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So yeah. Geneva. What to say? It was ok. We walked around a lot. We ate. We went on a poor to mid-line bus tour of the city (where at some point they crammed us onto a “petite train” to take us through the hills of old town). St. Pierre area was the coolest…I think because it was the oldest. If you are into luxury shopping, then you’ll probably enjoy Geneva. Oh, I did buy a watch, a Mondaine. It’s the one that looks like the clocks in all the Swiss railway stations. I figured when in Geneva Switzerland, buy a watch. And since I already have a Swiss Army watch, and I wasn’t about to drop several grand on a Patek Philippe, my choice seemed obvious. Here is a photo with a clock from Vevey:
Notice the clock. That’s what my watch looks like, except smaller. Haha!
Anyway, Geneva was a lovely European City that didn’t wow us…but we still enjoyed it!
Oh, and we had Fondue! Wheeee!
Here is a link to our Geneva photos (some of the photos were taken by Chris, but he likes to share)! Click here to my Geneva Photos on Flickr
…or 10, I’d live on the Swiss Riviera. Seriously. Words cannot express the beauty of Vevey. So when I win the lottery or strike it big on that business idea I have, then this is where I will live (at least part of the year…haha!).
The Swiss Riviera is located on the northern coast of Lake Geneva, in the Western most corner of Switzerland. The southern coast of the lake is France (but NOT the French Riviera).
On Wednesday afternoon, we went by train from Milan to Montreux (home of the famous Jazz Festival). The train ride was cool because we were either on the side of hills (with vineyards on either side) or inside the hills in the train tunnels. I’ve never taken a more classic train voyage before.
From the Montreux train station, it was just a quick cab ride over to Vevey. We had dinner next to the lake (inside, as it was chilly) and then went back to our hotel.
I believe that our hotel was typically European (although maybe we have just had bad luck). Not luxury European, just your average 2-3 star family run hotel. The beds were probably only 6 feet long and had foot boards. This obviously posed a problem for Chris (who is 6′4″). Also, for some reason, they frequently only have 2 small beds. If you want 1 large bed, they will then push the small beds together to make one “big bed” . And it wasn’t cheap either! Let’s just say that it’s my least favorite hotel to date. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that outside our window was a very active train station…but the view was actually pretty beautiful!
Chris had meetings on Thursday, so I had the day to myself. Originally I was thinking of doing an excursion out to Guyere (you people know how I love the dairy products!). After seeing the beauty of the lake and town, I decided just to walk around and enjoy the day. It didn’t hurt that it was a magnificent day all around…sunny, light breeze, probably around 75-80 F! My view walking down to the lake was awe inspiring…the ALPS!
Lake Geneva at Vevey was very peaceful and quiet. Not too many boats, and those I did see were mostly sailboats. There were many swans. I saw a swan fly for the first time in my life (I think most of the swans in the US are domesticated and have clipped wings)!
Gang of Swans…haha!
The ugly duckling (who is of course a cygnet or baby swan)
Oh, and here is the fork in the lake. I think perhaps it might be there because it’s in front of the Ailimentarium – a museum created by Nestle exploring food. Out of context, it’s very surreal and quite cool to look at!
And I should not forget to mention that Vevey is the place where Charlie Chaplain lived in the later part of his life…
Oh, and to confuse our language side of the brain more, we were in the French speaking part of Switzerland! Switzerland has 3 official languages, French, Italian, & German. So I kept using Si! instead of Oui! Haha!
Then there is the Swiss food…ooooohhh! A little bit of French, a little bit of Italian, and of course some German! Dinner on Thursday evening was a long and flavorful affair. It started around 6:30pm and we finally left around 11pm (after a few of Chris’ colleagues joined us).
Foie Gras Salad…
Beer
Festival of Asparagus (Asparagus Risotto and Asparagus, hollandaise w/ham)
Yummy! During dinner, Chris and I decided that we needed to plan a tour that included towns with cheeses named after them! So far on our list:
- Gorgonzola
- Parmesan
- Guyere
- Edam
- Leyden
- Gouda
- Stilton
- Cheddar
Please let us know if you think of any others (use the comments section)!!
If you want to see more photos of Vevey and Switzerland, check out my Flickr photos!
I will post something about Geneva tomorrow!
