Tourism in Switzerland

OK, OK, holidays do not always have to be abroad... am I really saying that?? Yes, there are nice things to see in my own country. I must thank my foreign friends to come and visit, so that I can discover my own country as well. Although it must be said that I have been to all the 26 cantons/provinces.

This time, we went on a cruise on the little Lake of Thun (of course, I have to say "little" compared to our big Lake of Geneva). Sunny, quiet, relaxing. We also walked along the Lake and I must say that everything is well organised and made for everybody to feel at ease. Of course, there were still the odd Dutch tourists wearing orange T-shirt. Then we took the funicular up the Niesen. The tourist office calls this mountain "the Pyramid of Switzerland". The ride up is quite a challenge. There is a board explaining how steep the climb is and how the technology improved over the years to make it a faster ride. And from the top, the view over the Lake and over the mountains is breathtaking. Everywhere you look and it is beautiful. Come and see for yourself!

Euro 2008

"THE" event of the year in Switzerland - the EURO 2008 football championship. 16 countries qualified for this tournament hosted by Switzerland and Austria. Here in Switzerland, much was done to welcome the players and the fans.

In Geneva, a football was floating on top of our big fountain. A sign that everybody can play football.

And our famous flower watch was decorated using the participating countries' colours.

In Zurich, huge players filled the train station. Let me not talk about the games and the players, since I did not have the chance to get a ticket - who got one by the way...? But I can mention the fans. And there the title goes to the Dutch supporters. There was an orange wave that took over Berne. I have never seen anything like that. They came by car, by train, by 50 extra plane and swamped the city. Fantastic and festive atmosphere.

Need I say a word about the performance of our team? Probably not. But again the swiss supporters were creative and welcoming. There were "fanzones" all around the country. Funny to see how the Portuguese dominated in Geneva, the Dutch in Berne, the Germans in Zurich and the Swiss in Basel. People put flags on their balcony and on their car. They celebrated by hooting until late at night.

Tomorrow it is the final game: VAMOS ESPANA !

Roland Garros

As every year, the end of May is pilgrimage time for me. And as every year, it is a great pleasure for me to be at Roland Garros. What a fantastic tournament!

For once, we managed to get tickets through the Internet. We were on the Susanne Lenglen court, where Serena Williams got soundly beaten. Certainly because she does not know how to play on clay. And nobody does better than Rafael Nadal. What an impression he gave during his 6-1 6-1 6-1 demolition of Jaarko Nieminen. He was even more impressive than the previous year. His vision of the game, his movements - including sliding on clay, his tactics, his forehand and most improved, his backhand. After seeing his performance, I predicted he would win the tournament. And surely he did.

One of his main competitor would be Novak Djokovic. I had enough time to take a picture of him bouncing the ball before serving. He does that at least 25 times before each service. I guess even champions have strange habits.

I also had the chance to go back down the memory lane, with the last game of Gustavo Kuerten. He won the tournament three times with his brilliance. But his back is giving his trouble. The spectators could not stop with their Mexican Wave during his double game.

I must also mention the Swiss players. I was happy to wave my flag during Patty Schnyder's game. She played well and on the same day the Swiss electorate, in a populare vote, showed tolerance and openess towards foreigners. Quite a few of my friends saw me on TV - did you as well?

Syria - Today

Let's start here with our hotel in Damascus. Such a nice indoor court. We felt then welcome from the first minute.

After that, a little tour through the souks. There are many shops and three things stand out. First, the fact that all the shop attendants are men, even for shops selling traditional women's clothes. And this is also the case in banks, restaurants, hotels. The society has found its equilibrium - probably there since years - but is this really sustainable? The second is that Chinese goods are slowly making their way into the souks, especially when it comes to children clothes. The third is the feeling of safety. The sellers are not aggressive at all and the vibe is relaxed. This is a good surprise.
But is this really a surprise... The president's picture is all over the place. He is keeping a watchful eye on its people. Nevertheless, the presence of the security apparatus is not as visible as in Egypt. We travelled throughout the country and never were stopped by the police.

This stability in the country contrasts with the troubles in many neighbouring countries. While we were there, there suddenly was an outburst of violence in Lebanon. And then, on the other side, there is Irak. We took the road to Baghdad. But a trip to this city will be for another time.

Syria - Christian and Muslim period

Let us start with the interesting story of Saint Simeon. In 400 AD, this shepard wanted to live an ascetic life, away from the people, so that he could connect with God. He decided to stay on top of a pillar, first 3 meters high and finally 18 meters high. Pilgrims would come from afar to see this extremely pious person. His way of connecting with religion by staying and praying on top of a pillar spread in the region and even further afield. The legend says it went as far as Central Europe, where it faltered because of the cold weather... So Saint Simeon would preach from the top of his pillar and shout his advices, but he refused to speak to women and would not allow his mother to come close to his pillar. He died in 459 AD. Local people decided then to build a church around his pillar. This church was the biggest at this time. Pilgrims came from far and took away pieces of the pillar as souvenir. St. Simeons' pillar is nowadays reduced to a big stone.

A few years later, in 636, the Muslims entered the capital city of Damascus. They chose an ancient Aramean/Roman/Christian temple to convert it into a Mosque. They actually let the Christians pray inside the Mosque for a few decades. But then, under the Umayyades, Damascus became the capital of the Islamic world. The whole site was then converted into a splendid mosque, that required seven years of taxes to build. It is now the third most holy mosque after Mecca and Jerusalem.

Then, there was a period of constant conflicts between the Muslims and the Christians. The most famous symbol is the Krak des Chevaliers. It was build between 1050-1250. It very impressively dominates the whole region and was a key post for the Christian Crusaders on the way to Jerusalem. It is a huge fortress with an outside wall and its 13 towers and the castle itself. Inside, it is like a town made for around 2000 people, with a church, stables, baths, warehouses with supplies to last for 5 years and of course, many rooms. This castle was actually never conquered. Indeed in 1271, the Muslims surrounded the castle, which had become the last outpost of the retreating Christians. So after a month of siege, the Crusaders agreed to abandon it, in exchange for a safe escape.
Approximately at the same time, in Aleppo, the second city, the Muslims built and reinforced the Citadel. The walls and the main doors are impressive. It is a big and as solid as any of the Crusader's castles.
A last example of the new techologies invented by the Muslims are the norias - wooden water wheels. They are more than 20 meters high and were used to scoop water from the Orontes river and deposit it into aqueducts. A very efficient way to irrigate the neighbouring areas.

Syria - Greek and Roman periods

The most impressive monuments and sites in Syria are without doubts the ones dating from the Greek/Roman period. In chronological order, we first visited the town of Bosra, with its splendid Roman Theatre. This town has an old history but it is at the time when local man, Philip, became Emperor of Rome, that the town gained the status of metropolis. The theatre can contain 15000 people. There are also remnants of the old town with gates, public baths, columns and markets. As is often the case, many buildings were later cannibalised by buildings from other rulers, the Christians built churches, the Mamluks mosques and hammams.

Apamea was built 2300 years ago by a general of Alexander the Great. The town is surrounded by good grazing land and at one stage was home of some 500000 people, but also of 3000 horses and even 500 war elephants. The key attraction of the town is its main street, decorated by parallel colonnades on a lenght of 1.8 kilometers. It is an amazing sights. Here we should thank a Belgian team that did "reconstructive archeology", meaning that it rebuilt the columns that were scattered and covered with sand and weeds.Let's keep the best for last: Palmyra. I do not think I have ever seen such an extended and well preserved site as this one. Maybe it is also the fact that it is in the middle of the desert, next to an oasis.

Most of the temples that we still see today today from 200 AD. It served as a major trading post between the Mediterranean sea and the Euphratis/Tiger rivers. There were many caravans stopping by. Levying tax on them was the main revenue source of the town. The first picture actually shows the "agora", the place where trade was taking place. Most writings were done both in Palmyrean, the local language, and in Greek, the language of trade. The Romans gave large freedom to the free city. The local people were allowed to build a temple in honour of their God, Bel. The temple is in the middle of a huge courtyard, where many sacrificial animals were killed. The temple itself is very well preserved. It is also noteworthy that it was later transformed into a church and a mosque. Local families were still living on the premises until the 1930's. A hotel - where we stayed - was constructed by the French almost on the ruins. Our guide told us that he hopes this hotel will soon be destroyed. Selfishly, it is true that it is an unforgetful experience to have breakfast in the middle of this splendour, but this is not the best way to preserve the site.

Syria - craddle of civilisations

Syria's history is incredibly rich. On one side, the Euphratis/Tiger rivers have led to the emergence of Mesopotamians. The town of Mari was built around 5000 years ago. Today there remains very little. In the Aleppo museum, we could see this greened bronze lion, a symbol of this early civilisation.

On the other side, there is the Mediterranean sea. Here a town called Ugarit became the first international port and was at its peak - around 4000 years ago - the most important town on this sea. It is quite unusual that a successful town would develop that much when it was not for religious or military reasons. Quite a few innovations originate from here. The first one is the paped water system and drainage. The French are still searching through the ruins to find further evidence of the wealth and efficient organisation of the city.

The second one is the Ugaritic alphabet. At that time, there existed only two writings: the hieroglyphics of the Egyptians and the cuneiforms from Mesopotamia. But these two were complex pictograms, whereas the Ugaritic alphabet greatly simplifies the system with 30 symbols, each representing one sound. It is very likely that this alphabet was the ancestor of the Greek and Roman alphabets. The tablet pictures represents a complete alphabet.

Finally, the town of Amrit was built 2600 years ago by the Phoenicians and later conquered by Alexander the Great. Today, there remains a necropolis. These monuments have four lions around the base and underground there are funeral chambers. There is also a temple and a stadium. The architecture boasts a mix of Persian, Egyptian and Greek influence.