Swiss Family Lang.

Ah.
What to say?

As an Irishman, my only contact with the so-called "Gentry" has been of the West Brit, Planted, Protestant or Catholic Aristocracy kind.

Never a good thing.

The Europeans do things better, it seems.

This wonderful family, the Langs of Zurich-Near, show how these things should be done.

Pater Familias, Edi, is a gentleman of the first water, a quietly spoken master of several languages, and the violin. His manners would put a Papal clerk to shame; a handshake from him holds a history of welcome, a gracefully manual embrace to usher one through the open door of an older and truer Civilization than the one we currently cringe under.

Mater Familias, Ursula, is an astoundingly strong and beautiful woman, a trailblazer of sorts in her youth, as well as an inspirational photographer. Her sometimes hastily shot, but truly evocative black and white prints made me, a supposed professional snapper, very jealous. And her cooking, needless to say, is superb. I still pine for her home-made ice-cream. And her chicken with polenta. And....enough, Im getting hungry.

Tomi, the only son, is a giant of a man, in more ways than one. I practically had to chop off his legs for this shot, and yet, all the while, he kept smiling.
Contagiously convivial, effortlessly amicable, a bit of a rake in the nightclubs of Zurich (or so Im told...), he simply, and without fuss, extended the superb welcome his family had given me.

Last, but hardly least, the sublime Sabine. Take all of her esteemed family's best features, add any amount of virtues you care to mention, put it in a supermodel frame carried with an indefinable Old World sensibility, and forget about it. Your imagination couldnt possibly stretch that far. Really.

So, to the Family Lang....

Thank You.

Go Raibh Mile Maith Agaibh, Mo Chairde.