My Trip to Switzerland
So I'm on a business trip in Europe this week — first Switzerland, then Belgium. Having never been off the North American Continent, I thought this would be a great opportunity for photos. Our trip is pretty busy with business, but I've already found the time to get out and shoot.
Yesterday we arrived in Zurich, Switzerland at about 7:00 AM after an overnight flight from Newark, NJ — about a 7 hour flight time. Then we hopped a train from Zurich to Neuchatel, which took about 2 hours. Straight to work after that — we were all pretty dead tired. Quit work at 5:00 PM and went to the hotel. I stayed at the Hotel Alpes et Lac right near the train station — not a bad view (see photos below). I had about 1 hour to kill, so I went for a hike into Neuchatel while the sun was still up. Got some great shots of the graffiti (see photos below) and of the surrounding streets. There seems to be a lot of that in Switzerland, but it's not all bad looking. It kind of adds character to the towns. Went to dinner at a place called Brasserie le Cardinal and had some steak and fries. Back to the hotel by 9:00 PM in time for some much needed rest.
Switzerland is a pretty neat place. It's foreign, but not too foreign. I think Mexico felt more foreign to me than this place. If I spoke some French, I would actually feel pretty comfortable here. There are all types of people living here, and they're all pretty friendly. The really nice part is that most people speak enough English to help you get by. It's too bad that I couldn't spend more time here exploring the town. We're leaving tonight for Brussels, Belgium. If I get a chance to take some shots in Brussels, I'll post them here. (You'll have to excuse the photos below for not being in the best of shape — I don't have Photoshop on my work computer)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
inspirationbit
March 6, 2007What a great opportunity for photos – traveling. I even envy you a bit 🙂 Enjoy the trip. Look forward to seeing more amazing photos from the trip.
expatraveler
March 6, 2007Amazing pics, loving that fresh blue sky. I’m sure it has already been a great trip because you took some amazing pics of blue sky. Neuchatel is a nice place but really you must have found the majority of graffiti because when I lived in Switzerland, there was a lot less. Actually most graffiti is in and around train stations which totally makes since, younger kids, public transport. I think you just happened to stumble upon it. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever taking a of photo of graffiti.
Thanks for sharing your photos and cheers to your first trip to Switzerland and Europe!
Brian Auer
March 7, 2007Inspirationbit — don’t envy me too much, I’ve spent more time traveling and working than I have taking pictures! It is a great trip though — so many new things to see. I did get a few more shots tonight in Brussels, so I’ll try to post them soon.
Expatraveler – the sky was quite amazing out there, nothing like we see back in New Jersey! Neuchatel is a great place, very nice town. You’re probably right about the graffiti, most of the photos I took were within 1/2 mile of the train station. As I said though, I LIKE IT! There are some great artists out there. I’m thinking of starting a theme on graffiti — it shouldn’t be too hard living around NYC.
kriz cpec
March 8, 2007nice pictures, thanks for sharing. But there seems to be dust or something in the upper part of some of your pictures.
Brian Auer
March 8, 2007I know, I’ve got a piece of dust on the sensor that needs to be removed. Unfortunately I didn’t catch it before I left on my trip. I would have cleaned up the images digitally, but I didn’t have Photoshop at my disposal. I’ll be going back through these images now that I’m home, and doing some serious editing on them. Luckily, though, the spot is near the edge of the frame and it won’t be too difficult to clean up.
bestgramps
March 15, 2007To bad you did not have more time for picture taking. Next time just call in sick and go out and take some shots.
Brian Auer
March 15, 2007No kidding, I thought about it more than once. I should have just stayed an extra day and footed the bill for the hotel room — it would have been worth it.
fime
June 12, 2007i stumbled over your blog, dont ask me how, looking for fotography tipps. the entry about switzerland of course jumped right at me 🙂
I am living in Bern which is about 20minutes from neuchatel. Here you wouldnt have to speak french but german 🙂
Graffitis indeed are a common thing in our cities. sometimes they are great pieces of art, sometimes they’re just plain vandalism. But I think that is not only in switzerland.
So keep up the good work and thanks for all the great advice