First stop of the morning was a cafe for tea, cappacinno and juice. Then we started our Rick Steve's walking tour.
Lausanne is the Olympic Capitol - its been the home of the International Olympic Committee since 1915. The Romans founded Lausanne along the banks of Lake Geneva. With the fall of Rome and rise of barbarians, the locals fled up into the hills, where todays old town lies. Today, Ouchy is the waterfront district that thrives on tourism. Lausanne is home to 125,000 inhabitants. The city has a very progressive city government that subsidizes are and cultural events.
We followed the Rue du Grand-Pont through the pedestrian zone and the high end shops, towards the cathedral on the hill.
Views of the city
Rooftop garden
This fountain caught Brandon's attention. The sphere spins while water flows around it.
Brandon and Katrina spotted this in the pedestrian zone.
Near the top of the fill sits the Cathedral, an Evangelical Reform Church. This is the biggest church in Switzerland, at more than 300 ft long.
Inside of the Cathedral - Evangelical Reform Church. The pipe organ is American made by Fisk, a Boston company. It's worth is estimated at 4 million SF, about the same in American dollars.
From the cathedral we continued uphill to the castle. This castle is closed to the public. The statue is of Major Davel, a local hero. At this point Brandon took control of the camera.
Castle - photo by Brandon
Major Davel
Photo by Brandon
Artistic shot - photo by Brandon
Katrina - photo by Brandon
Playing with bees - photo by Brandon
Photo by Brandon
I am the Rick Steve's tour guide - photo by Brandon
Swiss postman - photo by Brandon
Our tour turned back downhill past the Cathedral and down to Place de la Palud and Place de la Riponne. We hiked down quite a few flights of stairs to the main pedestrian zone to see the Foutain of Justice.
Stairway down the hill - photo by Brandon
Fountain of Justice. I guess its being worked on. - photo by Brandon
Well, the fountain wasn't up and running at the present time. Lunch time. Katrina wanted to try the White Elephant, a restaurant we passed back on top of the hill. Back up the stairs we climbed and climbed, but it ended up being well worth it. Lunch was excellent. They serve only the daily special, and today it was salmon with rice. Wow! Brandon had a half portion and should have had a full portion. He loved it. If you are ever in Lausanne, try the White Elephant. It's located halfway up the street that leads from the cathedral to the castle...on the right.
Back up the hill we go - photo by Brandon
White Elephant
After lunch we walked back down the steps and into town and wandered around a bit. Brandon spotted a toy store, so we checked it out. We worked our way toward the main station and caught the Metro down to Ouchy, the waterfront.
Slide inside the toy store
This is how they clean the pedestian zone...with a Glutton.
Giant Swiss Flag - photo by Brandon
The first thing Brandon spotted on the waterfront was a playground, so he played for awhile. Katrina and I found a shady spot to talk and read.
Photo by Brandon
We wanted to walk along the waterfront, so we pulled Brandon away from the playground. There is a nice paved promenade that runs along the lake. Out on one of the points, we stopped and enjoyed some gelato. Once again, Katrina and I found a shady bench, ate our gelato, talked and read. Brandon finished his gelato and ran around for awhile.
Peddle boats with slides
Coca Cola themed peddle boats...I love it!
Brandon and I watched a game of chess
Waterfront park art
Katrina wanted to check out the Olympic Park, located on the lakefront, so we headed that way. The park is where many of the Olympic headquarter buildings are located, as well as walking paths and a sculpture garden. We found a bench and did some more reading - noticing a trend here?! Brandon ran around with the camera and took pictures of the sculptures.
Photos by Brandon
We were tired and hungry, so we headed back to Metro and rode it up into the old town. We had dinner at a Mogolian grill - similiar to the one in Corvallis. Wow, that was good. And a German beer to wash it all down.
Back to the room to call it a day. I went down to the bar, drank a beer and worked on my blog until my battery ran out.
Tomorrow we head to Geneva.
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