mountains & medicine.: Sunny Saturday in Lausanne

Last week, Ben's parents and brother came to visit Lausanne. After the stress of the MCAT, it was absolutely wonderful to simply relax with Ben's family and show them around our amazing city.

On Saturday, we decided to have a more low-key day and meander by the lakefront. The weather was perfect-- cool but bright, and a welcome change from a very grey January. We spent the afternoon walking along the shore at Ouchy, a port just south of downtown Lausanne, enjoying the friendly swans, bright lake, and sunny skies.

ben and his mom, susan, enjoying the beautiful weather.

enjoying a wonderful afternoon in ouchy.

ben's brother, chris, taking photographs. now that the
weather has warmed up a bit, many of the city's fountains
have started running agin.

beautiful swans! aren't they incredibly photogenic?

ouchy is one of lausanne's largest ports.

so many birds!

it was nice to need sunglasses again-- after a very grey
january, I was missing the sun.

lake, mountains, beauty.

I love the color of lac leman- a brilliant, jewel-like blue.
in the sunshine, it positively sparkles.

birds in flight!

chris photographing the swans.

although the large "c" is meant to indicate the direction
of the wind, it also serves as a symbol for ouchy.

lausanne-ouchy. a beautiful place to be.

After a relaxing afternoon on the lakefront, we headed into the Cité district of Lausanne. The Cité district is one of the oldest areas of Lausanne, and in my opinion, one of the most beautiful. In addition to steep hills, worn cobblestone, and gothic architecture, the Cité district is also home to some of Lausanne's most famous buildings and monuments.

Although our daylight was quickly fading, we still enjoyed walking around Lausanne's magnificent cathedral. The Lausanne cathedral was constructed in 1175 and is still in active use today-- a pretty impressive feat. Like many of Switzerland's cathedrals, however, the Lausanne cathedral is void of any decoration. During the 1536 Reformation, the Bernese Army stripped the Lausanne cathedral of all paintings, statues, and alters, leaving only the cathedral's stone structure behind. Nevertheless, the cathedral is still absolutely beautiful, complete with gothic architecture, heaven-reaching spires, and-- in our case-- a gorgeous sunset backdrop.