HOT OFF THE PRESS - December 2007: - Gardens, gardens, gardens ... a major overhaul made a huge difference! - Technology at the Giardino ... new computers & much more! Restaurant extension completed ... showing off in an all-new style! It (almost) never rains in Swakopmund ... except in Giardino SHOWERS
... and why we've got the hottest bed-side lamps in town!
- Einstein's departure to the Rainbow Bridge ... leaving shadows on our souls ...
Our gardens had turned into a "mini-jungle" over the years and this spring, we just did  not see another chance for postponing the inevitable ... after 3 weeks of pruning, putting in new lawns, and changing just about every corner that was screaming for a face-lift, we finally had what we wanted:
More intimate spots for the sun beds our guests seem to love for reading and taking a nap (photo left); little interesting features here and there, like the desert garden with its tall rock columns in the photo on the right, and new lamps to light up the garden entrance at night that look like flower bed decoration during the day. The wine cooler was hidden behind lush greenery, and the goldfish now enjoy seeing more sunlight again. All in all, our gardens finally became an outdoor-equivalent of the indoors ... our photo gallery contains
more garden images to give you a better impression of what this means.
Fancy communication technologies are on-line ... we'll rather spare you the details of how "painful" it was putting all those NEW gadgets into a 10-year-OLD building, - and never mind that our technician had even more ambitious plans than we could have ever imagined -, but you should definitely know this: 
We are now broadband internet-connected 24/7; a dedicated PC for guests sits in the upstairs lounge next to our Tourist Info Centre and the "help yourself coffee/tea bar" (photo left) and provides access to web mail accounts and websites; a secure wireless network already covers the entire Giardino in view of our expansion plans (but connectivity for individual guest laptops will only become available a little later); and the whole lot is operated by a Linux Server that also helps us to keep your bookings safe through regular back-ups.
Since we did not update the Giardino website for such a long time, you also did not yet see how our restaurant looked after completing the extension works in 2006 ... notice the changes in the photo on the right? The big table that used to be near the bar was replaced with 4 smaller ones, a new and bigger fireplace, and the new corner bench with 2 tables as well as a fancy new wine cooler on the far wall. All of this greatly improved the restaurant's seating capacity and the overall atmosphere for our mainly individually travelling guests.
 Let's talk "Rain at the Giardino", since
rain is such a very rare occurrence in Swakopmund indeed. So we decided to let our guest experience the most pleasant kind of "rain" ... under a nice hot shower! Somewhat difficult to see in the image
to the left, is one of the new big overhead shower heads, which were complemented by separate hand-held ones in all bathrooms. All of them also got new shower cubicles and new tiling on the back wall. And to round off a happy bathroom experience, we replaced the colourful towels with fluffy bigger white ones.
White & creamy beige colours also became our preferred choices for the guest bedrooms in the meantime, with wonderfully soft white linen predominantly made from cotton replacing the former red & green ones. Our freshly imported bed-side lamps are now wall-mounted but still individually controllable and sport beige shades that provide better light for reading. Their sophisticated appearance makes them the "hottest" lamps in town, with no competition spotted thus far ... until you get to the Photo Gallery featuring these upgrades in more detail, check out the first photo on the "Accommodation" page!
While in the middle of a very busy high season and our numerous upgrade projects, Einstein's sudden departure to the "Rainbow Bridge", on 4 October 2007, left us completely stunned. We did not know how to tell everyone publicly and therefore even postponed updates to the website but phone calls and emails from Einstein's fans kept flooding in as the sad news spread like a wildfire.
Today, with an extremely busy local holiday season over this year-end in full swing, it is clear that we will write 2008, until we will be able to "exhale" and decide what to do next. The shadows on our souls have not yet lifted and we realised that Einstein had become an icon after all. With Ornella also still mourning and sticking closer to Sam than ever before, we know that finding a fresh perspective is necessary to show us the way forward ... and we also know that inspiration will eventually come, in its own good time.
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