My work with medical devices took me to Lausanne, Switzerland last month, and since I was already halfway around the world my advisor and I decided a trip up north to Lübeck, Germany to visit medical device manufacturer Dräger made sense. The work I did there was really cool — in contrast to the conference in Lausanne, where I was the only person talking about medical devices, the Dräger work focused on nothing else. Also, I had a little over an hour for my presentation instead of 12 minutes.
I really enjoyed meeting some people who work in medical device connectivity research at Dräger, and I hope that we can continue to interact in the future. I also really enjoyed exploring Lübeck, which, like Lausanne, had a number of neat historic buildings. Communicating with people was definitely easier in Germany than it was in Switzerland (with the exception of one very insistent fellow in a train station) so while there were still challenges — mostly related to getting around: the mass transit is impressive, but it’s also sort of difficult to understand at first — it was all in all pretty smooth.
I managed to grab another geocache in a really scenic downtown park, eat a ton of marzipan, and get (briefly) addicted to currywurst. I also went to a number of very cool churches, saw the famous city gate (“Holstentor”) and even walk through a puppet museum. You can see some photos of the churches and outdoor areas below!
Lübeck’s Churches
The organ in Lubeck's St. Mary's church
The stages of the construction of St. Mary's Church
A crucifix in a Lubeck church
A marble crucifix in the St. Mary's Church
A triptych from a Lubeck church
A large (~20ft) astronomical clock in Lubeck's St. Mary's Church
Part of a huge astronomical clock in the St. Mary's church
One of a number of sculptures that adorned many of the main columns in Lubeck churches
One of a number of sculptures that adorned many of the main columns in Lubeck churches
A high-relief from St. Mary's church in Lubeck
An incredibly detailed triptych in Lubeck's St. Mary's church
Choir stalls in a Lubeck church
A stained glass window in the macabre chapel section of the St. Mary's Church
A section of a photograph of the St. Mary's "Lübecker Totentanz" (Dance of Death)
A replica of the Gutenberg press, from Lubeck's St. Mary's Church
Some of the churches are still under heavy renovation
A large sculpture at the front of one of Lubeck's churches
A small version of the one of the churches in Lubeck, viewed as you descend from its belltower
A renovated church that is now used as an art gallery / concert hall
Some art on display in a renovated Lubeck Church
Some sort of frightening artwork on display in one of Lubeck's churches
A poster showing the church on fire during the night of March 28, 1942
A poster showing the church after the 1942 bombing
The St. Mary's Church bells, which fell as the church burned after being bombed in WWII. They have been left where they fell as a memorial.
Lübeck’s Old Town
The Lubeck town hall
The Lubeck town hall
A view of Holstentor, the gate to Lubeck
A hastily-taken (people were staring) photograph of a giant Marzipan version of Holstentor
A model of Lubeck in the late middle ages
A model of Lubeck in the late middle ages
Elaborate ship models, shown in the interior of the Holstentor
A view of Holstentor and the Salzspeicher, (or salt storehouses) where Nosferatu was filmed
A statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I, first emperor of Germany
More of the water bordering lubeck's old town, and some fishermen
A view of the Stadtgraben as you enter into the old town section of Lubeck
A section of a footbridge with a large number of locks placed by couples
A (nearly?) life-size statue of Johanne Brahms
A quote from Brahms, and a pretty brutal font choice.
I recently mentioned that a paper I wrote got accepted to MEMOCODE, a conference in Lausanne, Switzerland. Having never been out of the country before, a trip to Europe was really exciting. It was also a little imposing — I would be traveling alone to a place with no knowledge of the local language (in this case, French). Unlike my trip to DC, where I was most anxious about my presentation, for this trip I was actually more anxious about the typically unimportant details — getting from one place to another, ordering food, etc.
I won’t say that those anxieties didn’t turn out to be at least somewhat warranted, the trip was at times quite challenging. At different times, I…
Accidentally ordered a dish served with a raw egg on top
Had to sprint through airports to make connections (in both Heathrow and O’Hare)
Had conversations entirely in French (thanks entirely to a phrasebook app on my phone)
But the benefits definitely outweighed the negatives. The trip was an amazing experience, and the conference went really well — my presentation was unfortunately quite short (I was given only 12 minutes), but it went well and I got some good questions / discussion. I also really enjoyed seeing the sights in the area — the cathedral is amazing, as is the nearby Sauvabelin tower / park / forest (where I even found a geocache!). On top of that, the food (particularly the fondue and the pasta) was delicious, and the local wines were also really good.
All that said, though, I’m happy to be home for a while, and back to business-as-usual. You can check out the pictures I took below!
Montbenon
Lake Geneva, viewed from Montbenon
Lake Geneva, viewed from Montbenon
Lake Geneva, viewed from Montbenon
Lausanne and Lake Geneva, with the Alps
Montbenon greenspace with the Alps in the background
The Montbenon greenspace
The front of the Casino de Montbenon
The Casino de Montbenon
A fountain behind the Casino de Montbenon
The "Palais de Justice de Montbenon"
A WWI memorial at Montbenon
Lausanne Cathedral
The bell tower of the Lausanne Cathedral, viewed from a small adjacent greenspace.
The main entrance to the Lausanne Cathedral
A view of the Lausanne Cathedral from just behind the nave
The main chamber of the Lausanne Cathedral, viewed from the back
A view of the Lausanne Cathedral from one of the seats.
The Lausanne Cathedral's organ
The ambulatory of the Lausanne Cathedral
Stained glass in the Lausanne Cathedral
A stained glass window in the Lausanne Cathedral
Stained glass depicting the flagellation of Christ
Stained glass depicting the tenth station of the cross, the Crucifixion
Stained glass depicting the ninth station of the cross, "Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem"
Stained glass depicting the first station of the cross, Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Original (1275 AD) choir stalls
Original (1275 AD) choir stalls
Going up the narrow spiral staircase to the top of the belltower...
Looking west over Lausanne and Lake Geneva from the Cathedral bell tower
Looking west over Lausanne and Lake Geneva from the Cathedral bell tower
Looking west over Lausanne and Lake Geneva from the Cathedral bell tower
Lake Geneva and the Alps as seen from Lausanne's Cathedral
Lake Geneva, seen from Lausanne's Cathedral
Lake Geneva and the Alps as seen from Lausanne's Cathedral
Lake Geneva and the Alps as seen from Lausanne's Cathedral
Looking south-east from the Lausanne Cathedral's bell tower over Lake Geneva and the Alps
A view of Lausanne from the top of the Cathedral
A view of Lausanne from the top of the Cathedral
A view of Lausanne from the top of the Cathedral
Looking east from the Lausanne Cathedral's bell tower over Lake Geneva and the Alps
The other end of the cathedral (over the altar) viewed from the bell tower (which is over the back / main entrance of the church.
A detail of the shingling and top of the center spire of the bell tower
One of four towers on the corner of the bell tower.
An angry (or at least upset) monkey chimera from the top of the Lausanne Cathedral
The heart of Lausanne, viewed from the cathedral's bell tower
The heart of Lausanne, viewed from the cathedral's bell tower
A view of Lausanne from the top of the Cathedral
Looking north from Lausanne Cathedral's bell tower
Lausanne and the Alps, viewed from one of the intermediate levels between the ground floor and the top of the belltower
Lausanne viewed from one of the intermediate levels between the ground floor and the top of the belltower
Bells in the Lausanne Cathedral
A bell in the Lausanne Cathedral
The Ancienne Académie, as viewed from the Lausanne Cathedral's bell tower
And the steep walk back down begins...
The steep, low-ceilinged spiral staircase leading to / from the cathedral's bell tower
One of two maps used to build the Lausanne diorama
A model of Lausanne in the 1700s
Domestic cats, a vital part of kitchen history. This was taken in a history museum which traced the area's history back to when it was a northern Roman outpost.
A statue of Jean Daniel Abraham Davel ("Major Davel"), a local patriot
Ouchy
Lake Geneva and the Alps
Lake Geneva and the Alps
Lake Geneva and the Alps
Lake Geneva and the Alps
Lake Geneva and the Alps
Lake Geneva and the Alps
The Musée de l'Élysée, a photography museum
A clock counting down to the 2016 olympics
A clock counting down to the 2018 olympics
The olympic torch
The olympic museum's park, Lake Geneva, and the Alps
