Walk to Old Town Geneva

Yesterday (Friday) we checked out of our hotel in Geneva, but before we left, we decided to take a walk to the Old Town to find the Museum of Art and History. It seemed like it would be an easy thing to do, and the hotel clerks told us it would take 20-25 minutes. We were armed with two maps, and away we went, walking along Lac Leman, which we have been calling "Lake Geneva". A cold front was coming through, and it was quite a bit cooler this day than the previous day, I would estimate in the mid 50's. The wind was honking and there were whitecaps in the lake. It was too windy for the sailboats! There was only one brave windsurfer out, and he was really hauling!

Along the way, we passed the restaurant where we had eaten our fine Italian meal the night before, "Il Vero" in the Kempinski Hotel:

Note the buddha in the window behind the sign! We feel like we may be just as big as him by the time we get home!

This is the flag of Geneva, waving in the heavy wind:

We came across this pretty clock:

We found an Interior Decoration and Furniture Store in the Old Town which our Tennessee friend, David Desforges, would be interested to know about:

I have an issue with the creators of these two maps we used, because they only gave us approximations of where the museum was, in relation to a big church which served as our landmark. We kept trying to find streets on the maps, and they were not on the maps! We wandered around and had to ask for help 3 or 4 times before we finally found the museum, an hour after we left the hotel!

And here, well hidden in the windy, narrow streets of Old Town, is the Museum of Art and History:

We enjoyed their display of ancient armor and weapons:

(I was reprimanded for "almost" touching the bayonet!)

They also had archaeological findings with hieroglyphics from Egypt and from the local area dating back to the B.C.'s.

On the way coming/going, we encountered this interesting and photogenic temple:

We stopped for lunch at another Italian restaurant, "Casanova Restaurant", where we had excellent Escargot (magnifique!), along with fish soup:

Then it was time to bid adieu to Geneva and French Switzerland, and head for Interlaken, Switzerland, and our next destination, Grindelwald. We were happy to have interstate driving most of the way.

Three hours later, we arrived in the mountain village of Grindelwald. It was raining, and the forecast called for 1-3 inches of snow. Therefore we did not get any photos of our hotel yet or the surrounding mountainous area. The weather is supposed to be clear today (Saturday), which will hopefully enable us to take a train up to Jungfrau ("Top of Europe"). I have to say, we have been remarkably lucky with clear weather when we've needed it!

The hotel where we are staying, the "Parkhotel Schoenegg", is really beautiful, and we have a spacious, clean room with a balcony that has a mountain view. It is located in the city center.

We had an incredible dinner in the hotel dining room that is a contender for the best meal of the trip. It included a salad bar (plus an amazing selection of cheeses), trout mousse appetizer, and for the main course: lamb for Brock and farfalle noodles with tuna sauce (similar to tuna casserole) for me. And then chocolate mousse for dessert. It was all delicious!

It is really nice, after a long journey, to just walk downstairs and have your dinner, instead of having to figure out where you want to eat, make a reservation, and then drive somewhere. We have encountered this set-up most of the time during our travels, and it's working for us. "Hotel food" here is great!!!

It is time to give some credit where credit is due. Thank you, Brock, for this magnificent trip of a lifetime! I think it is the best, most memorable trip we have ever taken together, and I really appreciate you treating me to this experience that I will never forget! Every day has been more amazing than the day before! We have had some challenges, but every time we have been able to figure out what to do. I am going to have to cry when it is time to go home on Tuesday. I wish we could stay here forever.

But it's not time to go home yet! More adventures await!