You could think about that army what you like, but you have to admit that they bring some alternation to the landscape... not only during war times.

But civilians are also not bad in it... finally a very good comment about the air force airfield in behind. (to say it with the words of a former president of the social party, Peter Bodenmann: the Swiss army is the most expansive traditional costume association (Trachtenverein) that we have.)

The professional pride of a car mechanic makes even crashing cars happy.

Nice flower I don't know suppressed by an acquaintance.

Beside of graffitis I have also no knowledge about planes. But I guess to fly that one might be fun - it's probably equal to scooter driving.

Il grotto dei automobili

Looks like art but it's something to kill

Even that small entrance to a tiny airport is able to wake my romantic soul - it's whispering something about a live less ordinary, more mondain.
Probably it's just the clock and the two flagpoles that awaked that feeling.

Morphing without rendering.

Sometimes desperation is the appropriate reaction.
Everything was wasted here except the thoughts of the architects.

View from behind.
Somebody told them: "you have just to make big balconies, and the people will buy it". So they did, they took the houses what they have in the drawer since years and they added the prepared file 'balcony' what they found in the library of their free ware drawing programme.

Just some hundred meters further, there was the evidence, that everything might be different - better.
Architect of that "Chriesmatt" settlement (mind that PDF), what was actually build on the ground what was intended to be a highway on-ramp, was Rolf Keller, who was for sure exactly the same, who was involved in the restoration of the Lazaritenkirche.

Access over the biotobe - like they do in Rotterdam, today, about 25 years later.

Mediterranean courtyards.

...well, but otherwise it's also typical Swiss.

Another very unique spot in Dübendorf, the foundling educational trail.

A well retouched ugly building.

The EMPA organ - nothing is the same elsewhere.

The colours of suburbia.

Nice and sad.

Finally the river and me found a slot to cross the highway junction.

A very modern training ground. A very rigid design concept, everything is green - but not enough place for just one tree to spend some shadow.

Less a house, more a sculptural setting.

After six hours I have been back to start - a tram station at the cities borders with commuter train in the basement... everything new, somewhere in the outback.
I just wonder, if this tilting roof design of it will look fresh in some years - I think, the same like that bank building in the back.

Training 3, Wed. March 30, 2011, around Regensdorf, distance 23 km

2011-04-06T00:34:00.001+02:00

This time it was idea to get up at 6am, actually it was just a couple of days after the clock change to summertime, also called daylight saving-time. Well, because of the change, I didn't managed to get up at 6, it was seven now, what was just one week earlier 6... and it was not much daylight, maybe, because it must be saved for better times.

As usually I started with a French breakfast. Since last time somebody told me, that my interpretation is rather wrong, there shouldn't be an egg, and a croissant is missing anyway. Well, I can't spare the egg, it gives me to much energy, but I bought the biggest 'croissant parisien' what I could find, and to propitiate the French angels of vengeance about my mistake with egg, I made a nice moustache to the breakfast and I gave it a Gauloises to smoke - it looks like we are fine now.

For my own pleasure I added about 2 kg of additional weight to my backpack, finally it will have a weight of about 15 kg - I will continuously add some ballast, until I'm there.

I left the house, I saw it was like a bad hair day for blooming trees.

In a well-saturated society it is very hard to find a new undiscovered business area. For example, there are already some guys anywhere out there, who are producing fabrics, what are changing concrete walls to hedges.

"Better slow instead wild game/rabid"

It has almost something aristocratic, how the forest axis is guiding to the palace.

A very clever disposal concept - they offer horse dung for free.

Just foal baby is ashamed to be represented in an identifiable way in that context.

Ruine Alt Regensberg (castle ruin)
That's probably the main difference between Switzerland and Scotland. In both countries it's very possible to find pile of stones, from which it is asserted that it has been a castle in mediaeval times. But in Switzerland they are to visit for free. In Scotland it costs at least 5 Pounds Sterling admission, so I dare to say that the story in Switzerland is true, and in Scotland it's a fake, because they have still to pay the assembling costs for that settings with that money.

Accurate defined borderline. Right at the back side of this stand the nature reserve begins.

It's really humiliating - but just in the moment when I came to that point, I started to sing Wonderful Life, but not the good one from Hurts, it was that one from Black, for real. As I mean to remember, Duncan Campbell (the singer of UB40) told once in an interview, that this song from Black is the 'whitest' song he knows at all. And he made quite clear, that this wasn't intended to be a compliment in any way.

Suddenly you get to a point in your life, when everything starts to make sense: small lake, small rail tracks, small railway station.

A tree with digesting troubles.

After the special experience I made on my last walk with markings on trees I started to feel very uncomfortable at this point. But maybe it was really just to mark the street for car drivers.

But have fun!

It looks like a caution label and it's written on it: "The beach is unattended, taking a bath and swimming on OWN RESPONSIBILITY"
I would say, that's not a warning, that's a fair deal.

Even after several walks I wonder about my ability for enthusiasm. I knew, that there behind the hump is the airport, but in the same moment I thought, that it looks here like in a hiking resort of the Emmental at the mountain site.

The beauty of this morning - I don't know exactly, what it is, is it a farmhouse, or a small factory - I don't know. But obviously they knew what they did, and they did it well.

The same from the back - cool setting, not?

More and more I realised, that in this part of the world walking on the community borders means to walk in forests. That's actually not worst if you like forest. And I do so. But, it means at well, that there is not as much to tell - I could start to count trees or something, but what would be the story about it?
Because the weather was not that exciting, I was mostly alone in the forest, so I started to sing - according to my notes following songs:
- Over the rainbow by Judy Garland (1939), caused by the weather conditions already a hiking classic for me
- It's a sin, Pet Shop Boys (1987) - I'm very often chased by this song, when I see buildings
- Wicked game, not by Chris Isaak, that one from Les Reines Prochaines (1995 - makes much more fun to sing, it's even one of the only songs, where the cover song is better as the already excellent original)
- Sound of silence, Simon & Garfunkel (1966)
- The lion sleeps tonight, the Tokens (1961) - that's actually one of the songs i could sing with several voices, one with the mouth, some more in the brain
- Yellow submarine, the Beatles (1966)
- ça plane pour moi, Plastic Bertrand (1977) - this one was by purpose, I just discovered, that all songs are English, and I thought, I should attach more with the French.
- Fool's Day, Blur (2010)

So, if I calculate the average publishing time of this songs they have been written shortly before my birth, well, actually even earlier, because the last one is a pure lie. I just put it to the list, because the I can't stand the truth, that I don't know any contemporary songs to sing... I'm afraid about my taste, the only one I know with even a worse one is this who made the presentation movie of the town - what is he doing regulary, writing porn movie themes?

It's not only me who is searching for some additional activity - as it looks also the forester is doing more as his business should be, he's into land art, see also the Walter De Maria like installation at the picture above this one.

Even snails could be beauties.

I guess, the people at the town council are getting very nervous now, since I made that picture public. That's the most uncommon building I saw on this trip, a contemporary ruin. It's like the antithesis of everything what Switzerland stands for.

After a couple of hours in the forest, already a wrongly stacked wood pile might be an appealing alternation.

Another singularity in the Swiss time/space continuity: A part of development, what's not used anymore, or what is not creating growth.

Somewhere there behind, the wild wild west begins.

Still life.

I was staying there and the light changed, a slight touch of sunlight came in. It was just perfect to make a picture but there was nothing in sight, what was worth a picture. So I just shoot into the forest.

I know, that there are people out there, who take as top criteria for choosing an art piece when the colours of it are fitting with the couch. The same people are choosing houses that they fit with the car.
Staying there, making picture, a lady left the house and came to me. She asked me, why I am taking pictures of the house. I was confused, didn't answer properly, I just told that I'm a hiker. So she gave her self the answer "Ah, you find it nice, that's why". I answered with a disbelieving "yes". She went back in, and she was happy.

You know, that's the neighbour house. As you could see, the natural level is going down in the direction of the street, but the (flat) garden is even higher as the garden from the house at left, what would be more elevated. Kind of a miracle - how is this possible?

Flintstones... Meet the Flintstones,
They're a modern stoneage family.
From the town of Bedrock

So, how should I discuss with Cro-Magnon people about aesthetics or even ethic? They need first to guarantee their survival.

Already four times he had to lift the wall. Maybe he's happy today - but probably not.

There was a day, when Ben found the column topping at the construction shop of his confidence. Since that day his life reached a complete new quality.

Vote for Beat - he is thinking so strongly about the matters of society, that his head is already to heavy to be carried just by the neck.

Just a very nice logo.

Everything else would be very surprising.

Seven Swiss with one shot - I'm The Valiant Little Hiker.

A very independent interpretation of traditional buildings in precast concrete; Grossstadtfeeling!

This is it!
There is on one side something what they tell about Swiss architecture in glossy magazines, and on the other side is the truth. Here a representative overview of about 50 years of housing development: that's everything what you could expect.

Traditional folk song:
"After the rain shines the sun / after crying there will be laughter"
Maybe the most beautiful farm in the world.

Lovelovelove

You see, it's very easy to satisfy me.

Jackpot! This was the loudest call I've ever heard to make a lunch brake.

Only the outlook might be improved.

A resistance piece.

Cruel but clever - the hunters strewed salt on the stands construction. To make the game feel comfortable at that place.

Robin of Gubrist.

The panorama from the peak of mount Gubrist (615 m over sea level).

???

And suddenly I had a very authentic memory to the thrill I felt, when I watched Crimewatch as a child.

Good illustrative material to learn how trees are growing.

A cool megasculpture.

But also here I was not able to find the plate on which the artist is mentioned.

At 15.45h I was back at the start. I was slightly exhausted, it was a good idea to add some weight, after I had muscle ache for 2 days.

Training 2, Wed. March 23, 2011, around Urdorf, distance 25.6 km

2011-03-27T18:56:00.003+02:00

It's Wednesday morning, some minutes past seven. As usually I have my self-interpreted French breakfast, some carbohydrates, fats, calcium and vitamin c.

The weather condition is outstanding 5˚C and sunny, no cloud in sight.

Together with the working class I take a early train to go to work. (Working class today means commercial clerks - but of course the banks and the insurance companies don't tell them, that they are 'just' workers. The workers really think, that they are part of the middle classes, means that they are part of the bourgeoisie. That's really clever in a democratic country, to confuse the voters so much, that they believe that they give their voice in a own interest, just to damage the own rights).

I start the walk at the bank of the river Limmat - what a nice view, might be at a city's park.

...centre park.

There was a time in my live, where I played definitely to much Tetris... when I saw a group of skyscrapers, I was expecting a falling part, what is fulfilling the gap.

Good News! This is the official declaration, that - not only the culinary - winter is over: ramson is ready to harvest. That means boring potato, cabbage and celery meals could be tuned.

Partly the same story, also woodruff is ready, could be part of a nice alcoholic drink: woodruff punch

Suburbia delight.

There are actually many good things about suburbia to tell. At first position it's a good place where it's possible and allowed (from a ethical point of view) to make huge architectural gestures.

Contemporary metal sculpture in its natural environment.

Sometimes in the 13. century there was here the castle and the city of Glanzenberg. Maybe it was a little bit to close to the city of Zurich, because on one day, the Zurich people decided, to make the folks of Glanzenberg an offer to leave that place instantly and search a new place to live. This offer was that convincing, that they didn't refused.
Until today, Zurich is still taking benefit from this old effort: if the city would still exist, it would be hardly possible to build there a highway.

Many creatures are benefiting.

Communication clash. Somebody would like to sell something about history, somebody else tries to get himself a little place in history.

It's getting obvious here, that landscape is not given. It's a decision!
I'm staying in the doorway of the former city of Glanzenberg - if the city would still exist, everything would be different today... taking my further steps I thought deeper about this sentence. 'Everything' in this case means probably 'everything'. Not only the landscape. Because, if this city wasn't destroyed by Zurich in alliance with the earls of Habsburg (surprise, at school we learned, that the old Swiss and the Habsburgian have been hereditary enemies), maybe Zurich never get to the economical power of today. And following the confederation of the old Swiss states never got the power to kick the Habsburgians out of the country, so they never went to Vienna, and so they never became Kaiser and they never reigned the Balkan - so maybe never a first and according a second world war happen... it might be better or worse today, but anyway different.

Suburbia is probably on of the habitats (like the jungle) with highest density of different forms of life. Here are sheep, pigs, humans and broad variation of trees.

Finally time for architecture critic!
Good: Hard and closed shell to the noisy railway and street side. Open to the riverbank.
Bad: Ugly design, looks like typical investors building from the 1970ies. No relation between the ground floor apartments and the terrain (or nothing more as on the upper levels). Just a weak communication between the buildings established by the arbour.

Late palafitte building.

Also in a neutral country it's very possible to get involved, to get bloody hands:
Make a smart decision by buying fuel!

Polling day is approaching - and I wonder:
Why do we have to vote for people without any background, doesn't matter which party - their background is plain on every picture.

Another rich habitat are allotment gardens. They show a wide selection of fences.

So did also the leading national fence builder contributing a part. At this moment I had not the slightest idea, that this was a hint to me, what will follow on the upcoming way.

Imagine: There is a forest, with hundreds of tree trunks - but the people don't know what to do there.
So somebody had to write an instruction and to build up some additional sticks that the people know what to do in this environment.

My contribution to a peaceful new world. I treated that bunker with a concrete disintegrating acid (the wet mark right at the front corner).

A forester's piece.

A modernist birds house.

Is there a lesson to learn?
Maybe: if you connect to the nature, you go down with it.

Sec 0:30 - but I still didn't understand.

With 581 m over sea level just the second highest point of Urdorf, 6 meters missing.
But signs, everywhere signs - and I still hadn't any clue, I really believed, that this red-white-red marks are signing the hikers path - in a very dense way.

So far I was only pissed that somebody at the shooting range is disturbing the silence of the forest.

Quality certification - I'm still on the way at the boarder, this time it's also the boarder between the states Argovia and Zurich.

But it was not only one man, it's the army - on my map there was not even a simple mark, that here is a battle ground, and exactly during this days, they had to make manoeuvre here. (Mind the red white striped frame around the coloured area on the map - at this moment, I still didn't understand.

I would say a rather explicit declaration that I should take a detour, and shouldn't following directly the boarder line.

A forest war sound piece.

A passing by deer must feel horrible at this place.

It was never scheduled to come to this place - but well, it's nice to have lunch here.

Autumn pleasure in the spring.

Good roofs.

Bad roofs.

The famous start of so many scary movies.

On a high plateau.
Almost not to believe, just 5 kilometres in this direction the city of Zurich begins.

A waving flag piece.

Boooom - it took until here until I understand, that these red-white-red marks are showing the limits of the army ground. Between the first contact until here 1 hour 20 minutes. When somebody is thinking in such a slow way, it's probably better to walk instead driving cars.

Archetype city, designed by the Swiss army.
I don't know which role model they used, but I could say, if you wish to be not disturbed by the Swiss army, you better live in a house with contemporary design. They will never figure out how to enter.

In this neighbourhood it's not absurd to suspect, that there is something hidden in this pile.

Minimal housing.

Here they learn to fight massive, heavy enemies. As long as they don't move, the Swiss Army keeps beeing winner (probably the Swiss national football team is also practicing here, result of the last game 2:2, after a penalty shoot-out).

Hooligans land art.

In a society with a oversupply of fun parcs and wellness offers it makes absolutely sense to open an ag(g)ro centre, especially that close to a army ground, to get rid of bad vibes.

The rear guard in the postindustrial times: stone pits and cement plants are the remaining rest what is telling from rougher times.

Argh! If Darth Vader would be living today, he would be a real estate developer!
You know, short version of the Swiss history. In the early times humanoids came to a country with hills. Somehow they managed to survive in that mean environment for centuries, until the day when they developed very heavy machinery to move the ground. After that day they started to build houses, because houses could only stay on a plane, horizontal surface.

As I told, flat.
Like on cigarette boxes they should use that white box in the foreground to announce a warning:
"Looking to long at this kind of houses and thinking about its relation to the grown ground could cause serious eye pain and bad mood"

Actually, the house itself is not the worst ever, at least it has mostly a clear form and the proportions are more or less in a balance. But the greens!
Look here, that's kind of a burlesque of landscape planning. Very certainly the only concern was, that the lawn mower finds enough place and a flat ground between the green stuff and the fence.
Q: Why fence? A: Actually, we don't know, we never thought about it, but it's just common to build one.

It was about time to go back to the forest, I was heading for that stone, the mark of a four communities boarder corner. In my understanding that's very exceptional, at least in a area, where the boarders are 'naturally' grown... it takes a lot of occasions, that four towns meet each other, without any superpower, that decides that it has to be like this.
But at the same moment, I don't know any touristic programme, which brings people to this outstanding place.

A tour through four communities in 23 seconds in real time.

A blair witch moment.

One of the best side effects of hiking is, that beer tastes - well, it's just the best drink of all at this particular situation.

By the way, the entrance of the restaurant Casa Mediterranea looks very promising.

Just a few metres further I have be back in suburbia - it's miraculous.

The selling slogan of this settlement means: "Living in the garden city" - "in a spacious park landscape" - it's important to know, that they build two additional lines of buildings between the already erected houses and the street at the right.
I hope, this is linguistic impotence, or at least irony - if not, the marketing people really think, that all others are stupid fools.

It's 4pm, and I go home.

Today I have at least the feeling, that I did something. I was suffering on thirst, because I had just 6 dl of water with me - I forgot, that if I'm walking on communities' boarders, the chance is very small to hit a fountain with potable water or a restaurant.

Training 1, Wed. March 16, 2011, around Fällanden, distance 16 km

2011-03-18T02:23:00.002+01:00

It was about 7am when I managed to leave my bed - for me a hard task to tear up with it that early without outer pressure. But, 10 degrees, that's promising.
I prepared myself something what is proposed to be a French breakfast (I need to get into their way of thinking):

An egg with mayonnaise, café au lait, orange juice, roasted bread. Solid energy for a morning walk.

Invigorated by this I used the pleasantness of civilisation to get to the boarders of the city. It definitely takes strength to ride the tram in full outdoor armament (hiking clothes, huge backpack, boots, compass around the neck) but not leaving it at the main station to take the train to the mountain side - latest at this point, all the people have been sure that I'm crazy.

I left the bus at this family garden with the size of a Texas ranch.

Already after a couple meters I found this nice breaking point, a bench and fresh water. Following my rule from the last year, that I have to drink on every spot with potable water I had here already my first drink. To contour myself from Mr. James Bond: Beside of spirits I do understand with 'drink' also pure water. On the left there is this very interesting street sign - finally with a delay with more as 50 years somebody came to the insight, that this one might have a bad aftertaste http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tsgAIU4r2M - it will be replaced soon in the whole country.

The target of today's walk, Fällanden: I will carefully surround it.

A guinea pig race ground?

Vigilante in nice uniform.

Ok, this is, how they define the meaning of village today: on the left this was maybe once a traditional farmers house, on the right, something that pretends to be a state of the art mid level citizens housing in country style. And beside of the design of the solid parts: mind the offcut greens. But all in all it's a good reason to focus on the background, the Alps looking nice today.

Hey, I think, that's art - must be art.

In that case, that's art too.
There have been people, who designed a settlement. From practical reasons they thought, it might be good to have some office space close to the street. But on the other hand they have been deeply afraid of the street, from reasons we will never know. If it would be noise, they could buy well protected windows, maybe it was the traffic light that scarred them, or maybe that a truck is crushing into the house, so they could build a wall, nicely close to the street, and between that and the house would be plenty of place to build something nice. Let's say a table to play ping-pong, or a bicycle port, or a nice pergola to enjoy lunch brakes in the summer or even everything together. But because something I can't imagine, they builded something between a barrow and a war trench.

From the other side of the street a waft of smell from cemetery blew in my nose. It was a tree nursery, interesting, that the flavour of young plants reminds me to the death. Guess, it's like toilet spray: after a certain time of use in that environment also this perfume reminds just to farts.

Just after I took the well-calculated risk to go through this valley, jump over the ditch to follow the village boarders exactly and to safe some hundreds of meters of walk.
I have to admit, it was not a big bravery, it's a peaceful small brook, the valley is not to narrow, so I saw chance of about 1:1000 to get wet.
On the other hand, there have been engineers who built a nuclear power farm on the shore of the Pacific, and they thought "Well, there is a chance of about 1:10'000 that a earthquake of level 8 could cause a worst case scenario. If we have a earthquake with level 8.9 and an additional tsunami, the chance is pretty exactly 1:1 (6 of 6 reactors are broken) that we get something even beyond. I would say, that's worth to try".
As you see, I'm a sissy...

As I climbed up on the other side I saw this settlement. It is even marked on the website of the community of Fällanden as one of the four sights of interest in town - because they mark the sign of C, O and S on the ground. I wonder, if they write something with sense. let's say "sock" would it be a sight of national interest?
Beside of this, there is not much more to tell.

Quality control - yes, I'm still on the boarder.

On the other hand, because the forced me, I could tell more: Probably the designer of the settlement told the contractors, that the design is attached to traditional village design in this area. And beside of this, it has the practical shape of a laager, it's easy to defend against foreigners - especially English speaking ones.

Especially in under defined sites people have the need to express their rootedness to nature or to the cultural environment.

As I told above: it's quite far away from the national boarder. Almost every detail is whispering: you are in Switzerland. But the owner of this carport had the need, to set an exclamation mark on it.

Example of this whispering.
Somebody lost a drinking bottle in the forest. Somebody else found it. But instead to be lucky with it, he/she puts it on an upraised, well visible point, that the unlucky loser has a good chance to find it again.

Just that I'm not only spreading bad mood: I like that house.

Look here! How they built settlements in the traditional way and compare it with the C, O, S above.
Three lines, the roof ridge is following the flank of the hill and everything with almost not touching the compound, it is like the fields are going until the walls of the houses. It's really that simple - I really can't see, why there are so many classes for architects, if only a small percentage can do better as this.

How nice the world could be.

A shiny happy tree with beard

I'm the wrong one to get educated by a guy whose name is Roli Ranger.

Hot travel hint for everybody who likes to make holydays on the shore of the Greifensee (lake):
This youth hostel was built in 1939 according the planing by Emil Roth: http://www.youthhostel.ch/en/hostels/fallanden as a sightseeing attraction is mentioned, that there is a triangular gothic church in the town Greifensee, the only one in whole Europe. For all that people, who that fact is not enough reason to reflect about for the duration of the holidays, there is a close by bus stop, a direct connection to Zurich.

The community of Fällanden proudly presents: two generations of construction zone fences.

I'm not sure what's the message of this sign, but I did understand that the guy who made it, was deeply falling in love with soil patterns.

Where the lake becomes a river.

The river Glatt is doomed do be boring. Its whole valley is boring.

On the other hand it is homeland of big mussels, looks like a crow or somebody learned to open them. If they are tasty, somebody should start a business with it (Glatttal-Oysters. AOC, individually opened by special trained birds from an altitude of 10 meters, freshly delivered from the nearby international airport to any ridiculous rich people in the world).

Another completely unknown touristic hotspot of the village.

Hot bridge design.

Unintended sculpture park

There was a time, when people had more humour as people from today.
The heraldic description of the flag is following:
"Ein in Gold steigender roter Löwe, geschwänzt mit einem grünem Pfauenstoss." To bring the full power of this sentence literally into English, I think it makes sense to translate it with a programme: "A rising red lion in gold, skipped with a peacock green kick."

A monument valley.
It is not without any irony that exactly here the batteries of the camera refused to work further.
Anything what happen later on this day is only visible on twitter.

I walked up the forest, fell down a ditch, where I found something like wilderness. I saw two different kind of deer: a bigger brown one and a smaller dark brown one.
At the end, the walk was a little bit to short, I didn't feel exhausted - so I decided to walk a little bit further back into Zurich. But, this was even the reason, why I decided to take this walk as the first: it looked very easy on the map, first I had to check if I can at least walk that.

Lessons I learned:
- Some hours later I had a tiny pain in the legs: I could practice more
- I need to carry more batteries with me
- 10 degrees Celsius and no winds is the optimal walking condition, just wearing a long sleeve shirt and long trousers, first it was cold, but after some hundred meters I felt perfect.