What I did on my Easter vacation

Alex and I spent last week with our good buddies Swiss Ms. and Mr. in Lugano, Switzerland. (That's Lugano, above. Population 50,000 or so, located in an Italian-speaking state on the Swiss-Italian border.) We had a fantastic time with our friends. But as far as design inspiration goes, my hopes were dashed. I couldn't find any cool fabrics or interesting stationery in Lugano. Just lots of graffiti, frequently spelling out the word "Pooh." Lugano does have a really nice gummy candy selection in the outdoor market, though. That's something.

Check out this cell phone company, photographed through the car window. I wanted to go in and tell them I speak Orange.

The four of us drove to Venice and spent a night. Before the trip, I'd imagined it as a magical, romantic place. I have to admit it was better in my head. Don't get me wrong—it's beautiful. But it feels more like a big amusement park than a real town where normal human beings live. It's overrun with tourists, souvenir carnival mask shops, and street vendors selling weird little squishy rubber dolls in rainbow colors. But the coffee is great, and so was the company. I'm really glad we went.

Above is St. Mark's Square. Home to 42% of the world's pigeon poop.

I liked the pink glass street lights.

Looks like a movie set, doesn't it? So lovely.

This is inside a church on the island of Murano, famous for glass-making. A few of the workshops were open despite it being Holy Week, and it was fascinating to watch the artisans at work.

It was a great trip. And now, back to real life.

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