This is one of the most beautiful churches I had seen throughout Europe. More so for its inside than outside. It is the main church in St.Gallen.
Here is it's inside -- the most interesting part outside of the Rococo design is the dark ceiling painted as a heaven.
Next to the church, there is a tall evergreen. During the winter holidays, the tree is adorned with white lights and long rectangle mirrors (it makes for quite a light show). Beautiful.
Here is a picture of the ancient library in St.Gallen. You must wear slippers when entering as even the floor is carved beautifully. The books are currently unaccessible -- due to their frailty -- and the room is freezing in the winter as the clerks do not turn on the heat very high in the winter (to prevent the books from getting damage).
There is also a selection of very old books for show in glass display cases -- very much worth a visit. (these last two are pictures from my swiss picture book - you weren't allowed to take pictures)
Ahh... the cows. What a cute thing. I love this picture, it is as if I had asked the cows to stand in a perfect way for the shot.
OLMA! I forget what it stands for in German but it is a very popular swiss agricultural fair in October with foods to taste, animals to see and pet, amusement park rides, and -- my favourite part -- pig races, as this picture demonstrates!!
This is the apartment building I lived in. I stayed in a 3 bedroom flat in the top floor. (In Switzerland, they don't have boring square apartment building in small towns. Instead, they have very large houses.)
Here is the inside of my flat -- I loved the wooden design of the top floor!
Here is another "apartment building" in a neighbouring village. This one had a great restaurant on the first floor.
Here is a picture of my University, "Sanct Gallen Universitat". Interestingly enough, it was developed with an ultra modern / cement feel to it. Inside the walls were made of cement, but the texture looked like wood (a special look from one of the dozen Swiss artists who created the entire enviromnent). It really felt like we were in a museum with all the weird pictures and statues.
One of the best part of this school is that, from your classrooms, you can see the beautiful rolling hills with small houses here and there from a large window. Sigh, I miss those days sometimes.
A strange thing about schools in switzerland is that students are allowed to smoke indoors -- which make the hallways absolutely stinky sometimes.
A common site while travelling through switzerland by train. Since I have never skiied by then, I had not seen a mountain either so it was absolutely breathtaking!
Ahhh the take out version of Raclette -- a swiss favourite! Just take a slice of rye bread, let a block of gruyere cheese melt (even toast) aside, then scrape the melted cheese (top part of the block) onto the slice so that it is completely covered. Sprinkle nutmeg on top to taste, and cut in four pieces. Yum!
Here I am with my three flatmates and on my last day, they are teaching me to make fondue.
Scenes from the Appenzell museum -- this is the traditional Appenzell gear. What's most interesting, is that the Appenzell men used to wear an earing that has a little spoon as part of the traditional costume (and some still do, but without the rest of the costume).
The Appenzell farmers used to take the cows (with huge bells around their necks) up to the mountain (to eat grass I think??).
I know it's hard to see, but this is a common decoration on a barn in Switzerland -- the artwork depicts a series of cows (as they were when they were going up to the mountain). Notice the middle cow is called the belt cow (and it usually has a belt of brown around it's middle body - while the rest of the cow is white).
A boar! In St.Gallen, there is a 1/2 day hiking trail. Near it, we saw a handful of animals in a type of zoo (boars, caribou, deer, ducks). Anyway, I had never seen a boar before -- cute little thing, don't you think?
Here is a picture of Zurich in the evening (no, it's not a postcard!)
Ahh Luzern... beautiful if it was for all the seagulls everywhere!!!! This bridge is neat and worth walking through.
Inside, you will find a series of historic paintings.
