Soccer match

Two weekends ago, I came across this soccer match in the park next to our house.

Mont Blanc

The view of Mont Blanc from our balcony at dusk.
(We are indebted to Chris for identifying this for us in May.)

Maladière

The eastern facade of the Maladière center, which is home to Neuchâtel's soccer team, the Xamax, 

as well as a fire station and large underground shopping mall.

Esplanade du Mont-Blanc (part 4)

Torse - Chevalier (1959/75) by Alsatian sculptor, Jean Arp
The scaffolding covering the Collégiale church, which is undergoing restoration, can be seen in the background.

More cabins

Chevrons are a common decorative element in Switzerland.

Cabins

The cabins around the marina are painted in a variety of colors and styles.

Neuchâtel marina

The white building overlooking the marina is the fancy Hotel Beaulac.

Benches

The promenade along the lake front is popular among students on break. The large bench is by Lilian Bourgeat (2009).

Herbs at DuPeyrou

The spring flowers have been replaced by herbs, kale, and cabbage at the Hôtel DuPeyrou, 

and the fountain is now in operation.

Clock tower and knight

Another plaza whose name I'll discover next week. The road on the right leads to the castle. The fountain

at the center topped by the knight banneret dates from 1581.

Château de Colombier

 

I love the variety of shapes and sizes in the building material of Colombier's château.

(As the last four posts have shown, Neuchâtel and its neighboring towns are predominately yellow and grey.) 

Floral car

This car was parked in front of the florist's shop in Colombier.

Colombier shop

We trekked down to Colombier last weekend to visit a quilt shop. I found the round window and 

shutter on a neighboring shop to be charming.

Esplanade du Mont-Blanc (part 3)

Spirale (1991-92) by local sculptor, André Ramseyer

The third of five sculptures I found in this garden, which sits next to the Hotel Beau-Rivage.

Esplanade du Mont-Blanc (part 2)

Verticales (1989-90) by Swiss sculptor, René Küng

Another of the sculptures in the garden. A nice aerial view of the esplanade.

Esplanade du Mont-Blanc (part 1)

Tridem, a dynamic sculpture by Hungarian-born, French artist Victor Vasarely, rises behind arches 

covered in wax begonias and echeveria in the constantly evolving garden of the Esplanade du Mont-Blanc.

Sake set

This arrived in the mail last week. Shuku sent us a sake set from Japan. A Japanese drink made 

from fermented rice, sake can be consumed hot, at room temperature, or chilled. I think this set must be 

for chilled sake, with the blue hole on the side of the carafe holding ice to keep the sake cold.

Hedgehog

Freddy and I were sitting on our balcony at dusk last Saturday when he first noticed a hedgehog,
toodling around below us.

Stained glass

A gift from Mindy and Chris now hanging in our kitchen window.

Isola Bella garden

A view from one of the terraces. Behind us were climbing roses and beds of poppies.

Isola Bella grotto

The grotto, covered in shells and statues, faces Isola Bella's palazzo and forms the back side of the terraced garden. The entire ground floor of the palazzo is decorated in grotto-style as well.

Lake Maggiore islands

On our way back to Switzerland, Zak and I stopped in Stresa and visited two of the Borromean Islands of

Lake Maggiore. We ate lunch on Isola dei Pescatori, the smaller one in the distance, which is three streets

wide and covered in restaurants and souvenir shops. Then we toured the palace and terraced garden

of Isola Bella in the foreground. Tourists zip between the islands on small boats run by private operators.

Anniversary fashion

To celebrate our first wedding anniversary, we purchased a pale lavender dress shirt with a violet tie for Zak
and a pair of sage-colored leather gloves with smart wrist buckles for me.

Inter Milan

On Sunday evening, we watched a soccer match between Inter Milan and Palermo. You can just barely make out some smoke over the upper tier seats on the left side of the photo, where the super fans were gathered. They chanted, sang, and waved enormous flags during the entire match. The smoke in this instance was in celebration of Inter Milan's first goal of the game by Giampaolo Pazzini.

Basilica of Saint Ambrose

The plaza in front of the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio has been constructed out of previous incarnations of the building. Ambrose was the bishop of Milan in the late 4th century.

La Scala

We were lucky to get tickets to the ballet on Saturday evening at La Scala. Photographs were forbidden, so I
took this quick snap and put my camera away before many people had arrived. The theater at our level was only
four rows deep, and though we had to stand to see the entire stage, I thought we got great seats. On the bill: Balanchine's Jewels (short video).

What I found most interesting about this theater was that there were separate entrances for different classes
of tickets. The wealthy people who could afford €115 ($165) tickets for floor seats entered by the front door.
Those of us with cheaper tickets entered by a side door and used a completely separate staircase.

Cioccolata calda

Our morning hot chocolate from a different shop. The chocolate was so thick, it was like drinking rich, 

hot chocolate pudding. Yum.

Coffee shops

We got hot chocolate every morning from local coffee shops, which were uniformly elegant places. Getting

your drink, however, was chaotic. Shops charge one euro extra for seating, so most customers stand in the area 

just in front of the counter to consume their morning beverage and pastry. (I was at the edge of the crowd 

photographing the rear of the shop.)

Risotto milanese and pasta with pesto

Food in restaurants is most likely to be served in this way: one item per course, rather than American-style

with two or three items on the same plate. The pasta and risotto were served before our salads.