Blogs from South-West, Switzerland, Europe
May 24th 2012
It has been a week since my parents have been back from their trip to Croatia. They really enjoyed it. But, most importantly of all, the place that they were staying when they got back had a BBQ. That was a treat! We bought some ground beef and made up some hamburger patties with onions. They were so good that I had to eat 3 burgers. The last time that we had a BBQ was the end of July 2011. It is safe to say that we will be doing a lot of BBQs when we get back this summer. The thought of it just makes my mouth water. Also, what added to the charm of the BBQ was the place where my parents were staying. It was in a little village in France called "Les ... read more
In Like a Lyon and Out Like a Leysin!
Published: May 12th 2012Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Geneva » La Plaine
May 12th 2012
Well, time has continued to fly by. May is almost half over. The first weekend that my mom was here, we did a lot of driving. Saturday, May 5th, we drove to Lyon, France. We didn't spend a lot of time in Lyon, but we really liked what we saw. Plus, after lunch, it started raining cats and dogs, so it was good that we didn't spend too much time there. Myles was soaking wet as he had to go and stomp in every single puddle. Oh well, at least he had fun. In Lyon, we mostly did some walking around. We walked/hiked up to Notre Dame de Fourvière Church. This was a beautiful church with a wonderful view over the city of Lyon. The next day, we drove to Leysin. Our church was having a ... read more
Interlaken Switzerland aka "inter LAKE in"
Published: May 19th 2012Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Interlaken
May 12th 2012
DAY FIR – Friday May 11 Okay so things didn’t exactly go as planned. Actually nothing went as planned. We ordered SIM cards for our phones online but they never got to the hostel. When we called to see what happened they had been “sent” but not received so we had to pick them up which meant we were catching a later train. Long story short we ventured into some suburb in France to get them (took 3 hours) went to the train station and found out that our train was booked solid. So we ended up taking a detour which started with an overnight train to Munich. Day Fumf – Saturday May 12 We shopped for about an hour and took 4 more trains to get to Interlaken Switzerland. This really sucked because we had ... read more
May 5th 2012
Once again, I allowed God the honour of waking me up that morning - who needs an alarm clock when you have the Holy Spirit? It was a beautiful sunny day and the panoramic view before me when I drew back my curtains was breath-takingingly beautiful. It was also great motivation to get ready and start the day. At 8:00 before breakfast I decided to take a walk - being outside with such a great view before me gave me a different kind of closeness to God - His might, power and majesty and at the same time, I kept thinking, this same God who made these huge mountains, loves me! The breakfast table conversation that morning soon turned to the night before, when Alana had been filled with the Holy Spirit and how later God ... read more
April Showers Bring May Flowers!
Published: May 2nd 2012Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Geneva » La Plaine
May 2nd 2012
Well, the title of my blog is certainly true. It has rained for the good part of April - whether that be the Netherlands, Germany or Switzerland. We have definitely been getting our fair share of rain. However, all of the flowers that are around are beautiful and they give off such a wonderful scent. The past week and a bit has been fairly busy around these parts. We have celebrated 2 birthdays, gone to a milk festival, did some hiking, did some shopping and went to the United Nations. We celebrated Myles birthday April 26. It was just the four us but we had a great time. Avery decorated the appartment with balloons and we had some presents and a cake. Myles had a great day and Isabelle was sure helpful with opening up the ... read more
April 29th 2012
Hey everyone! Sorry it’s been awhile since I last updated the blog. My Eurorail is up so I have been in Geneva for the last few weeks. My last day of work at the ICMHD was on Thursday. My co-workers and boss planned dinner and drinks at my boss’ house as a going away/thank you, which was very sweet. I am really going to miss going to the office and seeing all of them everyday. It is really starting to become very real that the trip is ending. I have three exams next week, and I have finished my five papers so I was able to enjoy my last weekend here. And as a bonus, the weather is fantastic! On Friday since I did not have to go into work my friend Brennan and I took ... read more
April 29th 2012
Oh goodness, where to begin? I finished my ISP, survived my presentation, officially completed my junior year of college (scary!) and left Switzerland. The last two weeks of the program we had presentations and then had the afternoons off. Lots of exploring in Geneva and Nyon, including one last hurrah at the UN library, the Botanical Gardens (they have the coolest carousel ever!), Geneva plage, Old Town, explored Versoix and Coppet, CERN (saw the computer that first used the World Wide Web), got lost looking for a clock that then turned out to be under repair, found La Jonction (where the Rhone and the Arve rivers meet – they don’t mix because of the silt in one and not in the other so there is a very distinct line – Julia and I also found the ... read more
The Chicken has Pocked!
Published: April 17th 2012Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Geneva » La Plaine
April 17th 2012
I have to say that we had a great time on our holidays to visit the Blankenstyn's in the Netherlands and to visit Dorothee in Germany. The only downer of the trip happened shortly after we arrived to Legoland - just outside of Ulm, Germany. Avery went to change Myles and he had a scary-looking rash all over his bum. The situation got worse as the day progressed and he ended up scratching a fair bit Friday night. We drove home Saturday and decided that we needed to get Myles checked out. We went to the emergency children's part of the hospital in Geneva. It turns out that Myles has chicken pox. His diagnosis was not definitive at first. It took 3 different doctors coming into the room to tell us that he had chicken pox. ... read more
April 16th 2012
Particle accelerators, jet fountain and Freddie Mercury Over the years we have probably met hundreds of people who think we are from Switzerland. People seem to have a problem with telling the difference between Switzerland and Sweden. So, only to confuse people even more, Ake decided to visit Switzerland for a few days this winter. A Swede going to Switzerland. That, if anything, is going to confuse people. Most of the time I was in Switzerland I stayed in Geneva in the far west of the country. I have been thinking about going there for several years. The reason is in Geneva you can visit the nuclear research facility CERN and that is a physicist’s wet dream. If you have no interest in visiting CERN then Geneva has very little to offer when it comes to ... read more
European Spring Break 2012- Through the Alps and off to Geneva, Switzerland
Published: April 16th 2012Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Geneva » La Plaine
April 16th 2012
After spending another 7hours on the train and traversing the Swiss Alps from Milan, Italy, I finally arrived in Geneva, Switzerland. The beautiful Swiss countryside is very unique and different from anything I've seen before and the sloping mountains and distinct landscape distinguish Switzerland from many other regions. The terraced countryside and lack of arable land is interesting and beautiful with lush bodies of water and the snow-capped Alps. Geneva is also very different from Geneva, New York, where I attend school. The only similarity I can imagine is the proximity of the city on the edge of the lake. Both lakes are very beautiful but the people and lifestyles are very different.... read more
