Lausanne, Take Two

I was in Lausanne for some lab business but bummed around the city Tuesday and Wednesday night. Thursday I explored a little bit of Geneva, but the overcast sky meant there weren't any great photos. Though I have to admit, the hotels near Geneva have strange ideas of what lingerie will do to you, though pretty accurate if you are male:



On Wednesday mornings there is a market in Lausanne. Orange tomatoes are delicious.



The next few pictures are from the IOC (International Olympic Committee) headquarters in Lausanne. The IOC still had the Beijing Olympics decorations up.










I window shopped at several famous Swatch Stores on this trip.



Europeans like mixing the outdoors with everyday life.

The IOC usually has some world records depicted in artistic form. Last time I was in Lausanne there was a long jump statue. The high jump, the pole vault, and the shot put had either statues or a long line. The high jump and pole vault records are amazing, especially the high jump statue. I wasn't impressed by the shot put record. Seriously, humanity, a little over 20 meters is the best we can do?





Have you ever been waiting for the walk signal at a stop light, constantly pressing the button because you didn't think your push registered? I didn't realize how genius the walk request buttons are in Lausanne until the second time around. When you press a walk button, a light comes on - no more constantly pressing the walk request buttons at intersections. I respect the geniuses of civic engineering in Switzerland for their use of feedback.



I took a bunch of photos at Ouchy, the docks at Lausanne.







Finally, a parting photo that doesn't need a caption.

Fromage

While sitting on the Lausanne docks in a cool wind, watching the sun set over the French Alps, and eating a hunk of tasty Gruyere cheese, I thought about how awesome life is. Later I realized I shouldn't have eaten the *entire* hunk of cheese.