Everybody's Out Walking

This weekend was beautiful weather in Geneva. We went out for a couple of walks along the promenade by the lake. The pictures show that we were certainly not the only ones who thought it was a nice time for a walk. For as far as you could see in both directions people were walking. Those not walking, roller blading, biking, etc. were seated along the rock walls or on benches. The road along the lake was not crowded with cars, but the walkways were packed. The age span was from the oldest to the youngest--the elderly being pushed in wheelchairs down to the infants in strollers and buggies. Families walked together with their little guys on scooters and trikes. Everybody walks! Walking is part of life here and it is a part I really enjoy.





While I was in the United States, Steve took a Saturday trip to Annecy and up to Chamonix at the base of Mont Blanc. These photos are from his exploring.

The photos that missed the blog

I never get tired of these scenes. I took these pictures today after I had posted the blog. So I am sending another blog page.

Bear with me. . .

Bear with me. . .

I have found myself reflecting this past week on how my experience has been so far here in Geneva. Walks are a perfect time for introspection and because I do a lot of walking--well, you can see where this is going. I have come up with a list of things that I love about being here. I love the bread. I have not found the need to put butter on any bread that I have eaten here--it can stand on its own merits. Those merits being a hard, crunchy crust with soft insides. We get fresh baked bread across the street every morning when the store opens at 8:00a.m. I love the cheese. I've had to try many varieties to come up with my favorites but that has not been a trial. Obviously French and Swiss cheeses have won the contest for me. I love the chocolate. I'm not talking about the ordinary Swiss chocolate brands that you can buy in the United States, but the "fine chocolates" made and sold in little shops all around the city. Each outing with Steve is an excuse to try a different shop's chocolate. I love the yoghurt. The yoghurt section in a super market can take up what would be the whole dairy case in the States. All I've mentioned so far has to do with food, and from what I've described, both Steve and I should weigh about 400 lbs. by now. This actually has not been the case, so we come to another thing I love about being here. Apparently, eating all these good foods doesn't make one gain weight. Another thing I love about being here is being able to look at the Alps (on sunny days). They are truly magnificent with their irregular jagged peaks. It is spectacular to me when we take off from the Geneva airport and within a few minutes can look down on these gorgeous mountains. I can't wait to go exploring in the Spring. I love the view from our front window of the lower mountains called the Jura with their snow-covered tops. I love the beautiful skies we get to see at sunset. I love meeting interesting people from many parts of the world. Geneva is a very cosmopolitan city which makes it easy to live in. This one may sound strange, but I love not having a car. We do not have to pay ridiculous prices for gas. We do not have to pay huge fees to garage the car. We do not have to spend hours looking for parking places, nor do we have to drive in traffic.

There are some things which I do not find so appealing here. Probably topping the list is smoke-filled restaurants and other eating places. I also find it uncomfortable waiting for a bus when everyone else who is waiting is smoking. Hopefully Switzerland will follow France and become smoke free in all public places. I hate CNN Europe and MSNBC Europe. If someone wants to be tortured all they would have to do is have only these television channels available. In fact, I think that these are the channels that are available in hell.

Geneva shares a curse common to most large cities--pigeons. I have come up with a great idea to rid cities of pigeons. I think that the pigeons should be fed bird feed laced with contraceptives. I wouldn't think it too hard to invent such a thing. As you can tell, pigeons are another thing I find not appealing about living in the city.

Well, I titled this "bear with me" and I hope you just quit reading if you weren't interested. I head for back to the U.S. in five days, and am looking forward to seeing family and friends.

Love, Mary

This is winter?

Not much exciting went on this week with the exception of our miniature washing machine/dryer refusing to function. This is a challenge to overcome as we can't very well go without one. For any of you that do not have the number, our skype phone number is (910) 213-3900. It will actually call the computer and we can talk for pennies a minute rather than dollars per minute. Steve leaves on a three-day trip to Darmstadt on Monday. I will be rather short on conversation for those days. I'd just like to import all our family and friends over here. Anyplace is better with the ones we love around us.

Sometimes we get great skies at dusk. Unfortunately this wasn't the best. The day before was better, but we didn't have the camera. There is usually great light on Mont Blanc. We are going to go there during the springtime.

My wanderings took me up to Old Town where there is an armory. Notice the mosaic pictures from the history of Geneva.

It was a beautiful sunny day and I packed up the camera and started walking. The pretty little gazebo is in one of the parks by the lake. It hardly looked like January.

Holidays are over--Back in Geneva

It was great to be in the United States again and to spend some time with each of our North Carolina families. We did not make it out west to see Troy's family nor Lara's family--hopefully I will be able to do that this coming summer. Christmas is such an exciting and fun time for the grandkids that just being with them is complete satisfaction for both Steve and I. We came home to a warm Geneva--rainy, but warm. In three weeks I plan on a 4-day Caribbean Cruise followed by almost 3 weeks back in Pinehurst. Steve will be working and traveling in the U.S. so I'm not abandoning him. Our dog, Nicholas, missed us so much while we have been in Geneva and let us know it when he saw us. I felt so guilty that I almost considered bringing him to Geneva--I said "almost". He remians at his home with Emily and Damion. We love you all and wish you all the

Ryan enjoyed showing Andrew how fast he could undo all the tracks that had just been laid out.

Andrew's Christmas was all about trains, trains, and more trains--and a new swing set.

Evin is good at posing for the camera. Alex had a Christmas that was all about CARS. His hands are full of them--the tent is a CARS tent and he even got a CARS DVD.

Ryan knows that paper is a better than presents.

Grandpa introduces new tiger to Madylen.

Steve and I just enjoyed watching the kids open presents and took lots of pictures.

Masen had an elephant Christmas--including a game that sends butterflies flying out of an elephant's nose. How fun is that?

What's not to love about Prague?

Our trip to Prague was a beautiful experience. Steve took this picture after waiting for the lighting become "perfect". It shows the Charles bridge in the front with the Prague Castle and St. Vitus church in the background. One of the benefits of living here is that we can get to places like Prague all across Europe quickly and cheaply. Come visit and we'll take you with us.

Above is a picture that I took of the cloisters right next to the hotel where we stayed. We could walk down to old town and the castle and the famous Charles bridge. The only problem was that it was straight up hill on the return. That didn't slow us down much. I think we both are in better shape physically than we were before moving to Europe.

The architecture of the city right down to the ornate doors on the buildings we found so beautiful. The church above right is found on the grounds of the famous Prague Castle.

This is an astonomical clock which was also on the old square. They were having a Christmas market on the square also with traditional foods and ornaments and crafts. They had a stage where there was music being performed by various groups throughout the day.

In this old church on the Stare Metske (old town square) we were able to attend a concert of classical music. They hold these concerts all over town at various times of the day and the musicians are all very accomplished. Our only problem with this particular concert was that the church was of course not heated and both Steve and I thought we would freeze before the hour-long concert concluded. The next day we looked for one that advertised that the chapel was heated to 20C. It was much more comfortable. We attended one more the day after that in a private palace. One of the defining characteritics of Prague is their love of music. Many composers traveled between Vienna and Prague, so there is a lot in common in these two cities.