Lausanne à Pied (by foot)

There are two directions in Lausanne: up and down. One might argue for a third...lateral...but this direction typically ends in up and down itself. I don't know if the hilly layout is unusual to this area of Switzerland, but it's certainly new to me. Today I decided to begin learning about the city, so I took the metro to the top (relative) of Lausanne and began criss-crossing back and forth on my way down through the city. Three hours later, I'm beat. As a former, beloved manager once put it: "all out of poop." Because Lausanne is not a grid city...something I assume is due to the age and the geography, the streets go every which way without making any real sense. But in the process of my trek, I passed by the cathedral (circa 1,300 AD), the city center (markets and markets and more), the new Flon area (a redevelopment project with all kinds of new shops and, apparently, bocce tourneys on Saturdays), Lausanne Gare (the main train station), the Palace (one of two 5 star hotels in the city with a picturesque view out to the lake), a great park (where ping pong and book clubs seems to have taken over the former basketball court), and finally my new apartment! and local grocery. The plan was to blend in as much as possible, but that was destroyed pretty soon: in walking near the cathedral, a man leaning over a railing smoking a cigarette (of course) began whistling "Yankee Doodle Went to Town," albeit a pretty poor rendition. Of course, this could have just been my own paranoia setting in. But if I hear someone whistlin' Dixie tomorrow, I won't have to guess anymore.