Swiss and Switzerland

Little Kentucky in Switzerland

kenritley

Anyone who has been to the US state of Kentucky will feel right at home in North Central Switzerland!

Well, maybe not entirely.

Sadly, there are zillions of people of Kentucky who don’t believe in evolution or modern science.

Sadly, there are zillions of people in Kentucky more than willing to shoot you if you get near their crystal methamphetamine laboratories. (It nearly happened to me.)

But these are just little differences!  What Kentucky and North Central Switzerland share is a love of everything horse, as this roundabout shows:

 

Neanderthals in Switzerland

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The Neanderthals were named for ancient human remains that were found in a valley of the same name, just north of Switzerland – and there is a lot of evidence to suggest that an enclave of Neanderthals existed in Switzerland – indeed, thrived in Switzerland – many thousands of years after going extinct elsewhere.

One bit of evidence for this are bits and pieces of language – linguistic artefacts, if you will.

Here is a town in a highly secluded region of Switzerland that could easily have been home to one of these Neanderthal enclaves:

The town is named “Taa” – no, that is not a Klingon name, although you could be forgiven for thinking it is. It is one of a handful of very strange words filled with hard, explosive sounds.

For another example of a probably Neanderthal enclave, please have a look here.

Winterthur Crows

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As artistic a snap as I thought I could take of the “advance troop” of a small crow army that has been visiting my balcony each morning, ever since I put out some food for them.

Interestingly, they arrive very punctually at almost exactly 7 AM – am I their first stop for breakfast, or maybe already it is their first coffee break?  They must go to bed quite early – or are otherwise engaged – because after around 3 PM there is nary a crow I will see.

FAKE: Lausanne Chalet

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This is what Google did to one of my snaps of a medieval chalet in Lausanne, just a few meters from Lac Léman,

Just for the record: the photos I post are never in any way retouched or enhanced or changed – except for cropping.

But in this series of blog posts entitled FAKE I publish some rather interesting images I have enhanced in some way.

FAKE: Lausanne Trees

kenritley

This is what Google did to one of my snaps of a budding tree in Lausanne, just a few meters from Lac Léman,

Just for the record: the photos I post are never in any way retouched or enhanced or changed – except for cropping.

But in this series of blog posts entitled FAKE I publish some rather interesting images I have enhanced in some way.

The mind blowing restaurant trams of Switzerland

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As any visitor to a large Swiss city like Zürich knows, the Swiss are proud of their public transportation – and rightly so. Next to Japan, it’s the most punctual and reliable transportation in the world.

But did you know something else?

The big cities in Switzerland have large collection of antique electric trams – and some of these trams have been turned into travelling restaurants, such as this snap of a restaurant tram in Bern shows:

I’ll post more pics of restaurant trams in different cities as time permits.

FAKE: Zurich Castle

kenritley

This is what Google did to one of my snaps of a castle in Zurich, right next to the main train station (Zürich Hauptbahnhof). Even the original photograph is quite impressive – it was taken with my little point-and-shoot camera in color mode, yet it turned out nearly black and white.

Just for the record: the photos I post are never in any way retouched or enhanced or changed – except for cropping.

But in this series of blog posts entitled FAKE I publish some rather interesting images I have enhanced in some way.

Niesen Supervolcano spewing hot volcanic steam

kenritley

Here is a sight that is increasingly becoming less rare in the Swiss Alps, namely the mighty Niesen Supervolcano spewing extremely hot volcanic steam from its crown:

The Niesen Supervolcano located deep in the Berner Oberland of Switzerland is one of nine such supervolcanos world wide, with underground magma chambers many dozens of kilometers in extent. Most geologists concur when, not if, the Niesen Supervolcano erupts it will distinguish all life in Europe.

FAKE: Prime Tower

kenritley

This is what Google did to one of my photographs – Google applied some interesting colors, not actual colors you’d ever see with your eyes, but nice colors nonetheless:

Just for the record: the photos I post are never in any way retouched or enhanced or changed – except for cropping.

But in this series of blog posts entitled FAKE I publish some rather interesting images I have enhanced in some way.

Pullman Coach on the Glacier Express

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There is a wonderful train – some might call it a luxury train, although I’d stop just a bit short of saying that – that runs through the south of Switzerland, from St. Moritz to Montreux.

Passengers sit in honest-to-goodness Pullman coaches, like this one shown here:

To be sure, it’s hard to imagine a more uncomfortable ride – the seats are fancy but hail from the days before the term ergonomics was in common use.

One of the wonderful fringe benefits of having a first class railcard (a so-called GA) for the Swiss Federal Railways is that you can take magnificent railway journey such as this, as often as you like, with no extra fees!