Jenn in Geneva

Another Jenn Update - Blast from the past: My first trip to Geneva, Switzerland.

I got through my first 4-day weekend here. Thursday, August 1st is the Swiss National Holiday - which also means that everyone also takes Friday off. Wednesday evening, Sabina (my co-worker at Swiss Re) and I took a train to Geneva. She was my host for the weekend. Thursday, we visited the quaint little lakeside village of Annecy in France. (prounonced "ansy"- I had to explain what that meant in English).

The village was picturesque. Our lunch consisted of a crepe du jamon et fromage -
very, very filling. She also had her favorite, a thick hot chocolate. The rest
of the afternoon, we bonded over shopping the jewelry, antique and home decor shops. I am now a proud owner of a decantur de carnard, a duck decanter which I've been wanting for some time now. Along with my magnet du jour and the usual touristy postcards, I've resolved to buying little bits of jewelry to remind me of the city. I received some french cooking lessons from Sabine and made dinner that night. Can't wait to try the recipe for my family & friends.

Friday was spent in another French little city, Chamonix (prounonced "sha-mo-nie".. sounds like how I say "Germany" when drunk... I think...). This was was at the foot of the highest mountain in France, the Monte Blanc. We took a train up to Mer de Glace (translated as "sea of ice") one of the two glaciers that are there. After the train ride, you take a gondola down to the glacier and walk in! It was tres cool!! Afterwards, there was a little village below chock full of cute little shops,
pattiseries, you name it! The valley is full of quartz crystals and I got a little one as a souvenier.

Friday night was the start of Geneva-Fest - a food - music - wine - men - everything festival! Techno music ruled the air, there was people from all ages and fantastic fireworks show. There tens of thousands of very drunk europeans there! We danced until 2am and staggered back to her place. Saturday, we finally got to tour Geneva's old city, good museums, fantastic photo ops, tea shops... but somehow we ended back up in the festival.

The thunderstorm started and that was that, we were fully drenched by the time we got back to the flat - it was about a1/2 mile away. Today, Sabine was sick, so I took an early 3-hour train ride back to Zurich by myself. I am tired and am looking forward to a weekend of laundry and journal catch-up. It's going to be a tough week. Lots of work.