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Friday, July 18, 2008

Fun Stuff

I hope you aren't getting tired of my vacation photos yet. I have a few more themes to go. Today's theme is fun stuff (or bordering on the unusual).

Anna in Strasbourg

Drain spout in Strasbourg

Frank and Anna have found a friend in Frankfurt

Sculpture in front of the Museum of Communication in Frankfurt. This is a very interesting museum. I would recommend it if you are in Frankfurt.

Sculpture inside the Museum of Communication - a herd of sheep.

And the black sheep was around the corner by himself.
Sculpture outside a gallery in Bern.

We walked by this sculpture many times in Bern as it was on the way to our hotel. Frank always had to stop and mess with it as the earth spins and you can gently turn it for a different rotation. It is "floating" in water.

I don't know what schmuck means in German, but probably not what I associate with it.

Soccer crazy in Switzerland.

Eating crepes in front of the gorgeous Strasbourg cathedral. Yummy fun!

Artwork in the entry of the Paul Klee museum in Bern. Reminds me of a bird's nest with gathered bits of whatever could be found mixed with branches.

Sculpture outside the Paul Klee museum. No, these are not works by Klee himself.


A view of the beautiful Aare river in Bern.


We found a place to go down and swim in the river (187 steps steps down, to be exact. That also means 187 steps up.) There was an area that had a pool you could swim in where the water was drawn from the river so there were fish swimming around in it. It was a bit grungy, but it was free and good for kids to swim in.
The river itself was very swift. There were lots of locals floating by. All along the bank there were these steps into the river. Every so often there would be steps that also had a rail to hold onto. As soon as you got in the water it would take you away.
When you found steps with a rail, you would have to get over to the side and grab onto the rail and pull yourself out against the current. If you missed, you would have to wait for the next one. Then, you get out and just walk back down the path to where you were. Frank and I floated a little ways but Anna wasn't comfortable doing it. We went to the river both days we were there. It was nice and made me feel more like a local than a tourist.
A sculpture in the art museum in Zurich. I had fun in the museum but since we were visiting it after being awake for 24 hours flying to Zurich, finding our hotel, dropping off our luggage and walking to the museum, Anna and Frank weren't enjoying it quite as much as I was.

This sculpture was in the train station area in Zurich. Notice the real sized people near the feet of the players.

Another artwork hanging around the station.


Anna and I took some swing time in Zurich, while Frank took pictures.

Lion clock in watch museum in Zurich. The moving parts were the wings and eyeballs. They had a video of it so you could see it move.

1 comment:

Kristin L said...

Schmuck means jewelry in German.

As a jeweler would be called a Schmuckler, I'm guessing that between anti-semitism and details getting lost in translation the word got altered over the years from "Jeweler" to "Jewish merchant I have issues with," to "Guy who's attitude or demeanor annoys me."