June 14th found us in Solothurn, Switzerland, a German speaking area. (Not sure if I explained this off the bat, but each canton in Switzerland decides what language it's going to speak, so Switzerland doesn't really have a "national" language. Naturally, the cantons close to the neighboring countries, such as Germany and France, adopt those respective languages.) Solothurn was also interesting in the fact that it has an affinity with the number 11. It was the 11th canton added to Switzerland so you see items throughout the town relating to 11. Stones in arches, pillars in front of buildings, stairs leading up to buildings, windows across building fronts... you see 11 everywhere.The day's focus was Baroque architecture and art. Baroque is medieval, kindof gothic, and definitely over the top. Fun to look at, but a little too much for my tastes. (photos below)
We hit an art museum there too. Really modern and a little too abstract. They had an original painting of William Tell, not sure if that means anything to you all, but it's mighty important to the Swiss.
That was about it for Solothurn. I also treated myself to a watch finally. I found a Certina. It's Swiss (as it would be stupid to buy a watch in in this country and not have it be Swiss) and I'm really liking it so far.
Oh yeah, as a bonus I'm adding this sweet photo of the backside of a statue in downtown Solothurn. I'm calling it "medieval wedgie".
Baroque Ceiling
Baroque Organ
Medieval Wedgie
1 comment:
Cool Boroque photos... if you ever want to see truly over-the-top boroque... go to Spain or Italy. They were the ones with all the cash during that timeframe and there are some Spanish churches that look like they've been frosted by an over-zealous baker on the inside.
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