I rode my motorcycle to Gstaad lately, and it was a beautiful drive through the Alps - take the highway 9 to the end of the Leman Lake and then cross the Alps going east.
The views are fantastic, nothing compares for me and I’ve been around. Driving in the mountains, I learned to lay low on the motorcycle to take the curves faster. Sounds like a small thing, but it's not, it took me a year to learn. On the way there I stopped in Vevey for a coffee, which is the city where Charlie Chaplin lived up his retirement, but others had too in this area. David Bowie was my favorite. He drove this 262C Bertone Coupe Volvo, which is one of the finest designs in the car business. I think that this is the car he meant singing “it gets me to the church on time”. And his “Let’s dance” is possibly my all time favorite song. Put on your red shoes and dance the blues, shall we? And it doesn’t end there - at some point I was a neighbor with Phil Collins in a village in the hills, I don’t think I ever mentioned that. Some interesting people live on the Swiss Riviera. Back home later that weekend I was checking the news, which is a weakness of mine, but also a quest to understand the world. Not much I can do about it. I am convinced that the Middle East is changing right in front of our eyes, and this is an important region – the energy to run the world is there. It concerns me a bit, but it could be just a natural progression. Iran's foreign minister visited China at the end of August to finalize the strategic partnership, of which central pillar is that China will invest $280bn in Iran's oil, gas and petrochemicals sectors. And another $120bn in upgrading Iran's infrastructure. They will send up to 5,000 Chinese security personnel on the ground in Iran to protect Chinese projects, and there will be additional personnel and material available to protect the eventual transit of oil, gas and supply, where necessary. Anew world is shaping up in Asia too - Hong Kong was under a serious threat lately. Chinese military vehicles had gathered in Shenzhen, a city in Mainland China bordering Hong Kong. But they never went ahead with the invasion, which would be a simple operation for trained troops. I think one needs to appreciate the restraint and willingness to play along. Let me end with a great scene from a movie coming out this November. It's called "The Irishman". They were sitting on a patio of a lakeside restaurant having lunch on a nice afternoon. “Do you believe in God?” she asked. “I don’t” he said, and she wouldn't let him go with her eyes knowing that this is not the whole story. “But I am afraid of him.” “You talk to him sometimes?” “I talk to someone. Last he said was this – you might be demonstrating the failure to show appreciation” She laughed quietly. “What are you saying?” she asked eventually. “If someone isn’t seen for what they truly are, it could be dangerous.” “What don’t I know?” “This life isn’t for me, but now it’s a bit late for that.” They were leaving the restaurant when the waiter said behind their backs – guy likes to talk, don’t he?
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AuthorTom Kubiak is the author of The Traveler Archives
February 2021
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