catchup...

..a major event in the valley..."la combat de reigns"...a contest to see who's milking cow is the most dominant.

the cows...



a farmer with his winning cow...



through the eyes of a farmer...



man-cow love...



funny warning sign...not sure if it was meant to be funny.



group tour on lunch break...(the Swiss are very serious about their lunch breaks)



groovy rock shingles...Harry, are you out there?



Old Roman amphitheatre from a spectator's perspective...




and, from a participant's perspective!

this and that...

Here's a pic of the statue of St. Bernard at the mountain pass named after him.The Patron Saint of Mountaineers and Skiers. At the pass is a small hotel and the monestary where the dogs used to be bred. The road to the pass is closed in the winter but you can easily skin up to it...and continue up numerous possible ridges, etc. The pass also is the border with Italy...which made me feel like a modern day Hannibal...except he had elephants (supposedly) and went the other direction.



The rumour that some ski resorts are covering their glaciers is true...here is proof (if one takes media as proof these days)...noting that you can't cover your glacier unless you have a permit!




chocolate...a miniscule sample of the varieties...




a view of the town we're in...Martigny...I'll point out Henkka's place in person...




biking down the Rhone valley...





it's not all cheese and chocolate here!!




happy swiss cows...



I'll try and figure out a way to get the cow bell sounds on the blog...

dairy porn diary

...so I found this stuff called Reblochon...I think it's French for "kick ass cheese"...perhaps not. Read about Reblochon...it's interesting.

Anyway, here it is...



and a close up...noting the soft washed rind

Down with Pasteurization!!!


I also found some 'yogurt butter'...you can eat it by the spoonful, no kidding.



...bread is now just a delivery mechanism for high fat animal products.

yummy

vancation

...back in the big shitty. people don't say hi much here.

i come to work around 9am and leave about midnight...that's been my routine for the last several days. gotta love those looooong weekends.
i take the sea-bus...the schedule of which takes 3 clicks once you've found the translink website...which 'www.translink.ca' and 'www.translink.com' don't work...you gotta add the ".bc.ca" which is obscure and cheap considering their budget. you'd think they'd spring for the 30 bucks for just the .ca and redirect....but noooo, they decided to build a tunnel under the city instead. but truthfully, i don't really look at the schedule much anyway...i just walk with the hoards and have faith that the matrix will make it happen. i saw a lady in a red dress today. i listened to Gord's The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald while on the sea-bus yesterday to get a true naval experience. that was followed up by bits and pieces of 'gi-jane' in the wee hours...sometimes i wonder if navy seal training is as fun as it looks. the new office is massive...i actually need to plan my water and bathroom excursions...and when at opposite ends, one can hardly recognize the coworker approaching.
there's a cafe a half block away...the 'Edelweiss Cafe'...i get the 'Edel Bagel' every morning. it's run by Joe and Helen. no, they're not swiss...chinese actually.
i'm procrastinating and time is running out for this thing we gotta build this week...my own modern Sword of Damocles.

peace out

goolander

dedicated to Erin...