Davos International Summer Camp - 40 years later

From June 30 - July 20 1968 I was very fortunate to go to a summer camp in Davos, Switzerland. It was my 8th grade graduation present from my parents while we were living in London. WOW -- what an amazing experience! I met some interesting kids I would never have met otherwise, and had some great experiences that I'm still trying to re-capture by visiting Davos again 40 years later.

About the other kids at camp -- there were two American girls (Renee and Sheryl pictured with our counselor, Becky) who were living in Tripoli, Libya because their dads were working there for oil companies. They each had their own horse and went to a private American school there.

Then there was Ronnie, a very friendly and enthusiastic girl from the Bronx. Melissa was the only one I stayed in touch with for several years after summer camp in Davos -- she was from Summit New Jersey, and her dad was a pilot for TWA. There were three sisters (or cousins) from Iran, two of whom cried for two weeks non-stop because they were homesick. They were supposed to stay there for 9 weeks, but the camp sent them home after two weeks because they were so miserable. The other Iranian girl, Taraneh, was a lot of fun - she had great English language skills and she looked exactly like "Googoosh," a famous pop star in Iran at the time. Her cousin, Moneer, was also a lot of fun -- he ended up as the "boyfriend" of a wealthy Canadian girl at camp whose dad owned a bunch of jets that were leased to various airlines.

The counsellors were all American college kids who were there to keep us VERY active all the time -- Lon, David, Becky, Cathy, Romy, Heidi, Ken, Gabrielle, Lynda, and others whose names I've forgotten. We went hiking, swimming, boating, ice skating (on the open-air rink which is still there), tennis playing and shooting. In fact, I learned to shoot a rifle pretty well in Davos.

We went on overnight hikes up and down the mountains surrounding Davos and we went on a trip to Lake Constance and Liechtenstein. At night we had a disco downstairs in our hotel, and for the first time I heard such popular American pop songs as "Yummy Yummy Yummy I've Got Love in my Tummy" and "Simon Says" and "Bonnie and Clyde." On the 4th of July we had a big cookout complete with fireworks, because most of the kids at the camp were Americans -- including quite a few who were children of the American military personnel based in Germany then.

 

Where was the "camp" held? Well, there were several different locations for the different ages of the campers. The youngest ones stayed at the "Sonnenberg" Hotel, the middle kids stayed at the "Victoria" hotel in Davos Dorf, and the older kids (that was my group) were at the "Angleterre." That's right, at age 13 I stayed at the grand old "Angleterre Hotel" when it was slightly down at the heels. It was originally built in 1875 and in the 1980's was torn down or rebuilt to become the "Kongresshotel," a 5-star hotel that is headquarters to the World Economic Summit held in Davos every January.  I'm still not sure where my room was in the hotel, but I know we were on the third floor and that there were three or four of us in each room, and we had fantastic views to the mountains and to Davos Platz.

It was an amazing three weeks, and I'm still trying to recapture it. So that's partly why I've been back to Davos three times in the last four years -- reliving the experience of summer camp in 1968. I've been up and down the mountains, walking around the town of Davos Platz, to the outdoor ice rink, the Hallenbad (indoor swimming pool), the Davosersee (Davos Lake), remembering all of the things we did that summer.

The pictures I took this trip will help to show you why Davos is such a special and beautiful place. Enjoy!

FYI -- I've died and gone to heaven (aka Davos)

Thought I'd take a little break from packing in Ireland - looked at last minute deals on airfares and hotels - and off I went to Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday. Davos is one of my all-time favorite places in the whole world and has been since 1968 when I went to summer camp here (but that's a subject for another posting).

The trip took almost 12 hours from the time I walked out the door of my house in Shankill, Ireland at 7:15 in Tuesday morning, to the time I actually arrived at my hotel in Davos. The journey involved one airport bus, one plane ride, three trains (one of which was delayed by 45 minutes), and one funicular ride up to the hotel.

Yes, I'm staying on a mountain above Davos in a former TB Sanatorium called "Hotel Schatzalp." It was built in 1900 and rennovated in 1963 -- their motto is (loosely translated from the German) "Yes, so - the way our grandfathers lived." It's a beautiful and historic Art Deco hotel with amazing views to the mountains on the other side of the valley, and a wonderful peaceful atmosphere. I've only been here a short time, but it already feels like heaven.

In fact, the local beer (Monsteiner) has a saying printed on their labels: "Last beerstop before heaven." No kidding!










Tuesday night when I arrived, I had too much fun at the dinner buffet (included with the room) -- but it was all wonderful -- soup, salads, cold meats and cheeses, warm pork, lamp, beef, fish, etc. -- I didn't even make it to dessert.






This morning at breakfast, same problem -- too many choices, not enough willpower. So I figured I'd walk it off by going around the trails above the hotel. Whew - I was out of breath pretty quickly! I got worried that I was getting old and decrepit, but then remembered that the altitude probably had something to do with it. Davos is just over 5000 feet altitude, and the Hotel Schatzalp is at 6100 feet.



The "Davos Marathon" is happening this weekend in the mountains above Davos, and is billed as "the hardest alpine ultra marathon of the world -- a real challenge." I'll be cheering from the sidelines, even though I should be participating, to work off all of the good meals I've been enjoying here.


There's plenty to do here even if you're not into punishing youself in a marathon run through the mountains. Wednesday morning I saw three older German women having a great time -- on a mini toboggan run. That's right - they were all wearing skirts and sensible shoes, and got onto their respective toboggans and away they went! Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to get their picture, but I did get a nice shot of a grandfather with his grandson shooting down the run. Thursday morning I did it myself -- it was fun!

Thursday night's dinner was a special event dedicated to the memory of Thomas Mann who wrote the book "The Magic Mountain," set in Davos in the early 1900's. It was fun -- the hotel manager read exerpts from the book (in German) and I got some of it, but not all. That's OK - I'm still reading the English version of "The Magic Mountain." It kind of bogs down in the middle after the main character had been at the TB sanatorium for several years. But now I'm motivated to continue reading it. Maybe that's what I'll do tomorrow -- on my sunny balcony overlooking the mountains.

The scenery here is absolutely amazing -- it's impossible to take a bad picture here. So I've included just a few just to give you a flavor of Davos -- and watch for more in the coming days. Davos is truly heaven on earth!

Back in Ireland - in a timewarp

It's strange to come back to a place that is so familiar - and to find so many things have changed since I left just a year ago. After living here for seven years, it seems like a whole different world in the village of Shankill, Ireland (just south of Dublin, right on the coast of the Irish Sea).

First, coming from Dublin airport on the big blue Aircoach (which now goes all the way to Shankill - actually my first real surprise), I noticed one big change -- the tunnel from the airport has actually been completed. The roads to and from the airport had been torn up for years as they worked away on this crazy tunnel, in between tea breaks. If you're willing to pay the extremely steep toll charges, you can get out of the airport and totally avoid Dublin City center now. It only took 45 minutes from the airport to Shankill Village, which is some kind of land speed record in Dublin!

Second, the housing market has gone bust - right at the time we decided to sell our house here. This time last year the housing market was going up up up - but now it's down down down. Well, the dollar is also going down down down . . .

Third, my local supermarket is gone! Just a ten minute walk from home -- the wonderful Shankill Supervalu. It was small but functional, with friendly checkers like Anne who always had the same comment about the weather, "It's gettin' very cold now . . ." (That comment works here in summer and winter.) Best of all - the Shankill Supervalu delivered all of your groceries to your door free of charge! When you don't have a car, that becomes very important. Now I have to walk just a little further to the tiny Tesco in the village, and I also have to drag all of my groceries home on my wheely cart. Well, I needed the exercise anyway. . .

Fourth, the post office moved. It's now over in the village, across from the Tesco. A slightly longer walk, but the same friendly people are still there, still helping me mail all of my boxes of books back to California. I plan to see a lot of them while I'm here.

Fifth, there is now a development of 31 2-bedroom apartments on a postage-stamp sized piece of land, the former walled garden of a nice big Victorian home. Amazingly, it was finally approved by the planning authority and has been almost completely built since I've been away.

We thought it would never be approved because it's going to create an amazing traffic jam on the little two-lane road through the village. Fortunately, I won't be here to see it - the apartments won't be finished until September.

Finally, the three little boys of our good friends and former neighbors seem to have grown about a foot each since I saw them last summer. Now age 7, almost 6, and 3, they're very lively, talkative, and more fun than ever. And best of all, they liked the pirate ships I brought for them from California!

Some things - the really good things - haven't changed. Like this amazing view from the DART train on my way to Dun Laoghaire last Tuesday.

And, across the street from our house the green tunnel leading to Quinn's Beach is still there, too.

Life moves on - and even with all of the changes, it's good to be back in Shankill, if only for a month, and if only to pack up and sell the house. I'll savor my short time here - when I can break away from the joys of packing.