I must apologize for the radio silence. I meant to write this post months ago, but I never seemed to have the time — and then when I finally had the time last month, I put it off and off, overwhelmed by the prospect of having to put the happenings of the previous four months into words. I woke up this morning, brewed some tea and decided today would be the day. So let me try to recap…
geneva
Two-Year Anniversary
I experienced a bit of déjà vu on Wednesday: I pushed through one of the enormous glass doors of the Geneva Apple store, weaved my way through the sea of eager customers trying out the latest Macs and made my way to the left side of the room where I knew I would find the iPad-wielding employee that essentially serves as the bouncer for the Genius Bar. As far as I could remember, I had not set foot in the store since the several-week debacle over my MacBook shortly after moving to Geneva, during which I helplessly relied on my husband to communicate on my behalf. But this time, I reminded myself, things were different. I took a deep breath and approached the smiling bouncer. Continue reading
18-Month Anniversary
Celebrating a year and a half in Geneva today! Time to blow out the candle!
Photo credit: Akorfa Carlos KLUTSE
(Seriously, though. Notice anything?)
One-Year Anniversary
It’s quite the leap of faith to move to a country you’ve never before set foot in, trusting that you’ll be able to make a home there. It’s also very much against my Type A, super-planner personality. But two years ago today, that’s exactly what we did, and I am certain that we are better for it.
Sunrise from our Geneva-bound plane, one year ago today.
CERN: No Goggles Required
I had the pleasure of hosting one of my favorite people in Geneva last week, and, being a bit of a science nerd, a visit to CERN was at the top of her “To Do” list. For those of you who are not super into physics, CERN is where scientists build fancy machines to accelerate particles and crash them into each other. The goal is to learn more about the components of matter and, ultimately, the universe. Apparently, getting a tour of the expansive facility near the French border is one of the hottest tickets in town: You can reserve a spot 15 days ahead of your desired tour date, with a 24-person cap per group. At the 15-day mark, I signed online during my lunch break only to find the tickets sold out! Luckily, we had a second day that could work for our schedule, so I took things to the next level the following day. I signed on at 8:29am, having read that fresh batches of tickets are released at 8:30am, and, when the clock turned to 8:30am, raced to fill out the online form like I was trying to get into a Beyoncé concert or something. Happily, I was successful, and informed my friend who was in India at the time that I was officially the best friend ever. And then I was late to French class. Such sacrifice!
Lausanne: Citius, Altius, Fortius
It seems as though summer has *finally* arrived in Switzerland, so Guillaume and I opted to stick close to home over the weekend and soak it in. We had a relaxing Saturday that started with homemade brunch (thanks Gui!) and then spent several hours checking out the “soldes” (sales) advertised in the windows of Geneva’s left bank shops. Turns out, those signs are no joke: The usual sky-high Swiss prices are delightfully low right now. Welcome, new 5-franc shirt from Zara!
With more sunshine predicted for Sunday, we decided to walk down to the train station the next morning and take the short journey around the top of Lake Geneva to Lausanne. Continue reading
Le Salève Between Rain Showers
Our first house guest arrived from London late Friday night with grand plans to spend the weekend hiking the nearby mountains and sailing Lake Geneva, but Saturday’s weather refused to cooperate (rain, rain and more rain). When we woke up Sunday to a forecast predicting a few dry hours, we shoved some breakfast down our throats, took a quick bus ride to the Swiss-French border and walked past the security hut into France. We arrived at the foot of Mont Salève a few minutes later, determined to get a hike in before the sky opened up again.
The Plaid Shirt Diaries 