Here we are again. Still in Geneva, and still having a great vacation. It can be very stressful to travel, but I think we are all doing really well.
Wednesday, the 20th was a very long day. We saw some really amazing things, though. The day started off kind of rough. We decided to try out the public transport system. We found the train station, thought we deciphered the route and schedules, but couldn't find anyway to pay. The machine accepted only Swiss coins, of which we had none. It was rather difficult. We headed across the tracks to the train info booth and a very kind lady helped us out. She showed us the train and bus we wanted and let us purchase our tickets as well. We got on the train and headed off.
Our first stop was to walk up the hill that leads to the United Nations. On the way, we passed the World Trade Organization, UNICEF, and the World Meteorological Organization. We took pictures of all these places and the main entrance to the United Nations. Our entrance was further on, so we made a side trip to the Museum of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent. This is a really well done museum. It tells the history of the Red Cross and shows many of their outreach programs. Some highlights were the millions of cards of POWs from WWI, the oldest known Red Cross flag, and the lists of humanitarian efforts. At the end, they had rooms dedicated to all of their current goals. They even had an example of one of the mosquito nets that my women's group makes at church! That was really cool. They also had a special exhibition regarding the current wars between the US and Afghanistan and Iraq. That was very sobering and we did not take the boys in to see the exhibit.
After lunch at the museum, we headed across the street to the United Nations. After surrendering our passports at the checkpoint, we had an hour wait for our tour to begin. There was a gift shop to poke around in while we waited, though. Our tour was very informative. Our tour guide was from Senegal. We got to sit in two conference rooms, including the main one that seats 2000 delegates and that is seen on TV. Michael's favorite part was the peacocks that roam freely around the complex as part of the agreement by the man that donated the property.
We were pretty worn out by this time so we headed back to the hotel. We fed the boys in the room and then got to do something that we never expected to do. We went out to dinner alone! The boys stayed in the hotel with my parents, and we wandered down the street to the local FONDUE place. Of course! We are in Switzerland after all. It was great. We had cheese fondue and then tried one plate of raclette because Amy saw it and was jealous. All of the food was great and the waiter was very entertaining. We really enjoyed ourselves and like the benefits of traveling with grandparents. They went to the same restaurant after we got back.
Thursday, April 21st was another big day. We slept in a little, but headed out by around 10:00. We walked along the lake until we got to a bridge on the Isle de la Cite. Here we found a plaque commemorating the fact the Julius Caesar past through Geneva in 58 BC. Then we headed off to a park where the boys and Grandpa had fun playing chess with three foot tall chess pieces. Michael especially liked attacking his brother's pieces.
Our next stop was the Monument of the Reformation. This is a huge monument dedicated to the 16th century religious movement, spearheaded by William Ferrel, John Calvin, Theodore de Beze, and John Knox. There were large statues of the four men and also bas reliefs of things like the signing of the Mayflower contract. It was right across from the college that Calvin founded (can you say Calvin College?).
We also went in the church that Calvin founded and that John Knox preached in. The Presbyterians from Scotland hid here during the protestant persecutions.
From there we headed to the Archeological Site. This is a site that was discovered when the floor of a church started to fall in. They took out the floor and discovered the remains of two 4th century Christians sanctuaries, mosaic floors from the late Roman Empire, portions of three early churches, and an 11th century crypt. There were even wells from before the time of Christ. This place was amazing. They just built one thing on top of another. At one spot we saw a tomb that had been covered up by the floor of the next church. They found the mosaic under many different layers of floors, roads and dirt. There were wells from before the time of Christ uncovered as well. It was like they weren't concerned about what they built on top of, just as long as a building went up. After 20 years, they are still working on uncovering news sites and add to the museum whenever they find something new. We even saw the desk of one of the archeologists sitting amongst the diggings.
After a great lunch, we stopped at a store that specializes in Olive oil. We tried three different types of olive oil straight from the spoon. It was really good. I can't wait to make our tomato salad with my new purchase. From the olive oil, we headed to the Maison Tavel. This is the oldest house in Geneva. We searched the house from the attic to the basement. The second floor was set up with period furniture from the 1800s (complete with wallpaper). There were also samples of doors from houses that were torn down in the last hundred years, including one that had medieval graffiti! We also saw a guillotine and a model of Geneva in the early 1800s.
We were going to visit the museum of the history of watch making, but we learned that it had closed. Bummer. So instead, we walked around in downtown Geneva until we reached the waterfront again. We decided that since we were in Geneva, we should take a boat tour. We toured around Lake Lemont for an hour, before heading to dinner. There are many restaurants in Geneva, but they are all different nationalities, not many Swiss restaurants. So, we talked about it for a while and decided to go back to the fondue place that we had been to the night before. This time, we took the boys and had the raclette instead of the fondue. It was great! We all had a good time and had great food. The staff said they will see us tomorrow!
Tomorrow we head to Italy. We are going to spend two nights there and have a really long drive on Sunday. But we are only here once!! Of course, we said that before. We will check in on Monday. Until then!
Amy
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