I've written about Lauffohr a couple of times and the last photo was one where the mist was thick over the rivers Reuss and Aare as they merged in the area. The visibility in this photo is actually quite good. Way in the back, center-left is Baden. The white building in the center of the photo, and a couple of the buildings behind it and to the right are ABB factories and such.
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I love the delicate mauve color of these cuckoo flowers (cardamine pratensis).
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There are lots of flowers blooming all over the place. I found this little beauty in Rein, near the area where I took the photo of the daffodils and Lauffohr last month. As usual, I'm not completely sure about the name of the plant. The images of the Wald-Gelbstern (forest yellow star) I've found on the Internet have fewer petals than this one.
Erratum: A friend of a friend is an expert in these matters and he has identified this as lesser celandine. It is native to Europe, Asia and Africa and it was introduced to the US where it is now considered an invasive plant.
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On Tuesdays, there's a farmer's market in Baden. They were just setting up as I walked by on my way to class this morning. There was also some work being done at Manor at the time. Here's another photo of some of the plants on sale:
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Schwarz is probably the largest private employer in Villigen. They are an agricultural business and as the growing season starts up I'm sure their activities are going to be featured in my posts. This morning I saw one of their trucks making deliveries around the corner from my language school in Baden. The building in the background is a department store called Manor (maa-nore).
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We're back in Villigen, but I'm posting this photo I took in Naters in Valais. Again, it was partly clear the afternoon that we reached Naters, but then it was pretty much overcast for the rest of the time we were there.
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This is another photo from yesterday. I took it while we were descending from Riederalp on a gondola. The plastic windows were pretty scratched up and the combination of that with the snow produced rather washed-out photos. I fiddled with this shot in iPhoto and decided that the result was strange enough (while not so far from what it really looked like) that I would post it.
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The weather has not been cooperating with us and this is one of the few photos I have where the visibility is more than 10 meters. I took it right after arriving last evening. Today, it snowed most of the morning and afternoon, and started to clear up only when we left.
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We're off to Valais (Wallis in German) to visit friends and family for a few days. This photo is from a year ago, taken at a beautiful place called Hellela (hell means light in German), around 1600 meters above sea level. I don't know whether there's this much snow there this year. I'll find out and let you know!
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The Villigen post office garden lies alongside the bus stop and I caught these tiny flowers in the frost this morning as I was waiting for the bus. The taller stalk is about 5 cm (2 inches).
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We had a balmly week last week, but then the weather started to decline around the weekend. Yesterday I was out taking photos of magnolias in the rain (see below) and worrying about whether the cold would damage them and all the other plants that have bloomed, and this morning I woke up to find that it was snowing! Here's yet another view from our balcony.
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The view from our balcony early this morning (zoomed into a section that is visible in this earlier photo).
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We made a little day trip on Saturday and one of the places we visited was Gruyère, home to the cheese with which you might be familiar. There's a very well-preserved medieval castle village up on a hill (810 m) in Gruyères and it is a very popular tourist destination. The counts of Gruyère occupied the place from 1050 to 1554, at which time the last count ran into financial trouble and had to abandon the family home. The castle building was constructed between 1270 and 1282 though a huge fire in 1493 destroyed most of it and it was rebuilt. The castle changed hands a couple of times before the canton of Fribourg (Gruyère is a district in Fribourg) bought the building and opened it to the public as a museum.
There are a couple of oddities about the place, but the one that I have most trouble getting my head around is the Giger Museum. H. R. Giger is a Swiss surrealist, best known for his design work on the movie Alien for which he received an Academy Award. As far as I have been able to determine, he has no connections to Gruyère (he's from Canton Graubünden, on the other side of Switzerland from Fribourg) other than the fact that he was invited to stage an exhibition of his work in 1990. He was very taken by the place and when one of the buildings was put up for sale, he bought it and made it into his museum. We didn't go in there or in the related victual establishment opposite, but I took this photo and since it fits in with the theme of old and new I've been doing, I thought I would share it.
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The plaque on the old building reads "1891": that's the year that Brown Boveri, the progenitor of ABB, was founded in Baden. I had talked a little bit about ABB in the Lauffohr post. In 1999, ABB entered a joint venture with Alstom, a French company, in which Alstom took over most of ABB's power generation business. According to the Alstom Switzerland website, they're "a global leader in power and rail infrastructure." While both these companies are spread out all over the planet, most of the engineering divisions remain in Baden as far as I know.
I'm still looking for more information about the old building. Notice the bell on the roof. What do you think was the original purpose of the building?
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I see these two buildings almost everyday when I go to Brugg since this street is on the bus route. In the last few days, the position of the sun has been just right for photos when we pass through. There are some beautiful old houses on this street near the train station, many converted to offices and well-cared for, and across from them are several new buildings. At this time, I can say only that I like how the glass fronts reflect the old houses.
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I thought of doing a sequence on the combination of the old and the new while I was on the bus this morning, but had not really considered posting this photo from the Eisi Parkhaus and Stadtpark. But it fits in, and is a good follow-up to yesterday's post, considering the comments I received.
The illuminated benches (the one in the lower right of this photo was glowing blue at the time of this shot) are located in the Stadtpark under which lies the parking garage. The yellow building is the Stadthaus where the Brugg municipal offices are located. It was built in 1748/49 as a country house for Johann Jakob Frölich, private secretary to John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich (yes, the eponymous one). In 1909 it was converted into the Stadthaus.
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The Eisi Parkhaus in the center of Brugg was renovated last year and as part of the project, these interesting illuminated benches were installed. They change color as a function of time.
Das Parkhaus Eisi mitten in Brugg war neulich renoviert. Diese interessante Bänke waren gebaut. Sie sind beleuchtet, und die Farbe wechselt mit Zeit.
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One of the things that really appeal to me here is the aesthetic of the signage used by shops, restaurants -- businesses in general. This shop is located in the old town of Brugg and is a place where one can get antique/old mechanical musical instruments repaired or restored. The disc looks like a disc from an antique music box, except much larger than what would fit into the versions that I've seen. Perhaps there were gramophone-size music boxes that used discs this large. Or maybe this is just a larger-than-life model made specifically to be a sign.
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It is strange to me that I took this photo within a few minutes of that of the daffodils I posted yesterday. Overhead, the sky was a brilliant blue while a mist clung to the rivers. We've seen this area before, in the Lauffohr post. This is the view from a little higher up. The Reuss comes down about center-right and joins the Aare, which flows in from the right (not visible here). If you floated down the Aare from here, you'd pass Stilli and then Villigen.
Es scheint mir seltsam, dass dieses Foto nur ein paar Minuten nach dem Narzissenfoto von gestern gemacht wurde. Oben war es ganz klar, der Talboden war vom Nebel verhüllt. Wir waren früher hier in Lauffohr, aber das war am Aareufer. Die Reuss ist in der Mitte-rechts und fliesst hier mit der Aare (von rechts, auf dem Bild nicht sichtbar) zussammen.
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Another beautiful day here. I went out early to take some photos, but there's still some fog/mist at ground level (one of the disadvantages of living near the Wasserschloss). Overhead it was clear, so this shot worked out nicely.
Today is the 2nd anniversary of the Paris Daily Photo, the blog that started this community of DPers. Eric, these daffodils are for you!
Wir haben einen schönen Tag hier, aber es gibt noch Nebel am Boden. Oben ist es klar, wie man auf diesem Foto sehen kann.
Das Paris Daily Photo Blog, die Inspiration hinten dieser Gemeinde, ist heute 2 Jahre alt. Eric, die Blumen sind für dich!
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Remember the post where I mentioned the Fibonacci sequence? The sequence appears all over nature, some of the most popularly mentioned examples being sunflower seed heads and nautilus shells. Here's another one for the table. I had not even known of this amazing vegetable until I moved to Switzerland. It's called romanesco, and is a member of the cauliflower/broccoli family. John Walker of Fourmilab has an interesting write-up titled Fractal Food (including cooking directions!) on it.
Ich hatte in Februar einen Eintrag über die Fibonacci-Folge. Der Folge kann man überall in Natur sehen, zum Beispiel bei den Samen der Sonnenblumen. Hier ist noch eine. Ich wusste nicht, bis ich in die Schweiz kam, dass dieses fantastische Gemüse existiert. Das ist ein Pyramidenblumen(der)kohl, ein Angehöriger der Kohlgruppe.
20070309 Nikon Coolpix 950
This house is next to the llama farm I wrote about in January. The residents have cats as well and they've provided ladders for their ease of movement in and out of the house. I've seen a lot of ladders of this type around here, usually at windows in apartments that are at least one storey from the ground. This one is a little unusual in that the window is close enough to the ground that a cat should be able to jump up, but perhaps they have elderly cats ...
Dieses Haus ist neben der Llamafarm, die ich im Januar beschrieben habe. Die Einwohner haben auch Katzen und haben für sie eine Leiter gemacht. Ich sehe viele solche Leitern überall.
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I think these are Snowflakes (leucojum), a relative of Snowdrops (galanthus). Anyone know for sure? Whatever they are, they're pretty. Several people in the daily photo community have been posting about the arrival of Spring. For a photo of Snowdrops in Stockholm, click here.
Ich freue mich über die Frühlingsankunft. Ich glaube diese Blümen gehören zu der Märzenbecherfamilie, aber sie konnen auch das Schneeglöckchen sein. Kann jemanden erklären? Egal welcher, sie sind hübsch.
Viele Bloggers der DP Gemeinde haben über die Frühlingsankunft geschrieben. In Stockholm, gibt es Schneeglöckchen.
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Several times a week I attend German lessons in Baden. I take a bus to Brugg and then a train to Baden. I was early for my bus home from Brugg, so I was in time to see many of the scheduled busses arrive and depart. The train tracks are to the left in this photo. The bus that serves my area is behind the camera.
Mehrmals pro Woche besuche ich einen Deutschkurs in Baden. Ich nehme einen Bus nach Brugg und dann einen Zug nach Baden. Hier ist die Brugger Bushaltestelle. Ich war früh für meinen Bus, deshalb hatte ich Zeit die anderen Busse zu beobachten. Die Zugsgleise sind ganz links. Der Bus, den ich nehme, ist hinter dem Fotoapparat auf diesem Foto.
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In the old days of the horse-drawn post coach, it was a horn that announced the arrival of the post/mail. While those horns are no longer used (nor are the horse-drawn coaches, though after some of the photos I've been posting, maybe it wouldn't be so surprising if they were) the symbol remains. This is the weathervane/roof ornament on the building that houses our post office (see the airplane I caught in the frame?) A view of part of the front yard with the Post post can be seen in this photo from the first of the month.
Tü-ta-to goes the three-tone horn on some of the newer (since 1924) Swiss Post busses, though you're unlikely to hear it except on the rare occasion. The motif was inspired by the Overture in Rossini's 1829 opera Guglielmo (Wilhelm) Tell (that's another important Swiss topic), and you can sample it here (it's a link to an MP3 clip via the post.ch website). There's more to the Overture than just the Lone Ranger theme song!
I've heard the horn twice so far, both times on narrow and winding mountain roads in Kanton Wallis (Valais). It's used to notify other drivers on the road of the presence of the bus when it enters a blind turn.
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Last year on the 5th of March a heavy overnight snowfall blanketed our region. It was a Sunday morning so there was little traffic, and I grabbed the camera just as the snow plough came by. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to adjust the white balance on the camera and this is the image as it was recorded. The light was actually rather bluish in reality, I just can't remember if it was that blue.
20060305 Canon S410
Today is a heartachingly beautiful day, completely different from yesterday:
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We are back in Villigen, just about at the entrance to the village. There's a farm house with horses. And a buggy. Sometimes I hear the clop-clop of horses outside and I run to the window to see individual riders and very occasionally, the buggy.
In the background there's a log house. Fodder for another post.
Addendum: One reader, AinZ, pointed out that the Amish and the Mennonites are of Swiss ancestry, and that's pertinent for this photo. We even discussed this in my German class recently as we talked about German-speaking groups around the world.
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Back in January I had a post about Weggis, a town on Lake Lucerne. I think I'm tiring a little of the grey weather around where we live (though Spring is definitely here) and I wanted to share this photo from that trip. The day after the other photo was taken, we drove up into the mountains near Weggis to gawk at the view. The lake had some haze over it, and the water line can be a little difficult to distinguish in this photo. The bright patch in the water is actually just the reflection of the sun. It looks like a chunk of ice to me, but it isn't.
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Once a month (usually the first of the month), members of the daily city photo blog community participate in a theme day. Today's topic is "men at work" and while I had ideas of interesting interpretations of the theme, I wasn't able to capture any of them on CCD. So, here's a rather boring shot of construction work going on opposite our post office (note the marker with the name and the postcode on the right hand side of the photo). I don't know what it is that they're working on, so I can't tell you.
The following CDP blogs are participating in today's theme (they're listed in the order in which they signed up to participate):
Greenville, SC (USA)
Hyde (UK)
Tenerife (Spain)
Albuquerque, NM (USA)
Stayton, OR (USA)
Rotterdam (NL)
Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)
London (England)
Richmond, VA (USA)
Sydney (Australia) [Sally]
Newcastle upon Tyne (England)
Constanta (Romania)
Evry (France)
Lubbock, TX (USA)
Szentes (Hungary)
Villigen (Switzerland)
Mumbai (India)
Tel Aviv (Israel)
Twin Cities, MN (USA)
Jakarta (Indonesia)
Houston, TX (USA) [Candice & Megan]
Budapest (Hungary)
Singapore (Singapore) [Zannie]
Dubai (UAE)
Singapore (Singapore) [Keropokman]
Madrid (Spain) [Dsole]
Mazatlan (Mexico) [Kate]
Nelson (New Zealand)
Vantaa (Finland)
Kyoto (Japan)
Tokyo (Japan)
Joplin, MO (USA)
Auckland (New Zealand)
Sequim, WA (USA)
Menton (France)
Minneapolis, MN (USA)
Istanbul (Turkey)
Sydney (Australia) [Nathalie]
Sharon, CT (USA)
Seattle, WA (USA)
Anderson, SC (USA)
Monte Carlo, (Monaco)
Milano, (Italy)
Grenoble (France)
Wailea, HI (USA)
Guelph, ON (Canada)
Melbourne (Australia) [John]
New York City (USA) [Ming_the_Merciless]
Cebu (Philippines)
Bandung (Indonesia)
Antigua (Guatemala)
Hamburg (Germany)
London (UK) [Jonemo]
Hong Kong
Stavanger (Norway)
Paris (France)
Naples, FL (USA)
Saarbrücken (Germany)
Shanghai (China)
Quito (Ecuador)
Zürich (Switzerland)
Joensuu (Finland)
Aliso Viejo, CA (USA)
Cheltenham (England)
Bastia (Corsica, France)
Brussels (Belgium)
Montreal (Canada)
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