Great animals: Cows eat grass, deliver milk, cheese, meat and shit, Ep. 58

Scenic Appenzell is certainly worth a visit. Cows roam the mellow hills of Appenzell. Those emblematic Swiss animals are certainly the best friends of men. By eating grass they create milk which can be turned into famous cheese from Appenzell. By sending them to cow heaven delicious steaks are produced. And last but not least: Cows shit a lot and thus deliver precious fertilizer. Dominik Landwehr shows Hans Fritschi interesting Appenzell where many Swiss wonders can be discovered.

Khun Amorn, the long time partner of Hans Fritschi, has made a video clip about the recent developments at the garden in Nong Khai. Due to lots of rain, all plants thrive, the garden is green, so green. Cocoa seed pods are growing in astonishing numbers, but also Vanilla, Olives, Guavas, Lemons and the African Baobabs are doing very well. Hans Fritschi at the Corona Hotel Zurich sheds a tear or two when watching this clip Khun Amorn has sent.

Khun Amorn, the long time partner of Hans Fritschi, has made a video clip about the recent developments at the garden in Nong Khai. Due to lots of rain, all plants thrive, the garden is green, so green. Cocoa seed pods are growing in astonishing numbers, but also Vanilla, Olives, Guavas, Lemons and the African Baobabs are doing very well. Hans Fritschi at the Corona Hotel Zurich sheds a tear or two when watching this clip Khun Amorn has sent.

Hans Fritschi becomes a spy at the newest, gigantic chocolate museum in a suburb of Zurich. Well known chocolate company Lindt and Sprüngli has invested more than 100 million US Dollars in this new museum in Kilchberg. Visitors learn all about the sweet delicacy and why Switzerland became a center of chocolate production despite the fact that cocoa beans only grow in tropical countries like Thailand. Hans Fritschi got a lot of inspiration to enhance existing chocolate capacities at Discovery Garden Nong Khai and Pattaya. A chocolate fountain might be also built at those Thai locations.

Due to Covid 19 the traditional “Shooting of Boys” in Zurich had to be cancelled this year. The traditional deer hunting on the contrary takes place this autumn and venison is widely available at restaurants right now. Hans Fritschi loves to eat venison and therefore goes deer hunting in the old part of Zurich right around his beloved Corona Hotel. The new hunter is very successful and invites some old friends for a deer diner along river Limmat.

In search of an overview, Hans Fritschi takes a 20 minutes train ride up mount Üetli. Its peak contains a 30 m iron tower that would give a fantastic overview over Zurich almost 500 m beneath. But Hans Fritschi backs out of climbing up the tower out of fear and opts for a beer and a Servelat sausage instead, at the foot of the tower where the view is breath taking as well.

Today Hans Fritschi engages some former journalist colleagues to function as his guides for a marvelous boat trip from Zurich to ancient Rapperswil. Pierro Schäfer is the author of a book about female pirates on beautiful lake Zurich. Peter Sidler, former NZZ correspondent in Bangkok, was a frequent travel companion during their common years in Thailand or Southeast-Asia. The two friends once traveled from Jolo to Zamboanga together which is a very dangerous area. This is all remembered on their recent boat trip. Plus Hans Fritschi remembers the quote of Emilie Lieberherr when he told her he was moving to Bangkok 30 odd years ago: “Das isch aber a geföhrliche Stadt für an junge Mah”. The good woman was right!

When Hans Fritschi made a delicious “Butterrösti” back in one of his Nong Khai Clips, he did not know how to translate Röstiraffel into English. Andreas Lang, a blog follower, could help out. Now the two guys meet in person in Schwamendingen, a suburb of Zurich for the very first time. Hans Fritschi partly grew up in Schwamendingen and now returns there for the very first time after 30 years in Thailand. An interesting trip down memory lane, back to the roots in those strange Covid 19 times.

Hans Fritschi moves away from his Zurich hosts Peter and Mazal Sidler and booked himself into the Corona Hotel. This Hotel was once labelled as “worst” Zurich Hotel when it still was a so called “Love Hotel”. It is located directly in the heart of Zurich at Limmatquai. The two former journalists sit opposite the Corona Hotel at scenic Lindenhof and remember their first trip to Nong Khai and Laos almost 30 years ago when they both were correspondents in Bangkok. Doing that the two friends are able to travel around the mighty Mekong river during these daunting Corona times by just sitting at the shores of beautiful Limmat.

Temperatures in Zurich went down to 12 degrees Celsius on Tuesday. That is freezing cold for someone like Hans Fritschi who has spent almost 30 years in tropical Thailand. The best solution for this problem would be to board a plane and immediately fly back to Thailand. But due to Covid 19 the country is still closed for tourists and long time residents. Stuck Hans Fritschi decides to visit the fantastic Botanical Garden of Zurich and there finds warmth, tropical plants, friendship and consolation. The second best thing to travelling right now is going to Botanical Gardens.