estivaLugano 2010: Sienna Dahlen

Under the title of estiva Lugano, the city of Lugano offers its residents and visitors musical and theatrical performances by international artists in various squares and parks every weekend from 18 June to 29 August. The opening day saw the Candadian singer Sienna Dahlen give a concert for over one hour, accompanied by the guitarist Roberto Pianca. A most enjoyable performance, of which I filmed one minute.

Cademario: Musica in piazza

In conjunction with a procession of the the statue of St. Anthony of Padua of the Catholic church in Cademario the Filarmonica Alto Malcontone, conducted by Rama Bozzini, performed a concert in the town square.

And here is a slideshow of ten photos taken on my excursion today:

Bye-bye, frogs

The frogs made too much noise, so I transferred them to the neaby Lago di Muzzano.

View Lago di Muzzano in a larger map

FIFA World Cup and wine

The hype about this year's FIFA World Cup in South Africa prompted me to go and buy six bottles of a South African wine.

The wine is still young, vintage 2009. I will probably drink it during the next World Cup in 2014.

I already had a Pinotage once, vintage 2007 of the Kaapdal winery, and I liked it when I drank it earlier this year. It will be interesting to see what this new wine, a mixture of Pinotage and Cabernet Sauvignon, tastes like.

Hello, frogs

Today, I see two frogs sitting on the plank in the pond in the garden. I figure the bigger one of the two must be male, the other female. They have been sitting there, immobile, for a long time.

Had a visit

My brother Franz and his wife Elsbeth are vacationing in the region and I had them over for a merenda (snack) this afternoon and to drink with me the bottle of wine their daughter Gabriela brought me years ago on a visit, a Brestenberger, vintage 2000. Decanted several hours before consumption, it was excellent.

The vinyard from which this wine comes belongs to the castle Brestenberg in Switzerland, which is now operated as a hotel, undergoing renovation at the moment, I believe.

Frog in my pond

Looking out of the upper-floor window I see a frog sitting on the plank I put in the pond for his – or is it her? – convenience. Is there a way of knowing a frog's gender just by looking at him, ie without a close physical exmination?

Follow me on Twitter

I started my Twitter account yesterday, with the member name Snowbird756. Click here to go to my account and if you like what you see, follow me.

Mama bear shows her offspring who is the boss

When I saw this video clip today I knew I had to share it with you people. These bears were filmed in the bear park in Bern, the capital of Switzerland, a week ago, on 29 April 2010. One of these days I shall go and see them live.

The mother is called Björk, the twins are Urs (male) and Berna (female). I don't know which one of the twins is on the tree. The father, Finn, is not in the picture.

Flight is booked

My flight to Thailand is booked, at Girair in Agno. Eastward bound early in December, return flight last week of January.

I am a Snowbird

The term Snowbird is used to describe people who spend a large portion of winter in warmer locales. Resident in Switzerland and Thailand, I like to spend much of winter in Thailand whenever I can manage it.

In this blog, I will talk about my life in these two countries, trips I make, people I meet, places where I eat, etc. I meant to do this blog on Google Sites but unfortunately they do not allow comments by readers. I shall be happy to receive comments from everybody, in any language (if it is a language I don't understand, I will use translate.google.com to translate it)