May 2012

In May, we went for a hike near Solothurn with friends from Minnesota who are now working at Cambridge University, but were in Switzerland doing research that week. Zak ran four of the six Tour de Canton races, and I nearly photographed him once. We celebrated our second wedding anniversary. And we took a long weekend trip up to southern Germany to visit a friend from our Portland days. Paul took us punting on the Neckar River in Tübingen, to Bebenhausen Abbey, and to Hohenzollern Castle, and shared his encyclopedic knowledge of European church history with us.

Christmas chocolates

Both grocery chains stocked their Christmas chocolate aisles a few weeks ago. 

Here's the holiday classic: milk chocolate cat tongues.

Christmas party

Zak will be one of the four MCs at his lab's Christmas party this year. The theme is Neuchâtel through the ages.

Fog

I'm fresh out of new photos, but here's an oldie I took back in March. This is what Neuchâtel looks like in

winter: heavy fog. If I were to take this photo today, there would still be leaves on some of the trees
(see Sunday's photo, which was taken from the road above/behind the car wash), but the fog is accurate.
Goodbye, Alps. Farewell, other side of the lake.

Minimum wage

The concept of a minimum wage is up for a vote in a couple weeks.

French class

I made a short recording and snapped a quick photo near the end of my French grammar class on Monday.

...transformer cette...cette phrase et dire, "Beaucoup d'accidents sont arrivés ce mois." Mais on étant "il est arrivé," je mets à distance. C'est quelque chose qui est beaucoup plus factuelle, beaucoup plus objective, que si je dis, "Beaucoup d'accidents sont arrivés ce mois."

Je mets le fait en évidence. Je mets l'information...[cough].... Les verbes pronominaux: "Il se peut qu'il revienne demain" c'est très utilisé. "Il se peut que...il est possible que." "Il se peut qu'il revienne demain...il est possible qu'il revienne demain." Là j'utilise "il est possible" qui est aussi une forme impersonelle, évidemment. Les verbs attibutives...

Swiss band

A sign listing the bands playing at a local festival a couple weeks ago. I can't help but wonder how the last band listed on Friday, a local Swiss rock band, came up with their name.

Reformed Evangelical Church

Without the cross on top, I might never have guessed this is a church.

Burritos à la suisse

This sign caught my eye as I was walking to school yesterday.

Mexican burritos -- Swiss beef and red beans

Indian burritos -- Cold chicken with curried mayonnaise

Chinese burritos -- Swiss honeyed pork and bean sprouts

Oriental burritos -- Lamb

New building

A few months ago, I noticed a building near us that had holes in its roof. Soon afterwards, it was demolished. Excavation of the site soon followed, and now they're beginning to build. The excavation looks terraced, but it isn't. The building to be built here will eventually house Zak's lab.

Passage interdit

There are many sets of stairs all over Neuchâtel, but this may be my favorite. It always looks so beckoning

 the way it curves into darkness beyond its "forbidden" sign.

Honeylocust

Remember the honeylocust from two weeks ago? It got trimmed in that special, European way.

Slug

Also at the botanical garden.

Snail

Possibly a Helicella itala we saw at the botanical garden on Sunday.

Virginia creeper

More autumn colors.

Mailman

At last! A photo of a Neuchâtel mailman on his mail scooter.

Scales

All the stands at the market use old-fashioned scales to weigh produce.

Airshow

The festival included a demonstration of precision flying by six Swiss jets.

Fête des Vendanges

Our local Fête des Vendanges, a fall harvest festival, took place a couple weeks ago. Here: parade floats (in the parade-float barn) covered in fresh flowers.

Sumac

A flaming red sumac near Zak's work.