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This year, we only stayed a short while in Nevis and then left to visit former residents of that island in their splendid new digs in Western Florida. From there we flew south to Argentina to renew several contacts with friends we had not seen in half a dozen years. We were especially intrigued to see the now finished Casa del Japón, a beautiful 18^th century Minka [farmhouse with thatched roof] painstakingly taken apart in the middle of Japan, piece by piece, then shipped to Buenos Aires and erected again by several Japanese craftsmen over several months, and now a fine museum of Japanese artifacts. After two weeks there, they could no longer stand the diet of beef and more beef, so the Japanese architect (also a friend of ours), had to send for his wife to come and prepare Japanese-style food every day for the carpenters!

Flying to Santiago de Chile, we only stayed one night to take an early morning flight to Punta Arenas and to be driven by a 4×4 to the fantastic El Paine National Park. We had been to a similar place on the Argentinean side some 10 years earlier, called Perito Moreno, in the midst of lakes and huge glaciers and calving icebergs. El Paine was but 80 km away, similar but ever so different. 3 fantastic towers of sandstone in the midst of massive snow-covered mountains, lakes, waterfalls, and some glaciers, too. Surrounded by huge ranches, with cowboys and horses, and sheep, we were able to see how these hard working people lived. Even puma were living in the area and survived the harsh winters. There are many hotels available now but the explora is really the one to go for, even at a price, if you want quality, excellent guides, good food and accommodation. Four days is enough but if you are a great explorer and an accomplished walker or rider, then a week’s stay would be better.  For additional information, please go to http://www.torresdelpaine.com/ingles/index.asp, or to http://www.explora.com/en/explora-patagonia/patagonia.

We had to return for another night in Santiago to take the early morning flight to Easter Island. Its size is nearly double that of Nevis but its population is only about 5000 or half of Nevis. Since 1888, it has belonged to Chile, some 3500 km away. Again we stayed at the well situated explora there. It is a long flight into the Never-Never-Land of the endless Pacific and you really only go there to see the moai, those large, stone figures wonderfully carved of local tufa which were carved over a long period from about 400 BC to 1700 AD. There are about 800 moai statues on the island, but only 50 of them were re-erected in 1958 during an expedition by Thor Heyerdahl There are many stories about where the original inhabitants came from, as the island is so far away from any other inhabited place. The reason that the island is so deforested is also not really known but there are a number of theories, the most often cited being that the rivalry between two competing clans to build ever bigger moai used up all the available palms (also for the transport to the beach side). For those interested to read up more, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Island#Mythology.

Traditionally, May is the month I make my trip to Japan to see my friends from our 28 years of living in that wonderful country and also to attend sumo, of course.  Contrary to other years, the 3 last days were absolutely stunning and well worth the price for the seats.

In June, Uschi and I did our equally customary trip to the UK which was a success in every respect – this time round we even met Nevis friends who hail from Boston Me. for the first time in their nice London flat.

August came and with it the 95^th birthday of Uschi’s mother Hilde in Kempten, southern Germany. It was a quiet lunch with 8 people, in a nice little Hotel called Waldhorn; even Nic made a surprise show to honor his grandmother. From there we drove to the Lake of the 4 Cantons in the Center of Switzerland to help the daughter of a dear departed friend sort out some of his varied Japanese art collection. The off it went to the Lago Maggiore and later to the Alps high above Aosta in a rustic stone house, a former cow barn.

On October 8^th, the two of us flew to Bali for a one week of wellness, and then continued on for three weeks in Chiang Mai in Thailand where we were lucky enough to enjoy good weather conditions despite the fact that it was the rainy season. We met a Swiss mother and daughter team who were constructing a small Resort in Mae Rim, some 30 km outside of Chiang Mai, quite an adventure, I’d say. Before returning home from Bangkok, we met with a number of friends in that wonderful City.

We will be leaving for Nevis on Dec. 8^th; Nic, Alexandra and their 3 children Leonie, Keana and Matteo will join us for the entire Holiday Season on Dec. 18^th and return home in early January 2010.

In closing, Uschi joins me in wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a most wonderful happy successful and healthy New Year of the Tiger 2010!

Willi & Uschi

The ivory netsuke chosen to represent 2009 is a magnificently carved cow, 7.5 cm long, 45 grams, with her calf, the latter licking the mother’s muzzle, the long rope falling over the parent’s back, the ivory exquisitely patinated, both eyes inlaid in some dark material, probably horn signed Tomotada (Kyoto-school), mid 18th century.Actually, the year of the Ox starts on January 26, 2009 and lasts till February 13, 2010.

The Chinese calendar -which existed there already since around 2000 BC- was adopted by Japan from around the 6th century AD, together with Buddhism.

The Zodiac has an influence on the character of mankind. Each of the 12 ‘animals’ has specific characteristics. Persons born in the year of the Ox [cow] (ushi) are said to be born leaders and inspire confidence all around. Oxen tend to be conservative, methodical and good with their hands. They guard against being chauvinistic and always demand their own way. Oxen make successful surgeons, generals and hairdressers. Some oxen were: Napoleon, Walt Disney, Clark Gable, Richard Nixon, Sylvia Porter and Vincent Van Gogh, just to name a few.

During the last century, years of the Ox were in 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985 and 1997. In each 60 year cycle, the 12 zodiac animals are repeated 5 times, representing 5 elements Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water.

Of course it is not that simple; 60 is merely the most common denominator of 10 x 12, the ten being the 5 elements but in order to make it ten, the Japanese have adopted a big (elder) brother and small (younger) brother of each of the five stated elements. In all eastern languages, big brother and younger brother is one noun each, and not formed by a noun (brother) plus an adjective (younger or bigger [elder]) like in western languages.

As the second animal in the Eastern zodiac, the Ox indicates the hours between 1 am and 3 am.

Best wishes to all for a splendid Year of the Ox, 2009!

The entire Bosshard clan wishes you a wonderful 2008/09 Holiday Season with lots of fun, happiness, good health and some great relaxation or even a vacation with friends and family, leading into a beautiful spring and great summer season, too.

By the way, if you would like to read the contents of all the pages in smaller or bigger characters, it is very simple: go to View, Text size and choose your preferred size. That is all it takes – try it!

As in most recent years, we began the New Year in Nevis with great fireworks from the Four Seasons resort lighting the sky. But this year it was different, as Alexandra, Nic and the 3 grandchildren had been with us from well before Christmas. They left us for home on January 5 but they did not get far; Air France refused to board the family of 5 because they arrived 5 minutes late at their check-in at St. Martin, despite the fact that, without informing anyone, the airline had brought forward the departure time by 15 minutes. The family enjoyed a costly but wonderful extra 6 days at the local Mercure Hotel nearby, because AF had no seats for the whole family of 5 during that time as they were so overbooked at the start of the New Year.

In 2008, we stayed in Nevis nearly till the end of March before we returned to the shores of Lac Leman.

Yours truly spent his usual 3 weeks in Tokyo in May for Sumo and visits to friends, and in June, the two of us made our regular annual pilgrimage to the UK.

Summer was spent mostly in Switzerland, and a short trip to Germany, Northern Italy and the Laghi region of Southern Switzerland.

As with many men my age, I got a pace maker implanted to help me with the arrhythmia, but otherwise my heart is doing fine; it’s just the electric wiring is not doing the job as it should – no wonder, after 70 odd years working perfectly well.

Sadly, we were informed that Hurricane Omar hit the Caribbean in mid October. It devastated parts of Nevis, though we had no damage at our house. The Four Seasons Resort had another direct hit and we understand it will undergo extensive reconstruction and not be open for business during the Festive Season, hopefully opening again Easter.

On October 21st, we left for our trip to the Far East; to be more precise, to the North of Thailand, where first of all Uschi had her teeth fixed. Then, we did what we had wanted to do for years: we rented a Nissan X-Trail 4×4 and drove it 600 km through 4000 curves via the picturesque small city of Pai to Maehongson at the Burmese border, along peaceful mountainsides where hardy farmers grew corn and wheat – we did not see any poppies. There are many interesting minority tribes in that area.

Executive Chef Stefan Frenzel of the Amari Rincome Hotel in Chiang Mai went out of his way to spoil us rotten with his superb N.Z. lamb, rock lobster, prime sirloin served in our suite for us and U.K. friends.

We stayed 2 short days in Bangkok to meet up with Marc Dumur, Claude Marsens, Pierre-Andre Pelletier and others before flying on to Perth, WA. There we met Hans and Trudy Schmocker for a short sightseeing tour of the city; they were also on a month’s trip through Australia. Then, we started on our 11 day outback tour of the south of the West Australian bush land in a Land Rover Discovery III, with air-cushioned suspension, driven by the owner of Sandgroper Tours, Arthur (Turi) Junker (see www.sandgropertours.com). The entire tour came to 4000 km and much of it was on well-kept gravel roads. The weather was generally sunny yet cool, and we found a myriad of wonderful wild flowers in full bloom because it had rained a short while before our visit.

In Margaret River we naturally visited some of their world-class wineries, including Vasse Felix, from which I have some bottles in mycellar (bought from Barossa). We also rode over some fairly high sand dunes, with little air in our tyre tubes, and Turi had to re-pressurizethem afterwards. This was rather fun, and a bit terrifying when one does not see anything any else but the hood, and the drop is 45 degrees!We overnighted in small hotels or B&B’s in towns and townships en route and also had breakfast there. Dinner was in restaurants;however, for lunch we had our personal refrigerator on board with our own food cooked by Turi’s wife Silvia and brought from theirhome outside Perth. In Albany, WA, we had one of our best steaks ever; a really tasty and tender New York cut prime sirloin, and cooked to perfection, too!

After Perth, we flew over to Sydney, where we stayed with our good friends John and Nora Flint in their home overlooking theriver in Greenwich, NSW. We met up with a number of friends like Robert and Josi Rutishauser (several times), Kengo and Mary Harada, Steven and Chris Gorman, Derek and Angela Groom, Rudi and Mikari Zingg, Anne and Karis Garrett, Pierre and Gina Stacher, et al.

December 22nd will see us arriving on Nevis, from Miami, coming from Sydney, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle where we look forward to meet Verna Lazarnick and her two sons with wives. Of course, we will be visiting many other dear friends in LA and SFO and their respective Greater Regions, too many to list them all individually. One visit I will state, however, namely that to the LACMA, the LA County Museum of Art on Wilshire Boulevard where one of my formerly owned netsuke, the fiercely snarling tiger by Otoman of Kyushu, is exhibited in the Raymond and Frances Bushell Wing of the museum.

Nic, Alexandra and the three grandchildren will unfortunately not be able to join us in Nevis this year, having spent too many wonderful days away from home at the end of last and the beginning of this year. We will surely miss their happiness and laughter!

In closing, Uschi joins me in wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a most wonderful, happy, successful and healthy New Year of the Ox 2009 yes, it will be Nic’s year!

Willi & Uschi

To enlarge, double click on the small picture, to close and return to the previous page, click on the back arrow.

Wave rock near Hyden	Buckley’s Break-away (near Hyden)	Paper bark tree
Cape Naturliste at Bunker Bay (near Dunsborough)	In the dunes at beachside near Hopetoun	Tyre tracks by our Land Rover
Tingle wood	Grass tree	Karri tree
Banksia bush/flower	Christmas tree	Chittick (lambertia family)
Rose Banjine	yellow flowers	fanflowers
red flower	geraldton wax	pink flowers
Peppermint Eucalyptus bush	cape weed	Bull Banksia
Picnic lunch	Turi pumping up the tyres after having hit the dunes	The Gap near Torndirrup Natonal Park
Majestic tingle wood	Winery entrance	Kangaroo mother with Joey grazing from pouch
Turi next to a karri tree	Rocks near Wave Rock	Royal Hakea
Western rosella

The Chinese calendar -which existed there already since around 2000 BC- was adopted by Japan from around the 6th century AD, together with Buddhism. The Zodiac has an influence on the character of mankind. Each of the 12 ‘animals’ has specific characteristics. Persons born in the year of the Rat (nezumi) are charming, honest, ambitious, and have a tremendous capacity for pursuing a course to its end. They will work hard for their goals. They are easily angered but maintain an outward show of control. During the last century, years of the Rat were in 1912, 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984 and 1996. In each 60 year cycle, the 12 zodiac animals are repeated 5 times, representing 5 elements Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Of course it is not that simple; 60 is merely the most common denominator of 10 x 12, the ten being the 5 elements but in order to make it ten, the Japanese have adopted a big (elder) brother and small (younger) brother of each of the five stated elements. In all eastern languages, big brother and younger brother is one noun each, and not formed by a noun (brother) plus an adjective (younger or bigger [elder]) like in western languages. Actually, the year of the Rat starts on February 7, 2008 and lasts till January 26, 2009. As the 1st animal in the Eastern zodiac, the Rat indicates the hours between 11 pm and 1 am. Best wishes to all for a splendid Year of the Rat, 2008!

The netsuke chosen to represent 2008 is a magnificently carved female rat, 3.6 cm tall, clutching a large chili pod, the long tail lying over the right paw, exquisitely patinated ivory eyes inlaid in dark horn, 18th century, signed Masanao (Kyoto-school).

The entire Bosshard clan wishes you a wonderful 2007/08 Holiday Season with lots of fun, happiness, good health and some great relaxation or even a vacation with friends and family, leading into a beautiful spring and great summer season, too.

By the way, if you would like to read the contents of all the pages in smaller or bigger characters, it is very simple: go to View, Text size and choose your preferred size. That is all it takes – try it!

Dear friends,

The New Year saw us in Nevis, with great fireworks lighting the sky from the Four Seasons resort. On this occasion, we left early to help Anton Mosimann turn 60 in style at the Dorchester in London and the next day help Bill Brake celebrate his 75th birthday on his country estate in South Kent.

From there, we flew to Switzerland to assist the birth of our third grandchild and heir, Matteo Luca, a stout lad of 52 cm and 4,5 kg, on February 27.

After that, we flew right back to the US, first to Los Angeles where we caught up with a number of friends we had not seen/visited for a while, and later to San Francisco where we did the same. The most spectacular visit was to the Ridge winery in Sonoma County where we saw many of the old wines of 80 years and more still in use…

For the rest of the letter, please click on “read more” below

Pictures covering 2007 will be loaded hopefully before Christmas….

From there, a direct flight to Hong Kong, and once again we stayed at the still spectacular Peninsula, where we spent our honeymoon nearly 40 years ago… Then it was off to Guilin and its stunning mountains, this time in the mist. We had been there many moons before, but in the wrong season, when the weather was fine and clear, so just regular mountains. Industrialization had left many scars – the easiest to see was the fact there was no water in the Li River; we had to travel by car for one hour to get to the boats taking us to the tour that 15 years before had started at the entrance of the Hotel…

Shanghai had become the metropolis everyone had described. Skyscrapers everywhere, traffic galore, and pretty bad pollution. We left hoping for some peace and quiet in Thailand, but we got hell there; we never thought it could get so hot in Chiang Mai, well over 40 C. The same in Phuket and again in Bangkok. Global warming must have reached there, too. At these temperatures, even pools and the sea are no longer a relief – I would have preferred to be in Antarctica… Whilst Uschi left for home at the end of April, I headed East to Japan spending time in Tokyo and Kobe/Osaka.

Summer was spent mostly in Switzerland, in Germany and a short trip to Northern Italy.

The major event of 2007 came in October. With another couple, Susy and Adi Schulthess, we made a 2 weeks plus trip to Kyushu and Kyoto in Japan. This is the third such trip to Japan we have undertaken together, with a comfortable van, and always with the same driver, Mohri-san. We started in *censored*uoka, then headed to Nagasaki, Unzen, Amakusa, Kumamoto, Mount Aso, Beppu, Yufuin, Miyazaki, Kagoshima, Ibusuki; all this added up to 2150 km in a Nissan El Grand van, one way rental. Then a flight to Osaka Itami airport and the same type of van, with a different but fully English-speaking driver, who took us to Kyoto for a 3-day stay and sight seeing and shopping tour around the Shinmonzen Street and Teramachi area. He was so knowledgeable, we nicknamed him Mr. Google. After that, the Schulthess couple returned home, and we continued to Osaka, Kobe and later to Naruto, on the island of Shikoku, to see the finalization of the Sistine Chapel – a 1:1 copy, in porcelain plates, of Michelangelo’s original in the Vatican, housed in The Otsuka Museum of Art, TOMA, along with some 1000 of the world’s most famous masterpieces. For further details, please go to the website: http://www.otsuka-global.com/sr/museum/index.html (Museum) .

We stayed at their brand new Hotel Ridge, a jewel of a boutique hotel serenely overlooking the Onaruto suspension bridge and the famous whirlpools where the Pacific hits the Inland sea and the southern coast of Awaji island. The bathwater comes from a natural spring, and dinner is served in a renovated Taisho (1920’s) period Hakone guest house that was brought down to Tokushima, lovingly renovated, and expertly rebuilt on the ridge next to the hotel. The food, needless to say, was prepared by a master chef trained for years in Belgium, France and Switzerland, who runs a renowned Naruto restaurant and whose services are called upon whenever needed at the hotel.

On the way to Tokyo, we dropped in at Nagoya where a friend had already been hospitalized for several months with a blood clot which had led to a stroke and then to complications with his leg. We then continued by bullet train to Tokyo, where we met up with a bevy of friends to wind up our visit savoring the favorite dishes in most of our former pet hangouts. The day flight home was extremely long, we thought, but we found all in good order, clean and even the weather was still good.

No sooner back in Switzerland, I took a short trip to Lisbon to visit Julio de Sousa who managed the justly famous Portuguese restaurant at EXPO 70 in Osaka. It was kind of symptomatic that the fine driver who met our flight from Kyushu at Osaka airport drove us to Kyoto chose the back highway. Therefore, we all of a sudden saw the landmark EXPO sun symbol appear in the driving rain, still standing proudly after 37 years… Uschi and I nearly started to cry of emotion – we had been at EXPO 80-90 times as I had close links through the Pepsi Cola Pavilion. The driver is the one we nick-named Mr. Google for his fabled knowledge of Kyoto as well as Japanese and general history.

Not to be outdone, Uschi joined Alexandra for a short trip to London at the end of November for some last minute Christmas shopping, a play at the Cambridge Theater, and a great dinner at Mosimann’s. Nic dutifully babysat the three young kids at their home whilst yours truly was the solitary straw widower in La Tour…

December 10th is departure for us to Nevis, via Paris, Saint Martin. Nic, Alexandra and the three grand children will join us there on December 15th and stay for the entire Holidays – hopefully, Keana at 2 ¾ years will learn to swim as Leonie did 2 years ago at the same age.

Uschi and I will stay on in Nevis till late in March, perhaps taking a trip to the US or to a neighboring island, in order have a change of venue or to meet some friends and buy some foodstuffs.

In closing, Uschi joins me in wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a most wonderful, happy, successful and healthy New Year of the Rat 2008 – yes, it will be my year!

Willi & Uschi

The Chinese calendar -which existed there already since around 2000 BC- was adopted by Japan from around the 6th century AD, together with Buddhism. The Zodiac has an influence on the character of mankind. Each of the 12 ‘animals’ has specific characteristics. Boars are brave. They have tremendous inner strength which no one can overcome. They display great honesty. They are short-tempered, yet hate to quarrel or have arguments. They are affectionate and kind to their loved ones. During the last century, years of the boar were in 1911, 1923, 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983 and 1995. In each 60 year cycle, the 12 zodiac animals are repeated 5 times, representing 5 elements Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Of course it is not that simple; 60 is merely the most common denominator of 10 x 12, the ten being the 5 elements but in order to make it ten, the Japanese have adopted a big (elder) brother and younger brother of each of the five stated elements. In all eastern languages, big brother and younger brother is one noun each, and not formed by a noun (brother) plus an adjective (younger or big [elder]) like in western languages. Actually, the year of the young brother fire boarstarts on February 18, 2007 and lasts till February 6, 2008. As the 12th animal in the Eastern zodiac, the boar indicates the hours between 9 pm and 11 pm. Best wishes to all for a splendid Year of the Wild Boar, 2007!

The netsuke chosen to represent 2007 is a recumbent boar, about to rise, 5.25 cm long, exquisitely patinated boxwood, eyes inlaid in yellow horn, early 19th century, signed Toyomasa (Tamba-school).

The entire Bosshard clan wishes you a wonderful 2006/07 Holiday Seaon with lots of fun, happiness, good health and some great relaxation or even a vacation with friends and family, leading into a beautiful spring and great summer season, too.

By the way, if you would like to read the contents of all the pages in smaller or bigger characters, it is very simple: go to View, Text size and choose your preferred size. That is all it takes – try it!

Dear friends,

Soon, another year will be coming to an end. It isunbelievable how time ‘flies’ faster than ever before….

Uschi and I are once again thoroughly pleased, health- andotherwise, with what the year 2006 has had in store for us. In fact, had itbeen any better, we would have started to worry… especially since we were ableto keep those occasional hiccups, common to our vintage, down to a distant rumble with the help of a gently increasing array of pills, potions and tinctures… I liked this opening paragraph so much last year that I am repeatingit also this year – it even appears that I copied it from a friend’s previous message; that is why I liked it so much as I myself could never have come up with such a nice phraseology.

The return from Nevis came in early April with our Swiss garden in good shape and already flowering with forsythia and a myriad of other smaller plants.

My usual Japan trip was highlighted by the coming to Tokyo, for the first time since he left Japanin 1993 for his studies in St. Gallen, of son Nic with his brother-in-law Oliver Kuhlenkamp. I was able to arrange a 1100 cc BMW motor bike from a friend and the two enjoyed some great days in the Toyo area, including a visit to Ryogoku (sumo with dad), tempura with the Sam & Hiroko Okura, yakitori with Mrs. Mori and son Taro, Teppanyaki with his old diving friend Hiramoto-san, and a great many others without my company. The two also made a short visit by bullet train to Kyoto and Kobe where they met many former friends but the most memorable visit was with Emiko Takeda of Higashiyama Sanso who took time out to show the two young guys numerous aspects of old Kyoto which I had never even heard of.

The top event of the year was yours truly’s 70th birthdayparty on July 15^th. We brought the date (really on July 20^th) forward to this day because it coincided with the last day of the Montreux JazzFestival. 80 persons gathered on the Embarcadero at Villeneuve shortly before 8o’clock on a wonderful warm Saturday. The 90 year old paddle steamer m/s Vevey pulled up shortly before 7:45 PM and the guests started to board, to be greetedby a 5 piece Jazz band. The Vevey “set her sails” at 8 PM sharp with jazz music playing and champagne flowing.

I cannot name all of the friends by name – only those who came from the farthest corners of the world:

John & Nora Flint from Sydney, Bob & Jo Ann Huthart as well as Max & Elaine Kaegi from Hong Kong, Joe & Martha Murphy fromNew Hope (USA), Bill & Valerie Brake and Anton & Kathrin Mosimann fromLondon, Karl & Brigitte Hoermann from Kematen (Austria), Herman & Loes Hedemann from Mol (Belgium), Annette Ovink of De Lutte (Holland) and of course my parents-in-law from Kaernten in Austria, as well as many many friends from all over Switzerland.

We all had a good time with fine specialties prepared onboard by a dedicated team of professional chefs in a the tiny kitchen. The gourmet dishes were served splendidly in the elegant Belle Époque Salon ofthe Vevey and the vintage wines served in fine crystal glasses were expertlypoured. A fine cheese selection rounded off the dinner with a great 1982 Fleur Pétrus.

Espresso was served after midnight with the birthday cake and patisserie – more than half was left over and was enjoyed by the Vevey’s crew and the chefs and the dining room attendants, they all more than deserved it.

All had a great time till 2 AM when the Vevey returned to the pier of Villeneuve where the MontreuxPalace deluxe bus and taxis took the hotel guest back to their respective hotels. Others drove home safely as most appointed drivers did not drink after midnight.

In mid August, we all traveled to Kempten, where we celebrated Uschi’s mother’s 92^nd birthday on 21^st.

On October 5, we started a 3 weeks trip, first for a week to Irelandwhere we had never been before. We arrived in Dublin where we rented an Audi A6 Diesel, a very economic but quite fast car, much to my amazement. We drove west, to Clifden in the Connemara district. We always stayed in B&Bs, bed and breakfast places, and we found that because of an investment law ending in 2006, this year many such new establishments had sprung up or older ones were spruced up. We had nothing but very good experiences, fine accommodations, mostly two beds, and great full Irish breakfasts with cereals, eggs and bacon, sausage, often home baked bread, fresh butter and milk, good coffee though mostly instant, mostly freeze dried, rarelyNestle (considered the best but also most expensive). We generally paid €30 to 35 per person – very reasonable for the fine accommodation. Internet access: none or very poor. The national provider first looks after the larger citiesand after real businesses… not B&Bs!

We took in all the sights down the western part (Ring of Kerry) with all 4 peninsulas and then the seaboard route to Cork, Waterford back to Dublin. All in all a great experiment. 5 daysof rain, that is why Ireland is so green, 2 very sunny and warm days. Miles ofgood highways lined with 10 foot high fuchsia trees in full bloom, a real delight. And dry walls to kill for – especially when I think how ours in Nevis has been built!!!

The 8 or so days in Portugal with our friend Julio de Sousa passed in a zippy. We had not seen each other in years and had a lot of catching up to do. Went to buy some really great shirts, no changes were needed. Unfortunately, the same Big & Tall Store had no jackets or trousers for my size, their largest items were just one size too small…

One day, we took their 8 year old modern train with atilting capability, which means when it runs at 200 km-h through a curve it tilts to absorb the speed’s outwards pull. It is a bit like the French TGV only more comfortable, with a wagon service that offers relax class clients a free newspaper and a coffee or a drink. It takes you to the terminal Braga in the north in 4 hours from Lisbon, with about 5 or 6 stops.

One rainy day, we drove with Julio’s brother’s VW to thevery famous Spanish pilgrim’s city Santiago de Compostela, some 250 km awayfrom Braga.Some people make pilgrimages from all over Europe to that City ON FOOT, some thousands of kilometers.Uschi’s cousin Rosi walked a 10 day stretch and that was only half the way on Spanish soil a few years back; this was in an organized group whose baggage was transported by a van from overnight place tothe next. Think of the lady friend of Cousin Sylvia who walked from the Zurich area all the way to Santiago, carrying all her belongings, closeto 1800 km!

From Portugal,we flew to London and first visited the Bradshaws in the New Forest for a  leisurelyvisit. They could not attend the birthday celebrations thus we had not seen them for a while. Back in London,we met with the usual array of  friends in a number of new restaurants which were all very exciting and very good but also exceedingly expensive, especially because the price tags had to be multiplied by the factor 2,4 to arrive at the Swiss Franc price. Our last meal was a delicious tempura for Uschi and a sashimi and sushi lunch at Zuma near Harrods, Uschi had a mineral water, I a 75 ml glass of sake and all came to a staggering £100, or over Yen 20’000, thus aprice like at Kyubei in Ginza. But I admit, itwas well served, and very good. I had chu toro and also uni, and that is of course expensive also in London.

Before returning to Nevis on the 8^th via PuertoRico, we spent a wonderful 5 days with Joe and Martha Murphy in their Hilltop home in New Hope, PA, sprinkled with lunches, dinners, concerts, a catered dinner party at their home – we all had a marvelous time with them and their friends and the weather played a most important role – nothing but sunshine, first balmy, later biting cold as per the season, but no snow..

In closing, Uschi joins me in wishing you all a very MerryChristmas and a most wonderful, successful and healthy New Year of the Wild Boar 2007.

Willi & Uschi

The Chinese calendar -which existed there already since around 2000 BC- was adopted by Japan from around the 6th century AD, together with Buddhism. The Zodiac has an influence on the character of mankind. Each of the 12 ‘animals’ has specific characteristics. Dogs are proud yet good natured. They can listen, are loyal, sincere and watchful. Thus persons born under the zodiac sign of the dog stand for friendship, faithfulness and devotion. They are said to be sincere, friendly, discreet and trustworthy, however they can also be very conservative, often also eccentric, obstinate and egoistical. During the last century, years of the dog were in 1910, 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982 and 1994. In each 60 year cycle, the 12 zodiac animals are repeated 5 times, representing 5 elements Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Of course it is not that simple; 60 is only the most common denominator of 10 x 12, the ten being the 5 elements but in order to make it ten, the Japanese have adopted a big (elder) brother and younger brother of each of the five stated elements. In all eastern languages, big brother and younger brother is one noun each, and not formed by a noun (brother) plus an adjective (younger o rbig [elder]) like in western languages. Actually, the year of the fire dog starts on Jan. 29, 2006 and lasts till Febr. 17, 2007 As the 11th animal in the Eastern zodiac, the dog indicates the hours between 7 pm and 9 pm. Best wishes to all for a great Year of the Dog!

The netsuke chosen to represent 2006 is a seated dog (Spaniel), 4 cm high, exquisitely patinated ivory, early nineteenth century, signed Okatomo (Kyoto-school).

Both Uschi and Willi wish you a wonderful winter season with lots of fun, happiness, good health and some great relaxation or a vacation with friends and/or family. If anyone is close to Nevis, let us know – we can come to St. Kitts to meet your ship and see the sights there with you, or if you have time, come spend time with us in our home in Nevis.

By the way, if you would like to read the contents of all the pages in smaller or bigger characters, it is very simple: go to View, Text size and choose your preferred size. That is all it takes – try it!

Dear friends,

Another year is soon coming to an end. Quite unbelievable how time ‘flies’ faster than ever before….

We are thoroughly pleased, health- and otherwise, with what the year 2005 has had in store for us. In fact, had it been any better, we would have started to worry… especially since we were able to keep those occasional hiccups, common to our vintage, down to a distant rumble with the help of a gently increasing array of pills, potions and tinctures…

The return from Nevis came in late March with our Swiss garden in good shape and already flowering with forsythia and other smaller plants. Uschi went to see her mother in Germany on April 20 and on her way home, she was already able to visit our second granddaughter Keana Marie, born on April 26 in the same St. Gall hospital where her older sister Leonie saw the light of the day some 3 years earlier. Keana was baptized in the church of Pfungen near Winterthur on July 10 – she is growing steadily after a nasty spell of diarrhea in August, and is a real darling though entirely different in character than her older sister. For more details on our grand daughter, please click on:
http://www.bosshard.net/main/index.php?topic=Granddaughters

Nic & Keana shortly after birth	Oma Hilde holding sleeping Keana, Opa Hans, Uroma Hilde	Leonie blowing out the candle during Baptism

Our highlight this year was undoubtedly the 3 week plus trip to Japan. After Uschi had decided that she would come along, too, I started working on our Nevisian neighbors, Joe & Martha Murphy, to join us. For years we had talked about such an eventuality and 2005 was the year it finally happened.

The Murphys flew in from LAX, where they had visited their youngest son, and were ready for our first Teppanyaki on the top floor of Royal Park Hotel. During the next days we made sightseeing and shopping trips in Tokyo, visited Kamakura and its Great Buddha, as well as the various minka and the gallery of Takishita-san with its still fabulous collection of old imari (porcelain) and byobu (6 panel folding screens). We visited the Toshogu Shrine in Nikko where Tokugawa Ieyasu’s Mausoleum is kept; he was the first shogun of the Tokugawa Dynasty which is also known as the Edo period (1600-1868). Unexpectedly there were few visitors that day and we had the shrine virtually to ourselves. As we had a comfortable car, we drove up the winding Iroha saka road to Lake Chuzenji and saw a number of cherry trees in full bloom late in May…

Joe & Martha Murphy on the stairs of Tokugawa’s Mausoleum in Nikko	Golden Pavillion in Kyoto	Daimyio Joseph Murphy at the Tawaraya

We stayed at the old traditional Tawaraya Ryokan in downtown Kyoto where we had an outstanding Japanese dinner served in Joe’s & Martha’s room. After we encountered some difficulties at Hotel Okura’s Japanese restaurant with the narrow seating at the counter, we arranged for the Tawaraya to serve us in a comfortable way. They solved this very nicely by putting 4 armchairs around the traditional low table, placing an indigo runner over it and 4 individual lacquer banquet tables on top of it. Never had anyone dined better at the Tawaraya, or especially as comfortably. Even at breakfast they had found a good solution for sitting more comfortably.

The next day our first visit was to the newly renovated Katsura Imperial Villa, where Uschi ran afoul of the imperious Imperial Household Agency guide – he had twice caught her taking pictures where it was not allowed. I got even with him at the end of the tour when I set him the riddle about when the Great Buddha of Nara was built – of course, he gave me as his answer a (wrong) date, but I came back coolly with: “But he is still sitting, sir. I actually asked you, ‘When was he standing?’” (play on words in Japanese). The 40 or so Japanese visitors broke into loud laughter…

Of course we had all kinds of fine meals at the Apicius, Fook Lam Moon, Mitsui Club and others. Kappabashi was visited twice, and the ladies went out shopping on their own too. They also braved the early hours one day, getting up at 5 in order to visit the famous Tsukiji Fish Market.

In June, Uschi and I departed for London for our usual trysts. This year, we also flew north to Edinburgh, where we stayed with James Smith and his wife Julia in a former mill, wonderfully renovated, with the water still running under the house. This can be viewed inside the house because of a cleverly built floor of thick glass. The garden is also a beauty and James’s cooking is still great.

On the day of arrival, we visited them way back in their fishing cottage on the side of the river Tay, the longest (193 km) in Scotland – it was very tough to catch any of the fine Atlantic salmon.

We also paid a visit to Glamis Castle, family home of the Earls of Strathmore and a royal residence since 1372. It is the childhood home of HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, birthplace of Princess Margaret, and legendary setting for Shakespeare’s famous play ‘Macbeth’. I was amazed how many Chinese and Japanese objets d’art, porcelain etc they had, all brought over by the Dutch. You can rent it for corporate meetings, banquets and of course for great weddings.

As golfers, we could not leave Scotland without a visit to the famous Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. We had no time to play a round of golf there – we had not planned this visit, but we had sufficient time to enjoy a fine luncheon with the Smiths and buy various paraphernalia in the shop.

Glamis Castle with a famous history	A small harbour south of St. Andrews	Willi, Julia & James Smith

The City of Edinburgh itself is a wonderfully kept medieval town with lots of interesting old buildings, and a large castle overlooking the city – we could see it from the windows of our Caledonian Hilton room. We also paid a visit to the m/s Britannia, which has been decommissioned and is moored at the nearby port for anyone to visit or to hire for expensive private functions.

On 21.8, we all traveled to Kempten, where we celebrated Uschi’s mother’s 91st birthday.

On Sept. 23, Willi left for San Francisco, where he joined the bi-annual Netsuke Convention. There he renewed many old friendships and also made new ones. Some of the netsuke for sale were just outstanding, albeit also quite expensive. Willi returned home on October 5 after some days visiting friends in the LA region and enjoying an encounter with his former Otoman snarling tiger at LACMA.

In October, Nic came with Alexandra and the two granddaughters to visit us for a long and most happy weekend in La Tour-de-Peilz on the shores of Lake Geneva.

Alexandra & Keana in La Tour	Omi Uschi & Keana	The Matterhorn from Alp Findelen courtesy DIAGENTUR Elke Stolt

In early November, both of us flew to Thailand for our annual vacation there, first a few days in Chiang Mai to get our teeth in perfect order again, and also because of those beautiful surroundings, by now quite familiar. Later, we were a week on Phuket which has been remarkably well rebuilt following the disastrous tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004, this followed by another week in the Santiburi Resort on Koh Samui which this year turned out to be a completely washed-out affair. We could not even leave the island as planned because on that day all flights were cancelled due to poor visibility caused by the monsoon type rains. Then it was time for our annual ‘spa’ week, in a brand new mountain to near Chiang Rai, in the Golden Triangle between Thailand, Laos and Burma. On the last day we surprised two former spa-friends from Hong Kong in The Legend of Chiang Rai.

Welcome back to the Santiburi	Satay vendor in style of old Floating Market	Various curries from the stall

From The Legend in Chiang Rai, we returned by a most spacious 10-seater Toyota van through the lush yet very mountainous countryside back to Chiang Mai for 2 days from where we hopped over to Luang Prabang in Laos for 4 days – this will be written up with photographs on the website – please click on http://www.bosshard.net/main/index.php?topic=Trips-Thailand – it should by then be the first article on that page, entitled LAOS 12.2005 and followed by the Tooth Saga – hopefully before the end of the year.

After returning from Laos, we wound up the trip with a few days in Bangkok before returning to Switzerland to be with the family and our 2 grand daughters for the Christmas Season.

In closing, Uschi joins me in wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a most wonderful, successful and healthy New Year of the Dog 2006.

Willi & Uschi Bosshard