Quintessential Swiss Photo - Quintessential Switzerland Things in One Photo

During our sabbatical stay in Switzerland, we tried to take a photograph that was quintessentially Swiss, recognizing that this involved some stereotyping and lurking in touristic areas, but nevertheless deciding to go forward with the challenging project in the interest of our own entertainment.

These are the finalists.

PHOTO 1

This photo, taken from our hotel room in Lucerne/Luzern, includes the following essential quintessential items: geraniums (or other colorful flowers) in a windowbox, the Swiss flag (although this one is unfortunately rectangular instead of the more authentic square), an Alp (Mt. Pilatus, which has gondolas, cable cars, and trains), interesting Swiss/European architecture, water with swans.

PHOTO 2

This photo was taken at a cafe on top of the peak above Locarno/Ascona in southern Switzerland, close to the border with Italy. The photo contains geraniums, Alps, and a parasailer, the latter of which is ubiquitous in the Alps and an important element of a quintessential picture. For us personally, the fact that Naomi has no front teeth was also a major component of our stay in Switzerland (or, as she was forced to call it, Sthwithzerland), but technically this is not quintessential. Cafes, however, are.

PHOTO 3

Essential quintessential items: geraniums, neatly stacked wood. This photo was taken just around the corner from Kyburg Castle, but since that is not in the picture, it doesn't count.

PHOTO 4

This photo just has one quintessential item in it, but it is a powerful one: the neatly stacked packet of newspapers on recycle day in our neighborhood in Zurich. Every other Tuesday, I tried to stack our newspapers as neatly as this, but even a half hour of effort produced nothing near this good. Our hypotheses to explain this discrepancy include: (1) Our neighbors have special newspaper stacking and neatening devices; (2) Our neighbors do not actually read their newspapers; or (3) We are culturally or genetically incapable of stacking newspapers neatly.