Kris and his mom, Karin, came all the way to Switzerland to visit me!! They both arrived on September 1st, and as soon as we got settled into our accommodation for the week, it was time to start exploring. On their first evening in town, we walked along the waterfront and walked out onto the jetty that leads to the Jet d'Eau (it wasn't on, though; it was too windy).
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| My wonderful visitors!! |
After watching the sunset on the lake, they were really feeling their jetlag and we ready for bed, only to wake up at 4am! We enjoyed a nice pre-dawn walk that morning, and went on to enjoy an evening visit to one of Geneva's suburbs, the town of Carouge. We had some delicious drinks at the Chat Noir bar/club there, and wandered around to see the area and architecture.
Kris and Karin went to visit
Montreux and the Chateau de Chillon on Wednesday, which they loved! Then the three of us went to Bain des Pâquis for a leisurely breakfast on Thursday morning, after which the two of them visited me at the UN! We took an official tour of the buildings, and then I took them on an unofficial tour of the cool secret places in the building, to my office, and around part of the the campus' park. After I finished work, we went to the wine and cheese market in Place des Grottes and savored some amazing cheeses and a spectacular organic and no sulfate red wine. Yum! They could definitely see why the wine market is one of my favorite things about Geneva. :)
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| We found Waldo at the wine and cheese market! |
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| Our delicious spread |
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| Cool doorknob seen behind the wine and cheese market. |
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| The Canton of Geneva's coat of arms... and a nuclear site warning? Sweet street art. :) |
After I finished work on Friday, we met up and hopped on a train to the middle of Switzerland for a visit to Interlaken. We were all SO excited to spend a weekend among the Swiss Alps, and neither the weather nor the mountains were a disappointment. We had a fabulous trip!
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| The weekend's drink of choice, a local dark beer. |
Saturday saw us up early and on our way to Gimmelwald and Mürren, Switzerland, located down the left-side valley from Interlaken (looking at the area on a map). I had been to Gimmelwald and Mürren in 1998 when I visited Switzerland with my family on our third trip to Europe. We stayed in the towns for several days, and immediately feel in love with the area. Since I was only 9 years old during that trip, I don't remember much of our time there. As soon as Kris told me that he wanted to go to Interlaken, I knew I had to take us "back to Gimmelwald" to show them one of my family's absolute favorite places in Europe. Kris and Karin loved our day exploring there!
We took the gondola up the hillside into Mürren, wandered around town from one end to the other, took a short funicular ride further up the hill to a beautiful panoramic meadow where we relaxed and had a picnic lunch, and then we hiked down into Gimmelwald for a walk around town and a visit to the Mountain Hostel for a beer and more great views. It was a completely lovely and refreshing day spent in the heart of the Swiss Alps, admiring the peaks of the local mountains (Eiger, Jungfrau, and Mönch). I'm so glad I was able to take them there to visit, and that I was able to go back myself after 16 years!!
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| Kris and Karin in Mürren |
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| In Mürren |
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| (This one is for my family- I did Pilates in Mürren! ;) ) |
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| This barn had huge cow bells hanging off of one side of the building, each from a specific year! |
The Sunday of our weekend in Interlaken took us to the other valley (down-right) from Interlaken, to the town of Grindelwald (not to be confused with Gimmelwald!). Grindelwald was much more touristy than Gimmelwald or Mürren, but it sported stunning views of the mountains nonetheless, and we had a nice, relaxed day of walking, exploring, picnic-ing, and playing mini-golf.
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| This is where we played mini-golf. Best mini-golf location EVER!! I couldn't get enough of the views! |
It was a wonderful first week and weekend of Kris and Karin's visit to Switz. The weather was perfect the whole time, and we loved everything we saw! Keep an eye out for a post about our next great weekend adventure - PARIS!! :)
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| Love from Switz. :) |
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