Federer at Estoril

On the outskirts of Lisbonne took place the ATP tennis tournament of Estoril. Nice little tournament, where it is difficult to buy a tournament T-shirt.

Federer decided to play at this rather minor tournament to get some practive on clay. On Friday, his quarter-final opponent was the local player Frederico Gil. It was the first time that a Portuguese player took on a World Number 1.

The spectators were nonetheless very supportive of Federer. Not so many people were waving flags, probably because the weather was unsettled to say the least. Federer's game was interrupted three times (!) by showers.

In the end, Federer prevailed 6-4 and 6-1. He was as usual very light on his feet, although he was not yet sliding like one should on clay. He made some very nice shots and his balls had much speed on his forehand. We saw a few aces, some volleys and a couple of long rallies. Good practice game. Federer bettered the record of his girlfriend who managed a quarter final there a few years ago. Federer mentioned that she was angry at him that she did not come to the stadium today. Good player with a good sense of humour.


Later on Friday, World Number 4 Davydenko also won his game, but with more difficulties. Eventually he was the one who faced Federer in the final played on Sunday. Federer won after Davydenko gave up in the second set for obscure reasons.

Lisbonne

After a short flight, there we are in Portugal. That is the beauty of Europe - so much cultural diversity in such a small space. Lisbonne is a beautiful capital with imposing white buildings, big squares, large avenues and many statues symbolising all the country's heroes.
The vibe is relaxed and it is a pleasure to sit in the little restaurants and enjoy some local food, even if it looks funny at times.
Lisbonne is most of all well known for its glorious past and its position at the Western-most tip of Europe, facing America. One symbol is the Monument of Discoveries.
Further down the Tage river, there is the Belem Tower. If you happen to go there, remember to look for the sculpture of a rhinoceros on an outside wall of the tower. The architect was surprised to see such an animal brought back from Africa, especially since the animal was one of the few to make it to the shore, when the boat capsized in the bay.


In the neighbourhood, the most impressive building is the Monastery of Jeronimos. Of course, I am not saying that because it bears my name (actually, it was there before I was born, so I should say that I bear its name...). Indeed the construction began in 1502. It took 50 years to complete and was financed by taxes on the trade of spices.
Inside, it is filled with rich ornaments. The most spectacular one is the stone tomb of the great explorer Vasco de Gama. In the background, a painting with Saint Jerome.
It is a must to walk inside the church and the monastery. It is a two-storey cloister, which was a novelty at the time. It has a rich array of decorations: arches, windows, ornaments, gargoyles.


On a final note, it is there that was signed the Treaty of Lisbonne in 2007, giving birth to the latest European Union Treaty. Another reason to be proud of this building. And a sign that Portugal can project its glorious past into the present.

Science at its best

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) organised its last open day before starting with its experiments. It is the largest particle physics laboratory in the world and the most powerful particle accelerator.

This accelerator is in fact of ring of 27 kilometers. It is undeground at 100 meters and runs under the countryside just outside Geneva.

This open day was a huge success, with 73000 people queue - for hours - to get a glimpse at this fantastic scientific experiment. While waiting to get inside the tunnel, I was happy to notice that so many people are actually interested by science, by knowledge. It is also a sign that not everybody thinks that Switzerland is only chocolate, cheese, mountains and banks. And it was very encouraging to see that there were many French people there as well. This CERN is truly a regional symbol. Actually it is more an international entreprise, since there are more than 100 nationalities represented among the 5000 employees.The total cost is estimated at 10 billion Swiss francs and it took more than 7 years to complete. What stoke me at first, was that it looks so much like an industrial masterpiece, and not so much like a scientific experiment. So, inside the tunnel, there are three tubes. The particules will travel inside them almost at the speed of light, meaning that they will cover the 27 km 11000 times per second! They will eventually collide. All this will be possible thanks to a highly complex system of magnets, at super low temperatures (around -271 degrees; meaning that it will be the world's largest fridge!) and at the same pressure that exists in interplanetary space. It will be recorded thanks to sofisticated detectors and cameras and stored in the most powerful supercomputer system in the world. The tour guide, who was a CERN scientist, explained all the mechanisms, but I must admit it was too technical for me.

The objective of these experiments is to understand why particles have a mass, why the Universe is mostly composed of matter and not antimatter. The conditions created will be close to the ones that existed just after the "Big Bang".

In the end, I must admit that the extraordinary complexity of this experiments did not really show during the visit. It seemed more like a industrial complex, indeed full of technology, but it was difficult to think that fantastic and very significative scientific results could come out of this place in the next few months.

Tennis season

During the winter season, we play indoors on clay. Nice way to stay fit.

Now that we moved to summer time, the real tennis season begins - the open air season. Sometimes, we play on clay, the best surface! Great to slide on. It also gives enough time to adjust all the shots (including passing-shots and lobs) and to think more strategically. It is without doubt the most demanding and rewarding surface.

But most of the time we play on hard courts. The first tournament took place this week-end. First victory and first quarter-final of the year. The objective is to get qualified for a semi-final. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Easter chocolate

In Switzerland probably more than anywhere else, Easter is associated with chocolate. The shops are so creative. Under normal circumstances, it is already difficult to resist, but before Easter it becomes "mission impossible".


So here a few statistics. One Swiss in six eats chocolate every single day and a further 45% eats it more than once a few. Are we a country of chocoholic? In 2007, every Swiss has eaten 12,3 kilos of chocolate! The local production was more than 181000 tons and generated revenues of 1,66 billion swiss francs. And of course, swiss chocolate is of such fine quality, that you can really indulge!

Human rights

Geneva always hosts many conferences and events. This week-end, there was a broad spectrum of activities: the motor show, the first ice-hockey semi-final and the human rights festival. Tough choice. Week-ends in Geneva should last more than 48 hours!

So you guessed where I went: to the human rights festival. Interesting to be welcomed at the conference center by these huge pictures of Isrealians and Palestinians mocking the wall that separates them.
The conference I attended was entitled: democracy - does it need a military coup to exist? The discussion centered on the case of Mauritania, with the ex-military ruler as guest speaker (the one in blue). Mr. President Vall gave a very detailed and argued account of the reasons, the motives and the objectives of "his" coup. Actually, in Mauritania, it is just called "the change".

He started by arguing that the first basic human rights is to be free. In one-party states, the party decides what is right and wrong, it decides for the citizens. The problem is therefore a problem of the system. The objectives of the coup were to dialog with the citizens (and the international community) and to generate a consensus. The main pillars were good governance, justice and democracy. Thus, the system would change from a regime of proposition (the one-party state makes prososals, rubber-stamped by the electorate) to a regime of choices. The result was that after 19 months in power, the transitory military regime handed over the executive powers to a democratically elected president. This new government has legitimacy, there are various political parties represented in Parliament, there is press freedom.

In conclusion, Mauritania must succeed. Indeed, in the region and for Arab countries, it offers an alternative, an exit solution to the various dictatorial regimes.

Berne is getting ready

It happened that I had to stay longer than usual in Berne, the other week-end. An immediate question was: what could I do there on a Saturday morning, while waiting to get to my next appointement? Allow me to leave this question unanswered...

In the meantime, though, I thought about taking a few pictures of all the road/building works in town. Berne is getting ready to host the European Nation's Football Cup 2008. Most certainly one of the biggest event this town has ever hosted.

The stadium is ready, but the town, in particular the station's square needs a lot of upgrading.

As is the case in Switzerland, Bernese citizens had to vote on most construction credits. Fortunately, the builders are doing a good job and it is very likely that everything will be completed on time. Another monument being renovated is the federal Parliament. In a few weeks time, I will show you how it all looks like.