Tag Archives: Switzerland

Choose Wisely: Survival Skills for the Social Age

Posted on March 22, 2017 by julianstodd

I remember choosing my first Swiss army knife: there was a large cabinet with a choice of about 40 different knives, a bewildering and beguiling selection for a young child. They all had a basic knife: the decision was what … Continue reading →

Posted in Social Leadership | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Switzerland: Tunnels and Bridges

Posted on August 20, 2016 by julianstodd

I have an irrational fear of disused industrial spaces: large abandoned warehouses freak me out, especially when they have derelict, decaying doors. Don’t ask me why: i already caveated it with ‘irrational’. Once i stayed in Belgium at the end … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Switzerland: Lost And Aimless

Posted on August 18, 2016 by julianstodd

There is something most wonderful about being both lost and aimless. Lost in a new world, a new space, exploring and questing, spontaneously discovering, roaming and wandering. With just a map and travel card, and an old-fashioned, old world, curled … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Switzerland: Mountains

Posted on August 17, 2016 by julianstodd

Mountains are undemocratic, unreachable, exclusive and aloof. They are not common land, not landscape for everyone, but rather reserved for a select few: a few who are categorised by trial where the prize of immortality is countered by the risk … Continue reading →

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Switzerland: Beauty Through Utility

Posted on August 16, 2016 by julianstodd

I do like a train: there’s something beautiful about utility and power, the simplistic design linked to function, the constrained and stripped back potential of the system. Cars show off, they are all about streamlined curves, lacquered wood, increasingly integrated … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Switzerland: Trains of Rust and Power

Posted on August 15, 2016 by julianstodd

In the goods yard at Tirano sits a steam train: it’s old, deeply rusted with holes poking through the ironwork, heated by the beating sun, each panel etched by lines of decay, flaked by time, remnant of a bygone age. … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments