Schweiz!

Here are some pictures of various exciting Swiss things, starting with our new flat.

The front of our building, as seen from the road. The door you can see under the little overhang is the door leading to our flat, which starts on the second floor... if that makes sense. We share the building with our landlords and four other tenants (there are five flats total).

  

Part of our backyard.

The back of our building.

A lovely creek runs through our neighborhood.

This is our nearby castle, Hegi Schloss. 'Hegi' is the name of our neighborhood.

A short walk from our flat brings you to the edge of town.

Recently I went to visit Didier's sister, Sophie, in Thun, a town near where she lives, and we spent the day walking around and exploring.

On the way to the castle which overlooks the town.

First glimpse of the castle.

The view from the castle.

I always have to take tilted pictures to get the tops of tall buildings in the frame.

Sophie.

A huge lake feeds into a river that runs through town.

On our way to the lakeside we saw this: the California state flag.

A few weeks ago I spent the afternoon in Zurich, enjoying every bit of old building that I saw.

An old building.

I couldn't resist.

The older buildings here have a lot of character. Have I mentioned that I love living around all this historical stuff? 

History: It's Everywhere (At Least In Europe)

Sometimes Didier has to travel for his work, checking in with clients in other countries and doing on-site problem solving and consulting. (Remember, Didier implements risk-management software for banks.) The nice part is that I can go with him from time to time. Last month Didier and I went to Stuttgart, Germany for a couple of days, and I had a great time wandering around and discovering historical stuff. 

The main drag. Lots of shopping, but it also leads to many of the cool old buildings in town. 

Like this one, the New Residence (circa 1800). 

The old castle. Inside there are several free museum exhibits. 

Courtyard of the old castle. The oldest part of this beautiful castle/fort dates to about 1325. 

The dukes of this area used to collect fancy wares from all over, each subsequent duke adding to the collection.
The old castle now has it all on display.

Drinking vessels made from marble or large seashells were highly prized. 

This is one way to display your collection of jewels. 

Back when weapons could also be works of art. 

Manly warrior accessories. 

Two wine goblets in one. 

A reliquary, covered with images carved from bone.

The crown jewels of the kings of Wurtemberg. 

This tiara could be taken apart and used as multiple separate hair pieces. 

The scepter. 

I descended these stairs into the basement of the castle, and arrived at... 

... a glorious exhibit of old clocks. 

"They don't make 'em like they used to" came to mind while gazing at these. 

The old church, a main attraction here. Unfortunately it was gutted by bombs in WWII, and when they rebuilt in
the 1950's they updated the look of the interior, much to the detriment of the building. 

The next morning I walked through the old cemetery in Stuttgart. Notice that word "old" again. One uses it a lot here. 

It was so peaceful I could forget I was in the middle of the city. 

Calwer Strasse, a lovely old street with little cafes and restaurants. 

An outdoor market. I love these. 

Flower market. 

Here are a few pictures from my current trip to Stuttgart. (We arrived on the 18th and we leave this evening.) Starbucks is EVERYWHERE in this city, but I have to admit that I'm grateful for that since it means I can use their internet to post pictures for all of you.

Another view of the old castle. 

There is an extensive park in the middle of town, full of roses and baby ducks and people
protesting the proposed new train station. 

Part of the New Residence. The park starts here.  

I have no idea. 

Only way I could fit most of the church in the picture without being about four miles away. 

I know, I know... you wanted a picture or two of Didier and me so you can remember what we look like. All in good time, folks; all in good time. (Read: the picture we took of ourselves yesterday isn't in focus so we have to redo that at some point.)

Next up (probably): pictures from Zurich!

 

We Have Internet Now!

So after a quite lengthy absence from computers, during which time I'm sure you all thought I had fallen off the face of Earth, we finally have internet in our new flat and I can do a new blog post. The ironic thing is that as I write this I'm in Stuttgart, Germany, using the internet in a Starbucks. I also now have the capability to move pictures from my phone to the laptop, so now I can post pictures, which is the real reason anybody checks this blog.

I'm thinking the best thing right now is to show pictures of the new flat. We moved on April 1st into a "maisonette" - multi-level flat - that is truly a blessing from God. We love the neighborhood we live in, and our landlords are very kind.

An awkward view of the entryway. The white door on the right is the front door; the partially-obscured brown door
is a bathroom, and the staircase - barely visible at the left - leads up to the living room and bedrooms. 

The kitchen (obviously).  Behind the bar area, on the right, you can see two coats hanging on the wall.
That is the entry area; the coats are to the right of the front door as seen in the first picture. 

Dining area, which is part of the kitchen. The window at the right looks out on the backyard. 

What most of our moving boxes consisted of. 

Second floor. The stairs going up lead to the loft bedroom. The door on the left is the master bedroom.
To the right, on the wall you can't see, are doors to a second bathroom and to the little office.

The office. Didier's father built terrific bookshelves for the left side of the room, where you can see the raised section
of floor. Clearly more pictures are in order, since the office doesn't look like this anymore. 

Notice the tree in the picture two above this one. If you are looking at that tree, and then turn to the right, you see
this. I guess you could call it a second dining area. The green bench is heated for proper enjoyment of fondue in
the winter. 

Backing up, we now see the fireplace. The part where wood is burned is mostly obscured in this shot; what you're
looking at is the spot for storing wood (or a big copper cauldron) and a kind of stone outcropping which we
could use as extra seating (or the place from which to serve our medieval stew). 

Part of the living room, opposite the area with the green bench. 

The loft bedroom. If you look over the railing, you see down into the living room. 

I see some better pictures of the flat are in order. (Better still, if you want to see more, come visit us!) Before that, though, I'll put up pictures of Stuttgart... because I know what you are all dying to see is more history.