A scene from the “Heidiland” region in Gräubunden. © Susan Vogel-Misicka
I was in Graübunden recently for an article about how Heidi, the storybook character, is used as a marketing tool in Switzerland. Beautiful scenery, including a lot of vineyards and castles!
Click here to read Swiss sweetheart generates tourism cash on swissinfo.ch.
Posted in Travel | Tagged children, Culture, Heidi, literature, marketing, Switzerland, tourism, Travel | 1 Comment »
Amal was one of my sources for this story. She asked if we could take a photo together, so I did my best holding the smartphone at arm’s length.
A change to the Swiss penal code on female genital mutilation (FGM) came into force on July 1; it aims to prevent Swiss-based families from having their daughters circumcised, whether in Switzerland or abroad.
I did a pair of stories on this topic for swissinfo.ch; you can find them at the links below:
Posted in Current affairs, Health | Tagged Culture, female circumcision, FGM, health, law, Switzerland | Leave a Comment »
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon addresses the plenary session of the UN Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (© UN Photo/Maria Elisa Franco)
Although the Rio+20 sustainability summit ended without delivering the vision or commitment needed for the future, Switzerland says the process is not dead.
It is a view shared by the Swiss media following the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development – which closed on Friday after 193 nations agreed on a lackluster accord that largely reaffirms the goals of its predecessor, the 1992 Earth Summit.
“Based on its ambitions, the results of Rio+20 are very modest. But there were still some small successes,” stated the Saturday edition of the Tages-Anzeiger newspaper. These successes included sustainability goals and the introduction of a so-called green economy, defined as creating “well-being” and jobs without damaging ecosystems.
Click here for the whole story on swissinfo.ch.
Posted in Current affairs, Environment | Tagged Environment, future, green, nature, poverty, Rio+20, sustainability, Switzerland, United Nations | Leave a Comment »
I noticed this orchid in the home of a 75-year-old Swiss woman.
Judging by the care tag, it seems the garden center didn’t have a clear idea of what a table dance actually entails. It reads:
“This group of orchids includes varieties that are especially suitable as table decorations because they bloom for so long.”
I wonder if they sell bean plants that are called “pole dance”?
Posted in Funny English | Tagged English, language, plants | Leave a Comment »
Is it so bad to be close? Spotted in a puppet shop in Bern. Indeed, it was closed, which made it easy for me to snap this photo.
Posted in Funny English | Tagged English, language, shopping | Leave a Comment »
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