- Tom had a business trip to Switzerland and I decided to join him for a week in Lausanne...
- An old friend we met on our cruise in 2008 came to Rome and I got to visit with her...
- Winter is coming...
- The garden has been put to sleep...
- I have moved on from ceramic painting and sculpture...
- Lastly, next stop...Richmond Virginia
Tom had to be in Luasanne Switzerland last week for business training and I decided to tag-along. It has been about 1.5 years since last I was there. The one good thing about Switzerland is that it does not change much. It was really nice to be back and take a break from Rome.
We stayed at the Luasanne Palace which sits right in the center of the town. It was a lovely hotel with an interesting eye for decorating taste - mainly in the bathroom! The bathroom decor was, to say the least, over-the-top! Take a look...
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| Very shiny & reflective! |
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| OMG! Villeroy & Boch! |
Everything else in the hotel from the dining to the service was just amazing!
On day one - Tom went off to his meeting, I wanted to just walk around the town and visit a few of the shops & streets I wandered when we lived here. My first stop was Globus, a Macy's type department store. As I was riding the escalator up to the housewares department - I saw a camera crew at the top, I tip-toed around them as to not disturb their filming. Globus had already set-up their over-the-top Christmas Department - so I decided to look around. A few moments later, I was approached by a gentlemen asking me, in French, if I wanted to be interviewed. I was flattered but as I was telling him that I do not speak French - he interupted me and said "You speak English"! I replied yes and he asked again if I would do the interview (in English). I said "Why not!". The subject of the segment dealt with my feelings about Christmas being set-up in October. The department was so wonderful I told them that it was 'magical, romantic and all around beautiful'. I also added that since I am from the states that I had to shop even earlier so I could get my gifts to their intended 'giftees'. After the interview was complete they asked if they could follow me around while I shopped to get some extra footage...
I must say it was an unexpected and interesting thing to have happen. I did ask and found out that the show was to air on Swiss Channel 1 Monday 10/22 on a show called TTC (meaning 'all taxes included'). I have been trying to find a copy of the segment on the internet but to no avail - if I do find it I will add it to a future posting. I wasn't supposed to but I did take a few pictures of the Christmas shop...take a look...
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| Vive la Fete - Live Christmas! A Paris theme this year! 2 years ago it was NY... |
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| Christmas Explosion! |
Minus that little bit of excitment the rest of the day was generally beautiful...I walked around, had lunch in one of my old-haunts and just enjoyed fall in Luasanne...
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| The view from lunch at Coop... |
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| The view from the grounds... |
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| An amazing park... |
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| ...leaves changing colors... |
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| ...& fountains flowing... |
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| Even their Graffiti... |
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| ...was just amazing! I thought this was just very funny! |
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| Their gardens... |
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| ...perfect (and over-the-top)! |
The next day I took a bus down to the 'old neighborhood' down by Port Ouchy where we stayed when we were there. The Olympic museum was closed for renovation but they decided to create a portable one for visitors to see. It was housed on an old river boat and was a lot of fun...
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| The lovely Port Ouchy! |
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| & the floating Olympic Museum! |
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| The Olympic City... |
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| ...Bronze, Silver & Gold 2012! |
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| Torches & Medals... |
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| ...going back to the... |
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| ...beginning! |
It was pleasant being back in the beautiful, organized and tranquil city of Lausanne but it's time to move on...
Back in 2008 Tom and I took a marvelous cruise starting in Rome and venturing around Italy ending in Venice. It was a wonderful way to see Italy and many of its beautiful cities...
On this cruise we met many wonderful people and saw many wonderful places...
One of those wonderful people was a fun woman named Margaret Blechinger (from upstate NY) - over the years since the cruise Margaret was amazing in keeping in touch around the holidays and throughout the year - I also found out that she is an active reader of this blog! Brava, Margaret!
Through Margaret's church she was blessed to come back to Rome, with a group, for the canonization of the patron saint, of her local church, at the Vatican. During her time in Rome, Margaret was kind-enough to set aside some of her time to visit with us (me). On Monday the 22nd I took a trip down to Margaret's hotel and we had a wonderful lunch - discussing her trip, our time in Rome, our families and fond memories our time on the cruise together.
I thought it would be fun to show photos of us from 2008 and now from our meeting in 2012...take a look:
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| The 3 of us - Venice 2008! Can't believe it was 4 years ago! |
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| & the two of us now! |
As you can see I have gotten older and Margaret looks the same - I would love to know her secret!
It was great seeing her after 4 years and I send love to her and her family!
(On a side note - Margaret - the postcards have been mailed from the Vatican as promised! Enjoy!)
On the home front, fall is here and winter is coming...
As I stated in the beginning, it has become time to winterize my garden...
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| What was once green is now... |
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| ...covered in blue for the winter! |
My creative endeavors are still continuing but have changed a little for now...
I recently finished my last ceramic project - a bowl (what I am calling 'the Natale Bowl'):
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| Emerald green, gold accents... |
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| ...and red with yellow flowers! |
Well I decided to take a side trip away from my sculpting skills and take a try at oil painting. Here is the start of my first attempt...(wish me luck!):
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| Beginning with a sketch... |
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| ...and now start adding color! Coming soon to a Starving Artist sale at your local Marriot! |
Don't worry - I will be going back to ceramics and sculpture soon...
Lastly, this coming Wednesday (Halloween) we leave for the US - going back to Virginia to celebrate Tom's Moms 80th Birthday - with friends and family at the amazing Lemaire restaurant. Then we get to celebrate Bill's Birthday, Diane's Birthday, James' Birthday and a great visit with VA/NY friends... Can't wait! (I hope Sandy doesn't mess-up any of our plans)
Just so you are aware - I will not be posting until after we get back to Rome on November 10th.
I will hopefully have many pictures of all the wonderful events...
Very much looking forward to seeing all our friends and family -
Well until the next post -
Ciao for now!
Abbracci a tutti!
Ron & Tom
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