Museums are cool

Considering the small size of Lausanne, there a lot of museums here - about 23 I think! Once a year on nuits des musées (night of the museums) most of the Lausanne museums are open till 2am and entrance to all the museums is only 10 francs - a bargain! A group of us decided it would be a fun way to spend an evening, and we weren't disappointed! We visited the Lausanne Historical Museum (the best thing here was a big model of Lausanne), mudac (Museum of design and contemporary applied arts - here there was a touch display with all sorts of materials that you could touch!), Collection de l'Art Brut (one of my favourite things from the night was here - some amazing art by Paul Amar - google him! You won't be disappointed!), and the Cantonal Museums of Fine Art, Geology, and Archeology.

A sample of the art by Paul Amar (source)

Summer is slowly leaving Switzerland - mornings and evenings are chilly and the days are getting shorter... but that it is OK - we have snow to look forward to! It is just getting a little more tricky to train for the half-marathon as the hours of day light are decreasing, but we are still managing to get some good runs in! This time in 5 weeks I will be done with my first half-marathon!

Heading East

This past Monday was a public holiday for Lausanne - "Lundi du Jeûne Fédéral" - commemorating a period in 1619 when the Protestant churches decided on a common day of fasting (fun fact:  different public holidays are celebrated in the different Cantons of Switzerland)  - so of course a friend and I decided to make the most of the long weekend and take a little holiday!

Early Saturday morning we took the train to St Gallen - the Eastern most part of Switzerland - bordered by Germany and Austria. We spent the morning wandering around the old town of St Gallen and exploring the Abbey Library which is the oldest library in Switzerland and also one of the most important monastic libraries in the world housing manuscripts dating back to the 8th century. We then enjoyed some Swiss hot chocolate before checking-in at our hotel. We tried to find the botanical gardens and a wildlife park, but instead we found the St Gallen firestation - apparently our map reading skills need some refining! Naturally we had bratwurst for lunch - yummy! This was followed by a finicular ride up to the Drei Weieren (3 artificial water basins built above the city) for a pleasant afternoon stroll. We then continued with some more exploration in the town, followed by a drink before exploring some restaurants for dinner. We decided on a cosy restaurant serving all things Swiss-German and enjoyed some Spätzle (a type of egg noodle) for dinner.

Sunday was a full day - we visited 4 cities in 3 countries! We started off taking a train to Rorschach which is on the southern side of Lake Constance, and although the lake promenade was nice, it was Sunday, and Switzerland is a very quiet place on a Sunday, so there was not much happening! We had originally planned to go to Appenzelle ( a historical region of Switzerland) for a tour of a cheese factory, but then realised that the tour was in German only, so we quickly changed plans. We decided to take a boat to Lindau - a small Bavarian Island (but still connected to the mainland)  in Lake Constance, but in the German part. This may have been one of the best decisions we made all weekend. Lindau was alive and bustling and we so enjoyed discovering this quaint town with old buildings, cute cafés and stunning views. Of course we had some apple strudel and enjoyed the sunshine! And there was even a South African flag in the flag collection at the entrance to the port. The next train we wanted to catch went through the town of Bregenz in Austria - so we decided to stop here too - this way we would have seen Lake Constance from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The town itself wasn't anything too special, but walking along the lake in the sunshine is always hard to beat. Here we sampled some pineapple flavoured drinking yoghurt which was yummy and then caught our train the Lucerne (and we may or may not have bought the wrong ticket and totally misread the train timetable).

Now, Lucerne is a wonderful place - totally Swiss in many ways, but absolutely gorgeous and just a fun place to visit. We had the rest of Sunday night and the whole of Monday to explore Lucerne. On arrival we headed to our hotel and then decided to talk a walk and find some dinner. Lucerne is definitely a tourist hot spot, so many of the restaurants were over-priced, but we managed to find a spot and have some more bratwurst and roesti. Our hotel had its own pub, so on returning we decided to have a drink and listen to the live music - a band from America. This pub (Mr Pitwicks Pub) is clearly the spot for all the international people in Lucerne, so we felt right at home. Monday morning started with the most delicious pastries and coffee and a walk along the old city wall before snaking our way through the old town and visiting two churches - gorgeous! We then decided to head out of Lucerne for a bit and walked through the country side to visit a castle We then decided to take a boat to Waggis and Vitznau (definitely holiday destinations for the rich), but not before we had some more bratwurst overlooking the lake. I love taking the boat - fresh air, sunshine, peaceful waters and stunning scenerary - so I was quite content. After our excursions in Waggis and Vitznau we returned to Lucerne, had the necessary ice-cream, bought some burger king for the train, and headed back to Lausanne. All in all - a very successful trip.

I really needed a break, and this weekend has left me feeling re-energized and refreshed for the coming busy weeks. Traveling often makes me realize again how blessed I am to be living in Europe and how much Lausanne has become home for me - and this weekend was no exception.

Courage

"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are"

E.E. Cummings

I saw this quote on a facebook friend's wall, and it really made me think this weekend. Growing up is one thing - already a challenging task as it is  - but growing up into "who you really are" is a different story entirely. This takes courage - courage to leave expectations behind, courage to make decisions and take risks, courage to sometimes walk a lonely path,  courage to figure out what you believe and why you believe it, courage to ask hard questions, courage to have difficult conversations, and courage to walk with conviction. And with that, may you have the courage you need to walk your path this week...

Rest

Today the weather in Switzerland looks like this...

...which means it is perfect for a day of a rest at home...

“Sometimes the most urgent thing you can possibly do is take a complete rest”

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time”

 I thrive when my life is busy and full of challenge and activity. I love knowing each day is used to accomplish something useful or do something exciting. I love this about myself, I love knowing that I can get things done and make things happen. But there is also a danger to this kind of mindset - I sometimes don't know when enough is enough. I often don't stop myself until I am over-tired. Thankfully, in recent months I have come to understand this pattern in myself and "catch" myself sooner, to decide to stop and rest before I find myself too tired. So this weekend is one for rest. For being content, good music and cups of tea. And right now, these 2 days of rest are exactly what I need and is the best possible way I could spend my time. It has been 3 tiring and challenging weeks of french class every day along with a very demanding work schedule. The coming weeks are going to be just as busy. So for now, rest is my priority!