Members of the club traveled for the 20th Anniversary of the Switzerland CSC.
Here is a write-up on their experience;
What a fantastic weekend we had in Switzerland for Hoops In The Alps. A celebratory weekend marking the 20 Year Anniversary of the Switzerland CSC.
We were welcomed upon our arrival to Berne by Club President – Markus Schwarzentrub, who was kind enough to show us around this beautiful city before accompanying us to the gorgeous town of Thun which overlooks a beautiful, vast and expansive lake of the same name with water of which is sky blue in colour with peaks of the Swiss Alps also in sight, towering over the rest of the landscape. You wouldn’t get it on a postcard, maybe more of an oil painting by Arnold Bocklin. But that being said even the brilliance of Bocklin would struggle to aspire to this level of beauty. This is where we would spend the majority of our trip. The base of operations is in McArthurs Bar, ran by Scotsman – Tony. A sound skin. The Swiss bhoys and ghirls would meet here to watch the games but occasionally do try and meet in various parts of the country over the course of a season to make it easier for their members to get out and watch the Hoops with the CSC. The very efficient Swiss train service is a big help to enable this very thoughtful initiative.
After a few quiet beers on Thursday and after everyone was acquainted, Quiz night was followed on the Friday. Quizzes are always a good laugh and was very enjoyable. There was a few curved ball ceistanna thrown at us its fair to say! A big shout out to Hans Frei who looked after the merchandise. It was brilliant to see Hans again who is a good friend of the Cork No. 1 so was great to catch up. This night was a lot quieter than the madness that was to follow.
Flag Day is always very exciting when it comes around and with the Fondue Fenians, this was no exception. Celtic got off to winning start but there’s certainly room for improvement, so was the talk amongst the punters in attendance at McArthurs. After the game, we were taken on tour around Thun by Patrik. It was a good break and a nice stroll was had, going around being shown all the historic sights that go back centuries. You can’t beat the local knowledge.
The main event of the weekend would have to be the legendary Paul Sheridan of The Wakes. He had the place bouncing, a bit of Parkhead under the lights of a European night! The bar was packed to the rafters and the atmosphere was sensational. How many musicians do you know play for 3 hours nonstop? A truly excellent performance from him.
There was a lot of tired heads on the Sunday morning but we were taken on lovely 2hr steamboat cruise across Lake Thun to another equally nice town of Interlaken. Quite a fitting was to relax and unwind taking in the scenery once again, switching off from everyday life. Great photos were taken featuring the crystal colour of the water that we just couldn’t get over. Water so clean that fish couldn’t live in it! A short trip back to Thun followed where the celebrations concluded and emotional goodbyes were exchanged.
As always with events of this nature, a lot of the time, planning and most probably stress goes into these events so we’d like to reiterate what such a fantastic time we had. We don’t think it could of went any better. Those who were at the heart of the organising should be very proud of themselves. Thanks and praise to Markus, Patrik, Fanny, Hans and the rest of the gang at the Switzerland CSC and also to Tony, Mick and all the staff at McArthurs for looking after us also.
Will we be back? You can put your house on it! A safe journey home to all. Good bless and Hail Hail.