{"id":856,"date":"2019-12-06T11:58:42","date_gmt":"2019-12-06T10:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bosshard.net\/blog\/?p=856"},"modified":"2019-12-09T22:34:20","modified_gmt":"2019-12-09T21:34:20","slug":"year-in-review-2019-happy-new-year-2020-letter-to-family-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bosshard.net\/blog\/?p=856","title":{"rendered":"Year-in-Review 2019: \u2013 Happy New Year 2020 \u2013 Letter to family & friends"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dear\nfriends,<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nin most of the past 25 years, we started off the year 2019 in our home in Nevis\nwhere we had arrived on December 20 from Miami, after traveling via the Far\nEast to the West Coast. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\ntime we had no guests visiting but we went for another one-week Windstar Cruise\nin late February on their 5-master flagship sailing from Philipsburg, St.\nMarteen to the Virgin Islands, to Barbuda (Antigua), to St. Barth and back to\nPhilipsburg. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uschi\ncontinued physiotherapy on her foot that was operated on in Vevey in July 2018,\nbut it continued to hurt, so the doctor agreed to take the plates and screws\nout in April instead of July as had been initially planned. It is still not\ngood as I write this\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nMay, during Willi\u2019s record 25th<\/sup> visit to Japan for sumo and seeing\nhis former friends and colleagues after his retirement in 1994, Uschi had a\nvisit from her cousin Rosi Hagenmaier in La Tour. The two ladies had a great\ntime together in nice spring weather, with narcissus still plentiful and in\nfull flower above Montreux.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After\nmy return from Japan, I had arranged a visit to get an infiltration into my\nspine as the pain in my lower back had started to get worse from over a year\nearlier. I experienced this earlier in Australia where the same treatment was\nvery successful; unfortunately, this time it did not bring any relief. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nJune, we also flew to Reykjavik in Iceland for a short but interesting visit,\nusing the end of a RTW ticket. As we both were not good walkers (Uschi-foot;\nWilli-back), we had arranged for a fantastic full-day helicopter tour, but this\nhad to be canceled due to bad weather\u2026 The sea-bus tour we took instead was no\ncomparison, though, of course very much less expensive.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nJuly, I sold my 25-year-old BMW740i. It was in excellent condition with merely\n75,000 km on the odometer. I hardly used it as parking space in our area was\ndifficult (too narrow, one could not open the door to get out!) The dealer\noffered 3,500 francs but Nic got me to auction it off where we got 10,550\u2026 Half\nof the extra profit to the man with the idea.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then\nUschi lost a bridge! The young dentist doctors here did not know what to do as\nthe chief was on vacation. So, I called the one who had done it in Chiangmai.\nHe said, come next Monday, and I\u2019ll fix it for free, it\u2019s still under\nguarantee. Remember, when I did it, I could not make an implant because she was\nunder chemotherapy so I said the bridge might become loose and fall out? And we\ncould fix it in 2-2 \u00bd years? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So,\nwe went there, and the dentist first added bone powder to her jawbone before\ndrilling for 2 implants and further arranged for a new bridge to be set after 2\nmonths.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately,\nafter we got back, Uschi developed a problem as the bone material was rejected\nunexpectedly. He advised us to see the younger dentist which we did. The\ndentist, in a 3-hour operation cleaned the former bone out, stopped the\ninfection and added new (Swiss) cow bone, which her body accepted. All is fine\nnow, the 2 implants were saved, but she must wait 6 months for them to be set\nand the bridge to be added. So, we will fly to Nevis first in mid-December, via\nMiami, where we will visit with friends, and then go Chiang Mai at the end of\nMarch 2020. What a tooth problem!!!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nJuly\/August, there was the superlative 5-week F\u00eate des Vignerons in Vevey, a\nmajor event celebrated every 20-25 years. A huge arena with 20\u2019000 comfortable\nseats was built with the largest LED stage in the world allowing for the most wonderful\nnight shows by the 5500 enthusiastic local performers for the visitors from all\nover Switzerland and abroad. We had our cousin Silvia visiting for a few days\nand enjoyed the show in fine weather one fine night. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At\nthe beginning of October, Uschi and I made a 1-week trip to Germany, or we\ncould say the somewhat less handicapped visiting those more handicapped friends\nand family. First, we visited the Ganslosers in Deggingen, 2 days later, we\ndrove over to Kempten im Allg\u00e4u (Uschi\u2019s hometown) where we visited her only\nsurviving aunt B\u00e4rbel, 90, since last year in a beautifully situated home. On\nthe way back to our hotel, we called Peter, another cousin of Uschi\u2019s. He was\nnot well, but agreed to see us for a cup of coffee and we managed to arrive at\nhis home just as a tremendous downpour fell over the area. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nnext day, a short drive to F\u00fcssen, site of the famous Neuschwanstein Castle of\nKing Ludwig II, but that was not our reason for going there. Uschi\u2019s cousin\nRosi was in a well-known rehab clinic nearby where she is training to walk\nagain. It was a long and wonderful visit with Rosi who was tired but in fine\nspirits.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That week of visiting friends and family not in top form of health ended in some wonderful ways. I had called an old friend from Kobe days trying to invite him and his wife to dinner at my hotel in Zurich. He had already planned a Chamois dinner, and would we not wish to join them? Of course, we were delighted! Game is a favorite of ours, and it\u2019s in season. For Saturday, the Cha\u00eene des R\u00f4tisseurs had their luncheon at the Fujiya, the Japanese Restaurant of Hotel Ascot where we stay in Zurich, and my friend Adi Schulthess invited me as a guest. We had a great time with top Japanese food and the best of service by their chefs. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had some great lunches and dinners during the month of November with with a number of good friends from the Rhone plains through Glion \u2013 Vevey \u2013 Blonay area to Lausanne city where we were, among such prestigious places as La Table d\u2019Edgar at the Lausanne Palace and the H\u00f4tel de Ville in Crissier. It seems we did not even gain any weight at all\u2026. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 3rd, we arrived in Miami for 2 nights, then we drove via the Alligator Alley up to Sarasota to Longboat Key to join Martha Murphy in her swell home and spend a wonderful time with her and grandson Hudson who was recuperating from a tough bronchitis.<\/strong> After long chats of old times in Nevis and great times together with Joe in Japan and Switzerland, and many a fine meal, we will head back for Miami via the East Coast, from where we will fly to our winter home in Nevis on December 18th.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In closing, Uschi joins me in\nwishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a most wonderful, happy, successful\nand healthy New Year of the Rat 2020! Yes, it\u2019s my Year, I will have completed\n7 zodiac cycles next July\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

W I L L I & U S C H I<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The VoiP number +41 44 586 5060 is\nin Zurich, Switzerland and reaches us anywhere in the world over the Internet;\nif no answer, please just leave a message on the answerphone with your number\nand we will call you back within 24 hours.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Nevis numbers: Land line +1 869 469 8818 with answer machine; Cell Willi +1 869 660 2000, Cell Uschi + 1 869 665 8322 \u2013 these numbers are only valid when we are on the island of Nevis! Use WhatsApp\/FaceTime!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear friends, As in most of the past 25 years, we started off the year 2019 in our home in Nevis where we had arrived on December 20 from Miami, after traveling via the Far East to the West Coast. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bosshard.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bosshard.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bosshard.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bosshard.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bosshard.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=856"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/bosshard.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":873,"href":"https:\/\/bosshard.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856\/revisions\/873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bosshard.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bosshard.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bosshard.net\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}