Swiss Solidarity fundraising for famine victims in Africa

The UN reports that the largest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War is unfolding in Africa. Swiss Solidarity and its partner relief organizations has launched an appeal for donations and 1m Swiss francs has already been raised. Today (11^th March) Swiss Solidarity and the Swiss Broadcasting Company (SRG SSR) has organised a major fundraising 24 hour campaign to help the victims of famine in Africa.

The national fundraising day is being organized by Swiss Solidarity and the Swiss Broadcasting Company (SRG SSR) and is supported by Swiss Solidarity’s partner relief organizations, an association of private radio stations (‘Privatradios pro Glückskette’), and other private media outlets. Numerous fundraising events have also been organized by the public.

From 6am this morning until midnight, more than 300 volunteers in four SRG SSR studios in Zurich, Chur, Lugano and Geneva will receive donation pledges via telephone.

Swiss Solidarity's partner relief organizations are already operating in Africa, but there is not enough money to continue their work in helping the local population. In South Sudan, where access to the worst hit regions is severely restricted, HEKS, Medair, Caritas Switzerland, the Swiss Red Cross and Terre des hommes – helping children worldwide are providing emergency relief to several thousand people, distributing food, water and medical aid. In Somalia, where the situation has deteriorated recently owing to a cholera epidemic, Save the Children, ADRA and Medair are providing relief. In Nigeria, Save the Children is helping large groups of refugees, using individual sums given by Swiss Solidarity.

Ways to make a donation:

• Online at www.swiss-solidarity.org
• Via your mobile with the Swiss Solidarity app
• With post office account 10-15000-6 (with the text “Famine”) 
• With Swiss Solidarity payment also available at all post offices. 
• On Twitter you can also raise money simply by retweeting #SwissSolidarityForAfrica with a photograph.

www.swiss-solidarity.org

Join Zurich Children's Libraries for free

@PBZ Sihlcity

My 10-year-old daughter is a prolific reader, in English and German, which I am keen to encourage for as long as I can. However, she much prefers to read in English so we are constantly hunting down ways to get hold of new books she can devour. We love libraries, which thankfully still seem to be very popular here in Switzerland. Poppy has read her way through the local village library and the library at Winterthur so we needed to head somewhere new.

I thought, where will the biggest collection of books be? Surely Zurich’s main library. Boy, was I wrong. Yesterday, we visited said library – on Muhlegasse, just off Neiderdorfstrasse – which was in a beautiful old building. As we made our way in we were stopped at the door by a security lady (who was really sweet and apologetic) and told we had to put our bags in a locker downstairs, which you needed a 2fr for (fortunately there was a change machine) Then my daughters decided they needed the toilet. So after half an hour of faffing around we eventually got inside the library – to find there were no books - immediately evident anyway. There were lots of people reading and studying but the books seemed to be an afterthought. We hunted around a little, climbing many stairs up to the top floor – where we eventually found some books. However by then I felt far too conspicuous with the only two children in the library alongside me and by now we were getting a few slightly irritated looks, so I gave up and sheepishly slinked out again, with two very fed up daughters in tow, muttering about a completely wasted hour. Fortunately I spotted the information desk and asked about children’s books, to be met with an amused smile and told that perhaps the ‘Pestalozzi Bibliothek’ 200 metres down the road would be more suitable.  

So we began another half-hearted hunt – and then up popped the Pestalozzi – formally the PBZ - which is actually a library dedicated to children! And get this - it’s free to join for all children up to the age of 16. (I think there is also an adult section and adults can join for 40fr) The library was down some gorgeous wooden stairs tucked away in a corner, making it feel very secret – and then you arrive in a brightly lit, spacious underground grotto full of books, comics, CDs and films. My daughters LOVE this place. There were books galore – and if there is a particular item that you would like to borrow, you can make a purchase suggestion and the library will consider buying the item - double whammy. There are lots of events taking place throughout the year, including those I have mentioned below.

And best of all – it is one of 14 dotted around the city, including at Sihlcity and Oerlikon – and you can return your books to any one of them. This works out nicely for us as we often visit the cinema at Sihlcity. I highly recommend this place – the English language book section was small but had a good, diverse selection – and of course there are plenty of other libraries we are now able to explore. Happy reading!

Up and coming events at PBZ libraries:

Easter Story, PBZ Sihlcity Mall, Erdgeschoss

For children from 4 years

Date: 15.04.2017

Time: 14.30 und 15.30

Reading in Riesbachs Garten, PBZ Riesbach

12 – to 16 authors can present their own short stories.

Date: 24.06.2017

Time: 2 pm

Parent-Child Coding Course, PBZ Affoltern

Children, together with an adult companion can playfully discover the digital world, creating their own computer or programming a dance figure.

Date: 06.05.2017 to 10.06.2017 (on five Saturdays)

Time: 9am until 10.30am

PBZ library website

Am Römerholz: A treasure trove of art

I’ve been to some amazing art galleries around the world – The Uffizi in Florence, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The Picasso Museum in Barcelona, The Prado in Madrid, to name but a few. But nothing prepared me for my visit to a certain art gallery in Winterthur yesterday.

Am Römerholz is the former residence of  Oskar Reinhart (1885-1965) who was born into an old family of Winterthur merchants. Inheriting his father Theodor’s devotion to art, he became a dedicated art collector once his duties to the family firm were relaxed at the age of 39 in 1924. Oskar also bought Am Romerholz at this time to house his expanding collection. He then lived in this villa until his death in 1965, surrounded by his beloved works of art. However, it was always his intention that the collection should ultimately benefit the community and in 1940 he donated his holdings of Austrian, German and Swiss art to the town of Winterthur, which has been housed since 1951 in the Museum Oskar Reinhart in the centre of town. In 1958, seven years before his death, he bequeathed the remaining part, together with the Am Römerholz villa, to the Swiss Confederation, which opened it to the public in 1970 - and it was this particular collection I went to see.

Hermann Hubacher Daphne and Chloe 1940-43

The sun was shining as I set out with my two daughters from Winterthur Bahnhof to walk to Am Römerholz, a 20 minute journey which actually took more like an hour, as we made a few wrong turns. The last five minute walk up a pretty steep hill is however signposted and the gates of the villa (signalled by three posters of paintings set in among the trees) are in a wooded place which feels quite mysterious and magical.

It all feels very understated as you pass through the gates which I love. Poppy actually asked if we’d made a mistake and were entering someone’s house. I said we were but it was no mistake, smiling at the idea that someone would leave their home and all in it that they loved for future generations like me to enjoy. Before we entered, we caught sight of gorgeous little sculptures of bears decorating an old stairway up to a now unused terrace. I made my way gingerly up the stairs and as I surveyed the little steps which now descended on either side into an overgrown wood, with a shiver I experienced an immediate sense of life 100 years ago and the sheer pleasure this little terrace would have brought to its users.

Renoir After the Bath 1913

We then opened a door into the little foyer where two smiles received us. I paid my 15fr (children go free) and the very nice lady behind the desk gave the girls audio guides (again free for children but adults must pay) and gave a comprehensive demonstration on how to use them. The girls were immediately intrigued and felt very important. A good start for an art-loving mum hoping for a couple of hours in a gallery with children of short-lived attention spans.

We spent three hours (!) making our way around this beautiful villa and its grounds. And I was spellbound at the sheer abundance of artistic treasures on show there. It was as if Oskar Reinhart could see into my art loving soul and had purchased each and every piece to please me! On entering you are greeted by the most gorgeous Renoir painting of a woman drying herself (I think his wife) After the Bath (1913) To the right of this, placed in all it's gorgeous chunky glory - Artiside Mailol’s The Mediterranean - oozing sensuality. Such a breath of fresh air in contrast to our thin-obsessed society of today.

Renoir Mother and Child 1916

I could talk like this about each and every piece in the exhibition, featuring a wealth of delights from Picasso, Van Gogh, Courbet, Toulouse Lautrec, Daumier, and glorious Renoir after Renoir after Renoir (I do love Renoir) But there were pieces by Courbet, so sensual and erotic, that I had never before witnessed, as well as beautifully vibrant pieces by Van Gogh which he painted while in hospital in Arles. I was very aware that many of these masterpieces are little known treasures, as Oskar was very firm that these pieces should never go out on loan.

And then, the absolute climax of my journey of awe and wonder around this gallery was a little bronze by Renoir – I didn’t even know Renoir worked in bronze – of a lady in a hat and coat breastfeeding, entitled Mother and Child. This little piece I later found out followed on from a painting Renoir had made of his wife breastfeeding their first child. Many years later, after his wife had died, he again came across this painting and decided to use it as the theme for a sculpture to commemorate his beloved wife. And with the help of Richard Guido, he did – and that very sculpture was right there in front of me. Wow. Moments like this I truly treasure.

We strolled around the lovely little formal garden and ate our sandwiches in a shady corner, played games on the lawn and then enjoyed chocolate cake ‘afters’ at the café (with a little glass of Pinot Noir for mummy) The café atmosphere was wonderful, with a large party of seniors enjoying a table full of food and wine outside in the sunshine. It didn’t take much imagination to see a young Oskar Reinhart doing the same with his art loving friends in the distant past. I took a few covert photos of the merry making in the dappled sunshine, hoping to recreate a Renoir-esque painting of the scene at a later date (I can but dream…)

We went home, trotting down the hill, chatting and giggling after our visit to Am Römerholz. The No.10 bus picked us up several minutes into our walk and deposited us outside the Oskar Reinhart Museum in Stadthausstrasse five minutes later. Thank you Stadtbus Winterthur. Thank you Oskar Reinhart. What a guy.

Am Romerholz website.

Public transport better than a Porsche

I had to laugh when I came face to face with the new Stadtbus Winterthur advert from ZVV this morning. It is comparing the city buses to a drive in a car with both class and speed. And you know, these buses are so slick and so quick that the claim is spot on. The bus lane and bus favouring traffic lights means that our bus goes whizzing past the queues of traffic at rush hour. Which is how it should be.

I can literally step out of my door at 8am in the morning after seeing the girls off to school and be entering the classroom of my Migroschule Deutschkurs half an hour later at 8.30 when my class begins. I could never, ever do that in my home country. It really is amazing. I am a huge, huge fan of the public transport system here - it just WORKS. Bravo ZVV!

Celebrating Art on International Women's Day

The art galleries of Winterthur are celebrating Women's Day by offering free admission to women for the day. Am Römerholz, on the edge of the city, is an incredibly stunning art collection of Oskar Reinhart who left behind around 600 works of art when he died in 1965. The works are housed within a glorious estate, the former home and gardens of Reinhart. At present there is a wonderful exhibition about the Hidden Treasures of the collection, featuring works by greats such as Gustave Courbet. What a joy to see these beauties. The exhibition continues util 23rd April.

I also love Winterthur Kunsthaus which houses a host of cracking masterpieces by the likes of Picasso, Braque, Pissarro, Sisley and Monet, as well as the monumental Rodin sculpture, Pierre de Wissant.

International Womens Day: www.internationalwomensday.com

Am Römerholz: www.bundesmuseen.ch

Winterthur Kunsthaus: www.kmw.ch

Fasnacht fantastic

Phew, finally caught up with my blog. We've been busy checking out the Fasnacht carnivals this year. Each one has it's own unique atmosphere and traits. Lucerne was a jaw dropping spectacle with what seemed like the entire city dressed up in a huge range of outlandish clothes. The parade featured warrior wild boars (not real) horses (real) and a few political gibs, mainly towards the new president of the US (in one case featuring something very unpleasant attached to his feet!)

A few days later we went to Bassersdorf, a local village nearby, which was different again, and featured music galore, with all the bands performing on the roundabout podium after the parade. We then finished with Winterthur on Sunday, always a favourite of ours, with splendid costumes and great performers.

The weather was beautiful this year and we enjoyed the sun on our backs while soaking up the carnival atmosphere. Enjoy the pics.

It's almost Fasnacht - time to party!

@SallyAnnEgerton (http://sallyegerton.blogspot.ch/)

There are a few shady looking characters popping up in windows and odd places around Winterthur. Manor has gone to town with half a floor devoted to fancy dress, wigs and oversized glasses. It can only mean one thing - the imminent arrival of Fasnacht.

The Swiss love their traditions and carnivals - and most of all they love dressing up and role playing. And this all comes together nowhere better than at Fasnacht. It is such great fun, the outfits are incredible - and sometimes rather scary - and all spectators are encouraged to dress up too.

@sallyannegerton

Many of the characters in the parade are mischevious, throwing confetti over people, stealing accessories out of their hair and I have even seen a few teenagers picked up, slung over a shoulder and buried in a wagon of confetti! It is all great fun – everyone has a ball and my girls absolutely love it. Best of all, it is my eldest daughter’s birthday at the end of February so it always feels like an extension of her own celebration.

Fasnacht officially begins in Winterthur with the Ham feast, kicking off a week long period of different, and sometimes rather surreal, events - including a three day and night party for those who can still party big time! But the highlight for us is the large carnival which takes place through the city centre from 2.15pm on Sunday, 5^th March. For more information and all other events surrounding Fasnacht in Winterthur, visit the website here.

And then of course if you can brave the crowds there is the mother of all Fasnacht carnivals in Basel, hailed as one of Europe's top 50 local festivals, taking place on the Monday after Ash Wednesday: Baseler Fasnacht.

(I've been having fun painting our favourite Fasnacht characters - I hope you enjoy them :)