Day 62. On the way home (even though we are actually home now)

Andy dropped us off at the Geneva airport and we waited over an hour for clearance to land in foggy London town. The flight to Dulles was comfortable and not crowded. We really appreciated Peggy picking us up there - what a friend! And we were SO glad to see Shelly and be home!!

Day 61 Geneva (a bit out of order)

After breakfast we all went to a huge street market that is open on Saturdays: over 8 city blocks full of fresh produce, meat, fish , cheese, bread, wines, clothes, books, you name it! Chantel does weekly shopping and Andy buys whatever strikes his fancy. It reminded us of Eastern Market on Capitol Hill. Later we went to a flea market that was also large but more like a rummage sale.
 
We went to mass Saturday night at St. Francis de Sales near Andy's daughter's apartment. The mass was in French, adding to the list of non-English services we attended. Then we walked to Fanny's to celebrate her birthday and meet her friends. We stayed longer than planned, but Chantel wasn't at all mad about holding dinner. She's a living saint.

Home sweet home!

There's no place like home!!!

Day 60 Geneva and lunch with Andy's pals

We took a tram down to the old city and walked thru streets that once had Roman soldiers walking on them. History seeping out of every crack in the paving stones.

We joined 4 friends that lunch most every Friday at a Cuban place in the downtown financial district. What an eclectic assembly, Brits and Americans, who have lived in Switzerland for many years, and each has a fascinating story.

After a 2 & 1/2 hour lunch we had mint tea at a Russian tea shop with most of the lunch group, interesting perspective on life and times, never a shortage of opinion or stories.  We went to a museum that had been the home Voltaire lived in in Geneva and saw other landmarks before returning to Andy's.

Day 59 Lake Lemon from all sides

After a leisurely breakfast with Andy and Chantel, that included a stop at a coffee shop with WIFI, we took a drive around the lake. Andy found the small lakefront house where Mary Shelly wrote some pages of Frankenstein (as the sign proclaims); Lord Byron and his entourage stayed nearby where he wrote The Prisoner of Challon after seeing the medieval fortress.

Mary Shelly house on the lake front:

Andy and Chantel:

Yvoire, a town founded in Roman times, was the next stop, a very picturesque town with a large marina and many shops. We had lunch overlooking the lake and wandered around the town.

Hotel duPort – great lunch!

Fall festival mascot:

It's no wonder artists were inspired by its blue water reflecting the Alps.

Andy and the mime:

Looking down the lake:

We continued around the lake to Montreux at the far end and stopped for a coffee. It's a historic town that has added modern hotels and shops.

Voltaire castle:

On the ride back to Geneva we went past CERN, the atomic lab that just measured the speed of a particle faster than the speed of light. Wonder where that knowledge will take us?
 
When we got back home, a neighbor from NZ came over. He's an interesting guy who works for an oil company and has been in Geneva for the last 30 years.

Day 58 Train to Geneva

We had a lazy morning at the hotel, checked out and walked to the train station. We bought lunch and took it on the train.

The scenery was beautiful: rolling hills, farm land and a huge mountain lake all passed by as we climbed into Zurich. We both liked the relaxed train travel and loved the Hogwarts’ Express food cart that comes to your seat to bring you food and drink.

The crabs like train travel too:

At Zurich, we changed Euros for Swiss Francs, bought dinner, and boarded the train to Geneva.

Church in Zurich:

As the sun set over the Alps, the sky turned into a canvas of blues, pinks, and orange before it faded into night and a moon riser out the other window But it was eclipsed by Andy's smile welcoming us at the train station. It's great to have extended family!

Day 57 Salzburg and The Sound of Music

We got up to the best day yet in Munich, breakfast and off to the bus for a 2 hour ride thru the Bavarian countryside, past Bad Aibling (Bob Holland's German assignment) and onto Salzburg, a very small town tucked in next to shear rock cliffs with a castle on top, lots of churches, a few monasteries and convents, and a catacomb.

On the way to Salzburg:

City and castle:

Mozart was born here in 1756 and there are a plethora of places bearing his name - kind of a where's Waldo feeling. Beautiful gardens, gracious courtyards, churches, market stands selling everything a tourist could want at 4X the price. It was all enjoyable.

Mozart in city center:

 Graveyard inside city still in use today:

The crabs liked the city too:

Then we went to the lake country.

Lake on way up the mountain:

Wow, several mountain lakes that are post-card quality. We stopped at Lake Wolfgang where Mozart's mother was born. The town of St. Wolfgang is named for an 11th century hermit monk who fought the devil and built a small church; people used to make pilgrimages there but now they take summer vacations.

Wolfgang city on the lake:

Several scenes from The Sound of Music were shot around here; some were made up and some were in the real family history. The funny thing is that the movie was big in the US for years before the locals here "discovered" the film and used it to promote the area.

Sound of Music was filmed at this fountain:

We got back to Munich after 11 hours and went to dinner in a German restaurant. Tomorrow we take the train to Geneva.

We loved the ride: