Blog posts about Brienz BE

I had the great pleasure of working in the small lakeside village on the shores of the turquoise-blue lake of the same name for over seven years, in the central Swiss region of canton Bern. Brienz is principally a traditional village, from the violin-makers’ school to a plethora of carpenters, joiners and woodwork artists. Busy in the summer with tourists travelling between Lucerne and Interlaken, and peaceful in the winter season, it’s high on my list of places to visit in the Bernese Oberland: not just for the quaint traditional feel but also as a great starting point for a boat trip along the lake, or a post bus trip up into the mountains.

Thunersee and Brienzersee – Pure Switzerland

The region I’ve been calling home for sixteen years.

Published on 2nd March 2017

Brienz, Switzerland

Going through my photo archives, I sometimes come across images from long ago which I’d forgotten about. This view of the lake next to the office where I used to work dates back to December 2006.

Published on 7th November 2015

RAW-format panoramic images at Permanent Tourist

Part of the joy of photography for me is the ability to travel in time. Not like Marty and the Doc in my favourite ever films, which celebrated a big milestone a few days ago, but in the…

Published on 24th October 2015

Schongütsch, Switzerland

Instead of heading up from the top train station along the tourist track to the summit of the Brienzer Rothorn, turn left instead and follow the clear footpath to Schongütsch. The views are just as spectacular, but the experience is…

Published on 18th September 2015

Brienzer Rothorn, Switzerland

The Brienzer Rothorn is the tallest mountain on the northern side of Lake Brienz. The peak is accessible – in summer and autumn only – by a cable car from Sörenberg and by an open-sided, oil-powered steam railway from…

Published on 17th September 2015

Funky Kitchen Club website

Remembering my work in 2008 on Swiss t.v.'s Funky Kitchen Club.

Published on 10th July 2015

Sörenberg, Switzerland

The lesser-known northern flank of the Brienzer Rothorn, sloping sharply down to the skiing village of Sörenberg.

Published on 8th February 2015

Ballenberg in autumn

Jo and I took a stroll around the Ballenberg open air museum on her birthday weekend a couple of weeks ago. The museum and its buildings are officially open to the public between April and October, but the site, its paths…

Published on 18th November 2013

My basic Lightroom workflow

Adobe Lightroom is a boon to the photographer. With the introduction of intelligent repair tools, it has now entirely replaced Photoshop for me, and I can not only tweak photos but also re-edit them to quite a level of…

Published on 2nd July 2013

Dan and Lili get married

Friends Dan and Lil were recently married in the glorious surroundings of the Giessbach Hotel. I was delighted to be able to take wedding photos for them. Here’s a small selection of my favourites from the day. More details…

Published on 27th June 2013

Through the mists of time

The older I get, the more I come to recognize the way in which my photographs aid my memory. This is borne out by the way in which I can scroll back through my Lightroom catalogue of digital photos –…

Published on 17th March 2013

Remembering the floods from 2005

I drove through Brienz this weekend for the first time in a couple of years, and roadworks near the office where I used to work reminded me of the terrible events of August 2005.

Published on 19th February 2012

New galleries online for Brienz and Spiez

The extensions and improvements to the Permanent Tourist website continue apace, with new galleries in the Photography section.

Published on 29th January 2011

That chill in the air

The autumn fairs may be some time away yet, but the first day of September here in the Swiss Alps has arrived with the kind of chilled air which tells me that there is snow on the mountains.

Published on 1st September 2010

Giessbach Falls, Brienz

A long exposure photograph of the Giessbach waterfall near Brienz in full torrent.

Published on 17th May 2010

Cherry blossom

Published on 28th April 2010

Spring on the way

Mist rising from the lake during the early morning in Brienz, Switzerland. Photograph taken in 2005.

Published on 1st March 2010

Brienz Quay – print auction for Haiti

I am auctioning off a single print of one of my photographs to the highest bidder to support the earthquake victims in Haiti.

Published on 21st January 2010

Permanent Tourist 2010 Calendar

It's been a hectic week and weekend, hence the delay in posting that I've released my 2010 calendar.

Published on 14th December 2009

Ballenberg out of season

An autumn stroll around the Ballenberg open-air museum with Jo's parents.

Published on 17th November 2009

Winter Sunset

A tremendously colourful winter sunset in Brienz, where I used to work, looking from the small tourist village along the lake to Interlaken.

Published on 3rd August 2009

One year on

A year ago today, I left my previous employer after seven and a half years to start a new working life in Bern.

Published on 31st July 2009

Jungfrau Zeitung secures its newspaper business

The newest version of the newspaper, to which I still subscribe online despite no longer working or living in the catchment area, produced by a small handful of people and covering purely local news instead of falling to the temptation…

Published on 31st July 2009

Actor portraits – Ueli der Chnächt

Costumed portraits of actors in the Brienz Dramatic Society production of Jeremias Gotthelf's "Ueli der Chnächt".

Published on 22nd March 2009

Photo book “In Brienz”

A personal review of my years with my previous employer in Brienz, primarily for my own photo bookshelf.

Published on 25th November 2008

In Brienz

I’ve been taking a rest from photography for a while, as I had become addicted to finding “the next photo” and it was taking over much of what I did. (Hence the lack of updates here at Permanent Tourist.) I’ve…

Published on 19th November 2008

Last Day in Brienz

Photos from my last day in Brienz after seven and a half years with Gossweiler Media AG are now online at Flickr.

Published on 1st August 2008

TFI Thursday

So this is what it feels like to be on a last day at work. Not much different from any day over the past few weeks, as I began winding down some time ago and I completed all the clearing…

Published on 31st July 2008

Into the end

In a day less than two weeks, I shall be leaving this office for the last time.

Published on 18th July 2008

Eva

Published on 19th June 2008

Desk Memories

Photos of the desk at which I developed most of the websites produced by Mountain Multi Media in Brienz.

Published on 9th May 2008

Evening Flight, Brienz, Switzerland

Published on 18th February 2008

Briensermärt 2007

Published on 14th November 2007

The “Regio”

Published on 9th November 2007

Lunchtime jaunt

There was a work car parked outside which no-one was using over lunchtime, so I decided to pinch it and drive up a random mountain road. I drove higher and higher as the road got narrower and narrower, avoiding small…

Published on 2nd November 2007