GstaadLife

Sorry for not having been in touch for a while - Easter holidays, illness and a cloud of volcanic ash kept us away from the computer. Not that much has been going on anyhow. It is now deeply off-season, which means that the only activity of note in town is construction. It's not as bad as the past couple of years, and as the sign above shows, the authorities are most apologetic about the inconvenience (even if the English needs some work). So we made a little tour today and took a few pictures of the mess. More pictures after the jump.

Above: picture taken from Migros roundabout towards the tunnel. It is a one way street now - if you want to come back you have to go through Gstaad via the train station and post office.

Above: Gstaad tunnel entrance - Saanen side

Just so that you can put the main events in your calendar already: Menuhin Festival Gstaad from July 16 to September 5, Swatch FIVB World Tour 2010 Beach Volleyball from July 5 to 11, Allianz Suisse Open from July 24 to August 1, the Glacier 3000 Run on August 7, and Country Night Gstaad from September 10 to 12.

Many of you know that Kirsty Bertarelli wrote the song 'Black Coffee' which the group All Saints interpreted to became a number 1 hit. But have you listened to her new album yet? Some of the songs were written 20 years ago and some only recently. What's interesting is that Kirsty does not even play an instrument and only composes with her voice. If you're a fan of popular music, this is decent stuff. Listen in for yourself with the below video that features an unplugged performance in the offices of 20 Minuten during a recent press tour:

 
Just in case you were planning to go for a swim in the public indoor pool in Gstaad - don't. They are doing some maintenance work plus cleaning until May 9.  

Just before Easter the Alphüsli cheese and meat stand, which was erected on the Gstaad Promenade right next to Credit Suisse, caused an uproar with the locals. Thing was that the products they were selling was from Canton Graubünden (home to St Moritz) and some Gstaad residents got really upset about it. So our sister publication, AnzeigervonSaanen.ch, put up a poll which yielded votes in favor of allowing vendors the possibility to sell out-of-region products and produce on our Promenade. There was even a thumbs-up vote for allowing these kinds of stands on the Promenade. So we're guessing that just means the onliners at the Anzeiger are a little more tolerant? Or maybe it's just the that feeling of anonymity that comes with expressing yourself online.

In the recent local council decisons of the Gemeinde Saanen that took place last week, all motions were accepted. Specifically that means SFr 5.3m for a new rainwater basin in Schönried, SFr 800'000 for the new riding center (SFr 550'000 for the new riding hall and SFr 250'000 for new riding paths), SFr 1.9m for the planned old peoples' home in Saanen, and SFr 200'000 for the restoration of the polo field. That will be a total of SFr 9.1m, thank you.

The construction of the new cable car up to the Videmanette is planned to start in the second half of July 2010. The new gondola will seat 8 and will no longer have a mid-station. At the beginning a capacity of 900 people per hour is planned but this will later raise to 1'400. We're not sure what will become of the sled run (but it was too steep and icy anyway), and hiking up the Via Ferrata this summer will now mean hiking up all the way from the bottom. But at least the next winter season seems to be saved.

On Good Friday April 2 and Easter Saturday April 3 the Mauritius choir together with the Orchestra degli Amici, the Saanenland string players and the soprano Miriam Feuersinger, shall give a concert at Saanen church at 17h00. So if you are a lover of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy you should not miss that. For those amongst you who prefer a bit of folk music, there is a concert on Saturday April 3 at 19h00 at the Landhaus in Saanen where the famous 'Oesch's die Dritten' will be performing. Wishing you a very Happy Easter!