Nashville

Nashville, welcome to the Music City. It is similar to New Orleans, but this time it is country music. You indeed know you are in Nashville, when Madonna is remixed in country music!
Nashville is not only trying to be like New Orleans, but also like Hollywood. They have their stars as well. I only know one (see picture)... Should this lack of knowledge about country music make me feel bad ...?
More worrying for Nashville, it imitates Athens too. One of its most famous building is a replica of the Acropolis. Let's hope for them that they do not imitate its economic fate.
At the moment, it does not seem like Nashville will. The typical suburban life flourishes, with for example a meeting of greyhound dog lovers... The properties are huge and tidely kept - some have even deer grazing. My friends' family son was playing in a pre-school baseball game. Needless to say that they were all nicely dressed, and cheered up... but no trace of black kids.

scary Kings Dominion

When visitors decide to come and visit, you sometimes have to agree with their wishes and go along. So this time, following my visitors lead to the Kings Dominion "amusement" park.
On the map of the park, the names of the rides are already scary, such as the anaconda, the grizzly, the rebel yell, the volcano blast coaster, the schockwave, the drop tower, the skyflier and lastly the intimidator... Next to these rides, there were also signs indicating their degree of madness.
But what is worse than names on a paper, it is experiencing them!! Obviously, I was distraught when I saw that the volcano blast coaster was closed. It was the only level 5 ride I wanted to do... Kidding, I was already whiter than usual on the level 4 rides. And I cannot tell you the color I was, when I did a ride after the lunch break. And you will not see me either, because I did not find it appropriate to get any of the "photo finish" that are taken while you are on the ride.
Fortunately, there are also quieter things to do, like trying to win big stuff animals, listening to some music, and especially volunteering to take pictures. I am quite good at the last one!

US Open

There it is - the biggest tennis stadium in the world: the Arthur Ashe in Flushing Meadows, New York. On that day, there was a record 64000 spectators, including 20000 on the center court. Everything is well organised, including the arrival by metro. The staff is friendly and I surprisingly had the impression that there were less shops than at Roland Garros. The only annoying thing was the super long list of things that were forbidden to bring into the stadium, which included "no flags" and "no backpacks". This is America for you. So this time, I had to leave my Swiss flag at home.
It is a beautiful stadium. The night match is a great experience. Even placed a bit high up (we had to take an escalator to reach our seats), the view is clear - we could very well replace the "challenge" system with our own eyes. Still up there, there is a bit of cold wind. In the evening session, Murray easily beat Lopez, who did not seem much committed to his match. Maybe sweating is not part of his vocabulary. We had to admit that the women's match was a better contest.
The next day, the day session was even better. Great seats on smaller courts to watch Ferrero-Tipsarevic. Very intense rallies with good speed and a clever use of the angles.
Back on center court, Tsonga was battling against Fish, the top seeded American player. The crowd was supportive of the home favorite, but not as bluntly as in other countries. It surprises me that nobody brings flags in the stadium. And it cannot be said that it is because Americans are not patriotic - the presentation on the big screen of eight American soldiers sitting in a special box got a long standing ovation by the crowd.
The big name on that day was Serena Williams. Although she played against another ex-number 1, Ivanovic, she was clearly superior in all compartments of the game. Her serves were accurate, her ground strokes powerful and she was even moving surprisingly well...


Finally, a video of a nice rally between Ferrero and Tipsarevic. So nice to be so close to the players - who cares that we were not on our allocated seats... I should also manage to put a video of me hitting such a good backhand !

Good food !

Switzerland's food might not be the finest, but it is excellent nonetheless. It was great again to taste all the specialties. First, the wild mushrooms and the vol-au-vent. So tasty!
Besides mushrooms, a famous Swiss specialty is cheese. This time it was the raclette. Do not get fooled by the nicely decorated plate, the interesting part is the melted cheese on top of the potato.
There is never enough cheese... The next dish was indeed heavy, but this is what is needed to survive in our cold mountains. Obviously, the bottle of white wine helps too...
Switzerland is also a land of lakes, and we have the best little fishes, the perchs. With a secret sauce and some french fries, it is divine.
Obviously, there is other "foreign" foods to enjoy. One of the best was this pizza calzone! Such a good dough and a diverse filling of cheese, tomato, ham, egg and mushroom.
Of course, a meal is never complete without deserts. The nicest is when there is a choice of delicious cakes in front of you. And the best is, when you do not have to choose, but you can have all of them! The chocolate cakes - black forest and truffle - were only slightly more delicious than the fruity cakes.
In the end, it can not only be about eating eating eating. There is also a time for cooking. So there I made this healthy apple cake (with some welcome help). If you want a tip, it is best to eat it accompanied with ice cream and whipped cream.
After all this, what is one of the first thing I did back in Washington? Buy a scale...! Let me not write here what it did tell me...

Switzerland/France - mountains

The one thing that strikes me when I go to the little villages in the mountains (besides the fact that the temperature is cold... especially coming from Washington), is how nice and neat houses are arranged, built and kept. In "les Diablerets", this feeling was again very much present. And even if the weather is not always at its best, there is always something to do. This time the village hosted the "mountain film festival". The funniest movie was about this French expedition team which had set itself the goal of crossing a mountain channel in Argentina in 45 days, and failed miserably as all the possible hiccups happened. I guess the psychologists who accompanied the team had their work cut out on assessing "leadership in difficult conditions"...
Next step was to try again to see the highest mountain in Europe, the Mont Blanc. There again, no chance with the clouds... No chance with the walking path either. We wanted to walk all the way down, but could not find the right path and ended up walking back to the cable-car to take us back down in the valley.
But, not everything was lost, since we got to see these magnificent bouquetins, our very own mountain antelope. It was a great sight, and a first for me! Would you believe it - i had seen all the antelopes in Africa, but not our own... Sometimes, getting lost rewards you.
In my little village, the door to the round church was open, for a change. Maybe the paintings and the statues needed some fresh air. A good opportunity to take a picture of the most special monument in the village.
Otherwise, nice to spend some time at our house. The newly painted roof, and the newly made square in front of the house, show that things improve. A particular thanks to the municipality for the new square. Next time, I will make sure to take a game of petanque with me, to make the best of the smooth surface.

Switzerland - Geneva

Fantastic to be back in Geneva! The lake with the jet d'eau is still a sight to behold. A walk along the shores is a must, and a dinner by the lake a treat. Maybe even a bit more this year, with the super strong swiss franc.
Geneva is August is also the time of the fireworks. I can confirm that they are the biggest and the best the world over. I already mentioned this in previous entries, but this year I managed to record the grand finale, and it is worth every second. For me, it was a first to be seated just by the lake. The view of the fireworks exploding over you and plunging towards you was magnificent. Be careful if you put the sound too loud while watching the video, the next door dog might howl.

As is the tradition, the Fetes de Geneve have a guest of honor, this year was India, or better put "incredible India". I suppose the choice was also motivated by the need to replace the absence of the traditionally numerous Muslim tourists (because of Ramadan). The Indians recreated this mini-Taj Mahal, which prove to be a hit amongst locals. Let's see if this event will manage to make Indian tourists come to Geneva, rather than the traditional Lucerne and Alps areas.
Not everybody is on holidays in August. It is the start of the football national league. After several years of languishing in lower leagues, the two biggest French-speaking Swiss clubs, Servette Geneva and Lausanne, found their way back into the top flight. They resumed their rivalry at the highest level with a very entertaining match, won by Servette 4-2. Going beyond Geneva, the lake extends into Vaud, and its beautiful vineyards. We took a little touristic train to meander on the sunny and steep slopes. Of course, there was a stop to do some wine tasting. A very good excursion indeed.

Summer in Washington

Summer in Washington DC is enjoyable for many reasons. The outdoor suppers are worth mentioning, maybe more for the ambiance as for the quality of the food... But let us concentrate here on the highlights. First on the list, the concert of the Black Eyed Peas!
A lively crowd to jump, sing and dance to the famous tunes, such as "don't stop the party", "i got a feeling", "big girls don't cry", "pump it". A great performance by Fergie. And also nice to hear that this group is conscious of its social role, and promoting education and research.
Having registered with the US Tennis Association, I decided not to be satisfied with only paying my fees, but also to register with their Flexible League. The first step was to assess my level. The guidelines on the website and a talk with one of my opponent made me opt for level 3.50 . The second step was to give my address. The third step was to fill out my availability calendar, within the allocated two-months time-frame. Finally, the Internet coordinator created a group of seven players. And off we go and hit the courts! Even though I had to play with an elbow brace, I made short business of all my opponents! I beat Philipp 6-0/6-3, Juan 6-3/6-2, Kevin 6-1/6-3, Jeffrey 6-3/6-2, Edward 6-3/6-2 and Charles 6-2/6-2. First victory in an official USTA tennis tournament. Well done! I will then move up to level 4.0 for the next round of matches over August-October. Of course, I will post the new results.
Even though the victories were easy, there was a lot of sweating, in the hot and humid conditions. Since the temperature rose above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (close to 40 degrees), it was good to also discover the beaches close-by. At Sandy Point, the artificial beach is convenient enough to swim in the Chesapeake Bay. The water was warm and still - perfect to relax.
Finally, the Legg Mason ATP tennis tournament hosted again some of the best tennis players. This is clearly another level than our Flexible League... On that day, the previous year's tournament winner, David Nalbandian, lost to local favorite, James Blake. These two players had their ups and downs in their career, and it was nice to see them playing again at a competitive level.

Well, on that point, time to recall that it is just been a year that I moved to Washington!