Lausanne: Musée de l'Élysée + Postcard Views (3.12.14)

Went for a run the day before. Yikes. When you’re used to running in the Midwest, hills make everything a tad more difficult. I guess there’s a reason people run down by the lake where it’s flatter.

On the 12th (yup, I’m real behind on these posts), I went down to the lake again and visited the photography museum, next door to the Olympic Museum. The Musée de l'Élysée was featuring an exhibit on Philippe Haisman, a photographer whose work was featured on the majority of Life magazine covers and who also happened to be close friends with the fascinating Salvador Dali.

I found Haisman’s work phenomenal and incredibly interesting. I especially loved his collaborations with Dali – he would try to create and photograph abstract photos by developing his photos certain ways, sometimes literally cutting and pasting photos and redeveloping. The creativity required amongst photographers before Photoshop was intriguing to me. The photos seemed truly raw and genuine. Below are a couple of my favorites from his exhibit (photo credit: http://philippehalsman.com/images/).

Jean Cocteau

On the way back home, I hopped out at the Bessieres metro stop to take pictures of the postcard view as the sun was setting.

Lovely Lausanne. x

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Lausanne: Cathédrale and Place de la Palud (3.10.14)

I said I'd try and keep this up... never said anything about prompt huh. I've been back in Lausanne after four days in Madrid and more than a tad behind on this blog attempt. I'm now hostel-hopping across this mini country and catching up on blogs while on the train (fit my laptop in with my backpack full of clothes -chyea).

"Life begins at the end of your comfort zone."

Traveling alone in cities that speak unfamiliar languages is definitely a learning experience. It's a little daunting at first, especially in non-touristy areas, but I've gradually been getting accustomed to it.

My second day wandering Lausanne, I took the subway down to the city and walked in circles for a bit. You can ask me where all the free wifi spots are here - they are my savior when I'm confused. Maps need to be 3D in this city, there are so many times where what look like intersections and streets end up involving bridges and paths below/above you. While exploring the old area of Lausanne, I found myself gradually climbing up a hill towards the Cathédrale de Lausanne. From there, was a great view of the city’s rooftops with the lake and mountains further off in the background.

After navigating back to the free wifi zone, I attempted to search for Le Barbare, a café in the area known for its hot chocolate and recommended to me by a friend who studied abroad in Lausanne for a bit (thanks Erica!). Finally found the place tucked in a corner on a path below  the cathedral. Again, the waitress spoke no English but I managed to figure out how to order hot chocolate and a sandwich. (I’m having way better luck on these educated guesses from French menus than on multiple choice exams back in school…) Their hot chocolate also basically means rich melted chocolate in a cup – chocolate pudding, yum.

Ended this day of wandering in circles sitting at a cute fountain (which became even better when I found out there was free wifi, aka Google Maps) people watching and buying postcards. My internet access and postcard-skimming helped me realize I was sitting on the fountain in the center of Place de la Palud (the center of Lausanne's old pedestrian area). The fountain was even featured on a couple of the postcards I was looking over. Good job, Soph.

...and to be honest, my blogging will probably continue to be as sporadic. Love and miss you all.

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Soph's Semi-solo Europe Adventure Begins

Bonjour loves. So I may have promised some people and myself that I'd do this blogging thing. And since I know myself a tad bit, I know I need to start asap and post a little bit at a time. Otherwise I will become overwhelmed and the blogging will never happen (see: New York). *Note: Don't. There are no NYC posts... see?

"Live, travel, adventure, bless, and don't be sorry."

- Jack Kerouac

Mini fast-forwarded intro... Chicago to Geneva (Switzerland) with a layover in Newark. Starbucks right across from my first gate? Okay. Lots of French-speaking toddlers on the next plane? We became friends immediately. Landed in Switzerland. No window seat. No view/pictures of the Alps during sunrise from thousands of feet in the air. (The fact that I even just said that here shows a teensy bit of regret, I know.) The Swiss man at customs saw that I was born in Lausanne, gradually realized I didn't speak French, and then began looking so disappointed/ashamed in me that I just smiled and quickly walked away. Oops.

Au revoir, Chiberia.

I left Chicago Thursday morning, arrived in Switzerland early Friday morning. Their time. So with the time change, it means I time traveled during my usual bedtime. On the plane, I read part of "The Book Thief", watched "Frozen", and slept at most an hour. No regrets. Zombie Sophie then went grocery shopping in France (almost everything in Switzerland is more expensive) before hibernating.

A Day of Lac Léman (3.9.14) // Vevey & Lausanne

Post-hibernation. Started off the day early and walked along Lac Léman (also called Lake Geneva) in Vevey, Switzerland. Vevey is home to Nestlé's world headquarters, Charlie Chaplin, and the invention of milk chocolate. It is also breathtaking. Analogy: mountains are to Switzerland as corn fields are to Illinois. The Swiss Alps just casually chill along the highways here and I can't stop staring at them. And taking pictures of them... some of these might seem repetitive but I'm just trying to present a well-rounded perspective alright.

Charlie Chaplin Statue

Guess who got everyone to move so she could take this picture? ..just kidding, shops are closed on Sunday.

The town itself is also lovely and, since it was a Sunday, pretty quiet. Everyone was down by the lake enjoying the 50 degree weather. I found an open cafe and managed to order a cappuccino from the waitress who knew absolutely no English and, therefore, couldn't give me directions to the train station.

Back in Lausanne, I subway-ed down to Ouchy (Lausanne's lakeside). Lausanne is the city I'm staying at and the city I was born in - this is my first time back since I left when I was a year old. No wonder I was such a chill and happy tot - I was pushed around in a stroller surrounded by a gorgeous lake and the Swiss Alps every weekend. Throwing bread crumbs to swans. Who would complain.

Lausanne is also recognized as the official Olympic Capital is headquarters of the International Olympic Committee. I walked along Lac Léman to Le Musée Olympique (The Olympic Museum) and spent about 3 hours there.

Torches on torches on torches.

Lithography by Arman.

Now let's see if I can keep this up.

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Devil's Lake

Apologies for putting this up weeks post-adventure. When I was back home in suburbia for the majority of May, I was getting much too antsy and finally planned a day trip to Devil's Lake State Park with a car-full of friends.

Gorgeous hiking, lovely friends. Highly recommended.

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Fitness, Food, and Friends

Hope everyone had the loveliest Spring Break! Spent mine at home in Chicagoland alternating between sleeping, eating, and catching up with the friends that happened to be home. Went to yoga classes with my Mama and took advantage of our March birthday coupons by doing some shopping. Wandered the city during and post-blizzard. The two weeks of awful that happened before break have been pretty much forgotten but now it's Monday...

This is kinda a delayed post (what's new?) but I've wanted to share an article that expresses some of my thoughts in a better and less rambly way than I am capable. Recently (as in a month ago), I ran across an opinion article in the New York Times titled "Relax! You'll Be More Productive". In a nutshell, the writer is claiming that you can be more productive by both doing less and increasing your energy. Here are some direct quotes/points from the article to give you an idea of what he talks about if you're too lazy/busy to read the article on your own:

• A new and growing body of multidisciplinary research shows that strategic renewal - including daytime workouts, short afternoon naps, longer sleep hours, more time away from the office and longer, more frequent vacations - boosts productivity, job performance and, of course, health.
• Although many of us can't increase the working hours in the day, we can measurably increase our energy...Like time, energy is finite; but unlike time, it is renewable. Taking more time off is counterintuitive for most of us.
• Spending more hours at work often leads to less time for sleep and insufficient sleep takes a substantial toll on performance...A recent Harvard study estimated that sleep deprivation costs American companies $63.2 billion a year in lost productivity.
• Our basic idea is that the energy employees bring to their jobs is far more important in terms of the value of their work than is the number of hours they work. By managing energy more skillfully, it's possible to get more done, in less time, more sustainably...When we're renewing, we're truly renewing, so when we're working, we can really work.

The weeks before Spring Break were a mix of exams, cases, event-planning for my student organizations, and interviews. However, I've realized taking planned study breaks and working out have not only helped me become more efficient and productive but also kept me more relaxed and less stressed. Okay, that's basically it. Some examples of these study breaks include ice skating at Yost and eating with friends (see: my adventures at The Prickly Pear with The Coffee Breaker and Zingerman's with Shanghai Girl Eats).

Skating at Yost!

Prickly Pear // Chips & Salsa, Sweet Potato Enchilada & Spinach and Cheese Enchilda

Zingerman's // #48 Binny's Brooklyn Reuben

Me and DJ of ShanghaiGirlEats

Listening to: "WHALE" - Yellow Ostrich