After reaching near the halfway point of my travels, I am pausing to refresh and staying with friends in the Zurich area. The town of Brunnen lies on the shores of Vierwaldstättersee, which is basically a collection of four lakes that form Lake Lucerne. We took a lovely hike halfway up the mountain yesterday, and despite the blazing heat in exposed areas (of the land, that is), my friend Helena and I enjoyed a leisurely walk with breathtaking views of the string of lakes below.

We chowed at the golf course situated halfway up the mountain. Being careful to avoid flying golf balls, we pondered the merits of golfing. I was reminded of my experience with Gee Kin playing for the first time in Napa, California. Neither of us had really played golf before but the Weekend package offered a free round of golf on the green. We hacked away and tore up the green, laughing so hard we ached afterwards. Despite trying our best, our shots were pitiful and were a sore reminder how much skill it takes to be good at anything. I don’t think we are going to be playing, or be allowed to play, for any time again, soon, or ever.

But…back to Switzerland where, regardless of the golfing, the idyllic landscape surrounded by dizzying heights and crystal clear waters waxes one poetic. See the featured photo above and some additional panoramas taken from the boat to Lucerne below.

The day before was spent at the Kunsthaus in Zürich. By now, you have seen many of these artists’s works in other museums I have visited throughout Europe, America, and Russia. See if you can identify the following famous artists from the collection at the Kunsthaus:

Some of the tags are left on the enlarged photos, but don’t look if you want to try guessing.
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And a couple of sculptors:

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The point is that the Kunsthaus had a full spread of famous artists. It was thoroughly enjoyable and worth visiting. A few of my stray favorites here, the latter from the Sammlung Rosengart in Lucerne:

I always notice any historical renderings of Dresden, so this one caught my eye right away. The Kreuzkirche was destroyed by Prussian cannonade during the Seven Years’ War around 1700, and this was a rare accounting of its condition.

The Rosengart Collection is a much smaller, focused gallery that specialized in two artists, Picasso and Klee.

The photo of Paloma reminds me of a cartoon that Gee Kin loved. It showed a kid bringing home his art project from school with a grade of F on it. He had drawn a face with a profile on it. What the teacher didn’t know is that the parents really looked like that (as in Picasso’s faces). the parents were looking at the picture and couldn’t understand what was wrong with the picture and why their son failed. Maybe Paloma had the same problem!