Dear Friends

2002 had many memorable events:

Kay and Stew Madin, our first acquaintances and hosts when we arrived in California in 1978, both passed away within three months. Anne, Christopher and Corinne were the last to visit them in summer 2000. We all treasure fond memories of many years of friendship.

This fall we finally made it to Portofino, the famous fishing village on the Ligurian coast, highly praised in every U.S. tour book on Italy. As almost all Hollywood has stayed there, the prices are astronomical. The place itself, however, is absolutely beautiful. Unspoilt, kitsch-free, traffic-free. We found that the affordable place to stay is nearby Camogli, on the northern side of the Portofino peninsula, also a picturesque town. The region offers great hiking, some of which easy, some quite taxing. We did both kinds enjoying the leisurly walks as much as the more dangerous precipitous parts.

Christopher and Corinne are no longer at the Mogelsberg Resort , but have moved to the Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen. Christopher is executive chef at „Schlössli Wörth“ and Corinne now works as assistant to the manager of the restaurant. For some pictures, see

Here are some pictures of Schlössli Woerth and the Rhine Falls

Anne and Bruno continue to live happily in Burgdorf. Anne has completed her stage at a lawyers‘ office and is preparing her bar exam which she wants to take in 2003. They entertain a lot and are both excellent cooks.

Switzerland gave herself a big party in 2002: Expo 02. It was not what a national exhibition usually is: there was no show of cheese, choicolate, watches etc. But there was a lot to make people think about themselves - if they want ed to. There was superb and extravangant architecture on the lakes of Murten, Biel and Neuchatel, there was much clever animation. The Swiss, who participated in the Expo very actively and with much gusto, were turned into consumer products, into one-day lovers, into spiritualists, into blind humans, into gold-greedy maniacs, and much more. The four arteplages of Murten, Biel, Neuchâtel and Yverdon for six months became the places to be, full of color, of ideas, of music, theatre, films, and light-shows. Expo 02 was the main reason why we did not do any traveling abroad - apart from going to Camogli and Portofino, which, however, are quite close by. We did go to Ascona in spring , see also and particularly, the ascona webcam!

and to the Valle Bregaglia in summer. You know that we like Ascona and that we have gone there regularly during the last 20 years. Soglio, in Bregaglia, however, was a place Urs had not been to before. Superbly located in the mountains, above chestnut forests between the Engadin and Lake Como. It is a jewel of an old and well preserved village in the southern Alpine parts of Switzerland. The internationally famous artists Giacometti (Alberto, Giovanni, Augusto, Diego) hail from the valley.

View parts of Valle Bregaglia here!

Only two visitors from the U.S. came to see us this past year, which is rather unusual. Is it that because we did not want to travel far, you did not want to do so, either? Only two visitors from the U.S. came to see us this past year, which is rather unusual. Will you be the next ones to come? Those that will make it here, will get a surprise: after 20 years of renovation the Bernese Cathedral can finally be seen in all its glory, without any scaffolding! Also, the Bern railway station has been given a new entrance and a modern addition. And after Renzo Piano, who is busy building the Paul-Klee-Center in the East, Daniel Liebeskind, another star architect, is now ready to build a daring lifestyle center in the West.

Vreni still enjoys her part-time work as a paralegal, and Urs continues his work with the English students. He enjoyed participating in a European Science Foundation Conference in Crete in fall, as the only representative of Switzerland.

We wish you a joyful Christmas and a happy, healthy and peaceful new year.

Love,

Vreni and Urs