St. Niklaus!!!

Huge St. Niklaus on the way up to the Matterhorn. The town's name is actually St. Niklaus (German) 

A lovely tribute to the big guy in a red suit...

 Train station at St. Niklaus.   A snack machine in case St. Nik needs a quick treat.

Nice blurry sign at the train station in Zermatt, which is the end of the line for this train. This makes it official that you are in Matterhorn country. Usually there is at least a foot of snow by now but the winter just hasn't kicked in yet. I'm glad...not fond of walking around in the stuff unless I have skis on.

An old door I found along the walkway that had such beautiful texture. It looked aged and had been around for a long time. The timber across the top depicts a lintel type of construction which is also a common method of supporting doorways from way back in Roman times. this was probably built in the 1800's though.

Streams formed by glaciers melting. Right now there isn't enough snow to supply the reservoirs with water, so the glaciers are the only source. You can see that the water level is quite low. 

 One of my better photos. You may be seeing more of this one. It has good focus, center of interest, linear quality, bokeh and depth of field. You may be getting this as a Christmas card when I get back....

 There was some snow on the mountain peaks, but not much to ski in yet. Skiers are very disappointed.

Matterhorn photo!

 Through the chalet rooftops you could see the Matterhorn peeking above everything.  It really is huge and a person who might be climbing it would not even look like a dot in this photo.

 Signs of Christmas trees and decoration. They really aren't much into the sparkly things here. It is more nature related.

 Another shot of the Matterhorn.  The wire looked like my initial "D"       The town tree was in the process of being decorated when I took this photo.

 The pink stripe at the top is actually a reflection in the train window. I could take it out, but I like how it looks actually...

Sharp pointy mountains = young mountains. Although in a photo you cannot get the scale of the size of these pieces of earth, a person who was standing in the foreground would be a dot.

OUCHY

Looks like a booboo town - but it is pronounced OOO-SHEE. And it is very popular with the tourist set, particularly those who like to spend their time on the Switzerland Rivieras of Montreux and Ouchy. These are just a few pics from my visit yesterday which was a beautiful day to just travel about near the water. Mountains still a bit fuzzy, but eventually they do clear.

Be sure to go back to the older posts to see more of my travels here. These below are not my best photos but they do document yesterday's adventure to Ouchy. I also took the metro north to Croisettes just for the ride and to see what was there.  It was cute town but didn't explore it much as it was late in the afternoon and the trains get very crowded on the way home. And on Friday it seems that everyone has a suitcase and is escaping to somewhere in the Alps. Not bad, eh?

Click at the end of this post for 'Older Posts'

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Lunch at a little place on the lake - had crepes Basquaise with vegies and good stuff.
And a glass of wine to wash it down. LOL

The park

It was actually quite cool (cold to me) but a great afternoon to just enjoy

So many swans here - beasty little birds. 

Sunrise this morning over the mountains. This scene lasts all of one minute and if you don't get it then, you don't get it. As the day goes on the mountains are shrouded in clouds. I hear that the only way to get clear weather is to go to the tops of the mountains. I will settle for cloudy right now.

Autumn in Lausanne, Switzerland

An afternoon walk in the 'H00D'

trumpet flowers at the end of the season...

The Switzerland Riviera - Montreaux

If you want to feel less stressed, copy this photo (you all have my permission but do give credit please) and put it on your desktop. Look at it every now and then and feel the mountain air, the quietness of the lake and the beauty of the land. Nice, eh?

A gray swan --k ind of shy but dont't be misled. He will bite you in a heartbeat. ahhhh so cute.

just an ordinary day in Montreaux

worked on this one -I like it. Mannequin heads in the window

Resto that I almost went into for a creme cafe and a creme  brulee. Next time.

Nice sign except for the kerning ( the t and the r need more space)

More photos from Lausanne...click the link below
http://travelbyedesign.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-11-09T14:12:00-05:00&max-results=10

ART MUSEUM Trippin'

So today was my trip to the MUDAC arts museum. This is a special little museum, at the top of Lausanne, that exhibits current graphic art, cut glass, toys (the Mobil toys that were designed in Germany), clothing and shoe design, and general industrial design, like lamps for instance.
This is by far one of the most interesting places.
Not many pix as it was with the small camera.

thought of Eva when I saw these...Love the sparkle ones on the right middle shelf.

Need some pink shoes to go with Hello Kitty stuff?? They even look ballerina like.

Pick a pair....any pair

If you like typography you will enjoy these 2 photos. Stick on letters on the window...awesome.

Wish I had thought of that....

That's it for today's photos. 

Was getting tired of the mountain photos anyway. 

After the museum visit I went window shopping. Wish i were a gazillionaire...

Bonne journée everyone!

GOOD MORNING MOUNTAINS!

These photos were taken in Lausanne, Switzerland, around 8am this morning as that is when the sun comes up here this time of year. 

It's like getting up in the middle of the night if you have to get up at 7:30am. I have been sleeping in until 8:30 most days when I am in fact used to getting up at 7:15am every day. Amazing.

This whole scene was within 4 minutes, changing rapidly.

 It really did change to this bright orange within minutes and couldn't have lasted any longer than that.

Getting ready to go to school today- International School of Lausanne  to help with room decor for the music dept. 

Accreditation committee trickling in from Tunisia, Connecticut and various other places. They will all be here by this afternoon. 

Big week and weekend at the school. My teacher host, Christopher is head of the school's accreditation committee, organizing events, meeting the NEASC members as they fly into Geneva,  and doing an intensive and  fab job. He showed me the reports and they are awesome. 

Tomorrow is a meet and greet for faculty and admin. I'll be the official photographer for this event. 

27Sept TUESDAY

Un Autre Voyage au Musée Olympique

 Bienvenue! Went back to the Olympic Museum to take photos today. This site is just beautiful as it overlooks the lake from high on a hill. Climbing the hill takes a bit of doing if you aren`t in shape (guess who) - but there are escalators that will take you up part of the way.

So if you look up at the map here, the arrow is where I was standing while taking this photo. To the left are the escalators but they only go halfway up. Then you are on your own. Having gone to the museum itself last Saturday, I just went into the main entrance for a few minutes and then back out again for lunch at the little house on the left of the map. Cute place, quiet and in a garden. Loverly.



The sculptures were all made specifically for this museum and ares of very high caliber, cast in bronze and carved in granite and marble. Most of the artwork is recent and by artists who are still living.

This partial facial sculpture was so effective as it stood against the sky. It was about 8 ft. across and 10 ft. high. You can almost feel the determination in the jaw of this person. The musculature around the mandible is subtle but tense. This sculpture represents all athletes around the world who participate and support the Olympics.

 The bones of this 12 foot (4 meters) foot as they are positioned at the start line of a race show high tension and force  concentrated into this area by the runner athlete. You can feel the tightness of this foot as it is ready to sprint.

Signage here is outstanding in design. The representative five Olympic circles are like the bubbles in the water that flow over the letters.  The circle symbols seek the higher and higher aspirations of our athletes around the world.

Calm little gardens all around the grounds make this a wonderful place to spend some time. It is peaceful and welcoming to all who enter. It also represents the concept of peace through sports and the unity of all nations to live in harmony.

The eternal flame of the Olympics

PS- As of this writing, my teacher host has graciously downloaded  Adobe photoshop elements on his computer for me. So now I can at least post process and make decent photos for your viewing pleasure.

  Thank you C!!