GstaadLife

From August there will be a new face at the Steigenberger Hotel Gstaad-Saanen. 44 year-old Martin Sonderegger (left) will be taking over as the general manager from Günter Weilguni (above), who himself left last month to take over the Alpinelodge (from his brother Manfred, who has taken over the Landhaus). You following this?  A trained chef, Sonderegger studied at the Swiss Hotelfachschule Luzern, and his previous gigs were as director of the Seiler-Hotel Nicoletta and the Schweizerhof in Zermatt.

Top, Günter Weilguni loses the suit and tie to take up his new challenge as owner-operator of the Alpine Lodge in Saanen.

For all dog owners who are registered residents in Saanenland: the deadline for paying your dog tax is August 1 2009; the fee is SFr 90 (hmmm, wasn't that SFr 80 last year...), payable at the Gemeinde in Saanen or Saanen Bank in Gstaad.

Not sure if you saw this: some pretty shocking statements from sometime-Gstaad resident Bernie Ecclestone in an interview with The Times. The 78-year-old billionaire chastised contemporary politicians for their weakness and pandering and extolled the virtues of strong leadership, complimenting Adolf Hitler (and perhaps not coincidentally Max Mosley) for their ability to “get things done”. But read for yourself. Maybe we'll see him hiding in Gstaad soon if he keeps making statements like these. Not sure the apology that followed... really, if you think, let alone say things like this as a public figure, why bother apologize? Perhaps he's a politician after all.

They may have moved the tennis to August, but the beach volleyball has still been left with Gstaad's traditional post-Wimbledon weather. As in rubbish. This week has been cold, rainy, and miserable, with bikini-clad volleyball players left shivering after periodic involuntary showers.The weekend looks more promising, at least in terms of sun, but watch the nighttime lows which right now are dipping well into single digit territory. Oh, and there's even a little snow on the near-peaks... in July! Brrrrrrrrr...

In a few days beach volleyball fans will "love Gstaad" again.

Following directly in the wake of the recent world championships in Norway, this coming Monday the elite of the beach volleyball players will arrive in Gstaad for the SWATCH FIVB World Tour 2009 - 1to1 energy Grand Slam. 64 teams, a SFr 3.2 million budget (the same as last year's world championship), increased prize money, bigger (or at least more expensive) TV production, and more VIP sky-lounge bookings even in an economic crisis. So be prepared for one big beach party and lots of "Put your hands up in the air" and "That's the way, ah hah, ah hah, I like it". By the end of the week the people living right around the arena cannot hear these songs anymore, but for Gstaad it is definitely a great spectacle, if only for the unusually large number of young, fit, tanned, good-looking men and women around. Even the Palace is having a SFr 100.- per head Beach Party (drinks not included), so go with the flow...

Above: a mockup of the new building next to Gstaad's catholic church 

SFr 3,8 million were allocated to the renovation of the catholic church in Gstaad and we could hardly believe our eyes when we saw what they're actually going to spend the money on. Isn't this just ghastly? Don't they have rules against this kind of thing? The inside of the church also gets a makeover, with new colors (well apparently they are going to use the colors intended by the original architect -see picture below). The inside is due to be finished for advent this year and the outhouse is to be inaugurated on July 4 2010.

We have always been huge fans of the Alpenruhe playground and petting zoo - a place which is simply fantastic fun for families with kids, with swings, slides, huge trampolin, climbing facilities, tunnels, pirate ship, water games, zipline, sand pit, table soccer, table tennis, little train rides and horseback riding on Wednesday afternoons, and a petting zoo to boot. And a couple of weeks back a new addition was installed - something even the normally bored daddies marvel about and spend hours trying to figure out. We're not sure what to call it, so we shall refer to it simply as a "ball thingamajig". Balls roll from one place to another, wheels have to be turned, step ladders mastered, ball elevators negotiated, and hydraulic pumps enabled. (see picture above). It is simply fantastic, fun and educational.

Do you recognize the person and the place? It is a picture taken in September 1993 of Michael Jackson sitting on the little steps to the right of the old Pernet Comestibles shop. He was staying in the chalet of his friend Elizabeth Taylor at the time in order to recover from his tour and escape claims of child molestation. Well, both are no more - not the building nor the King of Pop, and we are like many others very sad to have lost such a great musician who also left his footprints in our village...

It's that time of year again when oldtimers from far and wide grace our valleys and the parking lot of the Gstaad Palace. 2009 was no exception for the Oldtimer Club of Gstaad-Saanenland, with local residents Karl und Karl-Friedrich Scheufele in their 1935 Bentley 3.5 liter convertible (pictured above) never ones to miss out on the Chopard-Challenge. The 47 participants for last Saturday's rally drove 221 km from Gstaad to Murten and then back over the Col du Pillon. Even the weather cooperated with heavy showers abating just before the start, and kicking off again as the stragglers rolled in the Lobby Bar.

by Diana Oehrli

No, yodeling did not begin as some websites claim, with a man yelling “andyouroldladytoo,” as he’s being thrown off a mountain as punishment for kissing a Swiss man’s daughter. The history of yodeling is thankfully more positive than that. But hold on. One cannot write about the origins of yodeling without mentioning the alphorn, Switzerland’s national musical instrument. Both yodeling and the alphorn were ancient methods of alpine communication.