Merci Switzerland!

Recently I was lucky enough to be sent to Switzerland on business and when I wasn't working I made sure that I was either eating or walking around looking for something to eat. We stayed in Neuchatel and took a day trip to Geneve. Their appreciation for good design and delightful food was evident in the thoughtful execution of everything from a fisherman's shed to a child's slide. It made me wonder where our sense of style and our appreciation for beauty have gone? I wish the words "thoughtful" and "delightful" sprang to my mind as often as they did in Switzerland.

Though I didn't take many photos of all of the food that ended up in my belly, I did take lots of the local scenery and simple beauty that surrounded me. Enjoy!

These are boat sheds next to the docks that housed local resident's sailboats. Such a simple way to add color to a landscape and turn an otherwise boring eyesore (think of those plastic sheds from Home Depot...ACK!) into a beautiful element.

The water at the docks (and everywhere else for that matter) was so clear. The plant life living beneath the glassy surface of the water was beautiful...in a spooky kind of way.

For those of you who know me, you know that I'm not a chocolate person. Dee has always been the one in the family who loves the stuff but let me tell you...Swiss chocolate has ruined me for life! Oh creamy goodness, how I miss thee.

(drooling...)

Pantone cups at a design store in Geneve (we must have walked into about 3 or 4 of them within a 2 mile radius). My favorite is the coffee series located in the back.

A local fishing shed in Neuchatel is made more elegant by just adding some wood panels to redefine (not cover) the metal and fiberglass siding underneath.

The front entrance of the same fishery.

Woolly Mammoth slides at a playground in Neuchatel sans metal bars ;)

Almost every window has a form of shutter in Switzerland each having their own characteristics and displaying their wear with pride.

Some local art on the walls of an underpass in Neuchatel.

The window frame of a jeweler displays hand-painted diagrams of the tools of the trade.

An olive oil chandelier in Geneve.

Yummy pizza served on a wooden board. Look at how thin that crust is!