Summer Holiday in Geneva

When we moved back to Minnesota two years ago, we made a decision that we would make it a top priority to visit Geneva once a year in order to keep the connection to Europe alive.  Planning the trip is always part of the fun, combining favorite spots filled with nostalgia of when we lived there with the adventure of finding new places to visit.  

On June 20th, we boarded the plane headed to our second home.  Adalyn and Eliza jumped right back into their Geneva life, eyes wide open to a past life that instantly became present again, as if they had never left.  

Once we arrived we quickly reunited with our good friends, Ashley, Lukasz, Jonah, Mason and baby Ella, who graciously hosted us for the two weeks.  

The next morning, we visited Chamonix, France, which is one of our favorite places.  We were able to visit the market, have lunch at one of our favorite restaurants and enjoy the views of  Mont Blanc.  

That evening, we went over to our good friends Bruno and Christina's house, for a fun night with a backyard BBQ and wonderful Greek food!  

On Sunday, we went on a beautiful hike on Lake Montriond in France.  The views were stunning. 

Hiking with friends makes every step a bit more fun.

                           

 Nothing better than a great dinner after a day of  hiking.                  Lake Geneva -Jet d'Eau

The following two days, Chris worked so the girls and I spent time visiting their old school,  shopping at our favorite stores and playing with friends.  

When planning the trip, we knew we wanted to devote a couple days to explore a new mountain village in Switzerland.  On Tuesday night, we drove two hours to a beautiful village, Gstaad, located in the southwest region of the Swiss Alps.  We stayed at a charming chalet, Posthotel Rossli.  While in Gstaad, we hiked, swam and wandered along the cobblestone streets. 

                                                   -Hike from Horneggli to Rinderberg-

       

               Swimming at Gstaad Palace                                      Exploring the town...

                                                           Hike to Lauenensee Lake

After two days of fresh mountain air, we boarded a plane with friends for southern Italy.  We usually visit northern Italy, so this was a new place for us to discover.  When talking with friends, we were discussing if you had one country to visit the rest of your life, which country would it be.  Most of us chose Italy.  It is a country that offers beautiful scenery, delicious cuisine, the most charming towns and exquisite wine.  Within moments of arriving in Brindisi, we knew this was going to be another part of Italy we would quickly fall in love with.  

During our four days in Italy we were able to visit many old towns, enjoy time on both the Adriatic and Ionian Sea and relax by the pool.

A trullo, a traditional Puglia home; dry stone hut with a conical roof.

  The villa we shared with our friends, a perfect place to relax.  Loved all the palm trees- 

Ostuni: Whitewashed old town that has been inhabited since the Stone Age, where you could get lost walking along the narrow streets and alleyways.     

Matera: Known as the "underground city."  By far the most unique place we have visited.  It is the 3rd oldest continually inhabited city in the world, over 7,000 years old.  Unknown to much of Italy, the city hid a society of poverty.  In the 1950's, the government relocated many of the residents due to unhealthy living conditions.  Since then, the caves have been turned into restaurants, boutiques and the narrow walkways filled with tourists, mainly Italians, admiring the amazing architecture. The engineering that went into building this city is unreal.  What was once known as the "shame of Italy" has now just recently been awarded the 2019 European City of Culture.

We were able to visit a "sassi" (cave house) to see how people lived for thousands of years up until 1950.  The entire family, which was usually six people, including their animals, all lived in the small cave.

First time in the Ionian Sea- beautiful beach.  

Night out in Martina Franca with the newest expat family member, Ella Grace

Boat ride in the Adriatic Sea to visit the sea caves of Puglia.  

After four fantastic days in Italy, we headed back to Geneva.  Chris spent the next two days at the office and the girls soaked up the final days with friends.  

 One last night in old town Geneva...

Fourth of July - Picnic lunch on Mount Saleve and Dominos pizza in the park for dinner!  

After two wonderful weeks our vacation was over and we were all sad to say good-bye.  We are grateful to Ashley and Lukasz for their hospitality and evening conversations.  We are thankful for all of our friends in Geneva who made this trip extra special.  Until next time...

Summer Holiday in Geneva

Its been one year of being back to the norm; knowing where everything is, speaking the native language and spending more time with extended family and friends.  Although that is wonderful, we were ready to reconnect with our second home, Geneva.

We knew we would make it a top priority to return with the girls as often as we could.  We were fortunate to have spent the past two weeks in Europe reconnecting with friends, visiting favorite places and discovering new destinations.

We left for Geneva and flew Iceland Air, which has all of their connections in Reykjavik.  We never intended on spending time there but due to plane delays we started our holiday with a night in Iceland.  We spent the night in Reykjavik and were able to walk around the small town and see some of the unique landscape of the volcanic island.  Unfortunately, it was rainy and cold but we made the most of our time.

  

                                                                 Leif Eriksson Statue-                                  
                                                        Gifted to Iceland from the U.S.

Trying the local cauliflower soup- 

On Sunday, we arrived in Geneva and were excited to reunite with friends.  We immediately went to a beach on Lake Geneva and spent the night catching up.  

On Monday, our first stop was visiting our old house.  As we drove up, we were surprised to see our name still on the mailbox.  They were ready for us to move back!!  We talked with our landlord (our neighbor) and she said they did not rent it out the whole last year, so lucky for us, we got to go inside.  The girls loved seeing their rooms again- brought back a lot of memories.

Back in our backyard!

We are home!  

Chris went into work and the girls and I had a play date with friends at another beach along Lake Geneva, Excenevex Plage, which we had never been to before.  It was so much fun- our first sandy beach experience along the lake.

On Tuesday, the girls and I were able to visit another new place Filenvol, which is a trampoline/net park in the forest on Mont Saleve.

On Wednesday, the 4th of July, we spent the day revisiting some of our favorite places.  In the morning we went to Parc Merlet, we love walking around and seeing the animals in their natural habitats.  For lunch, we went to Chamonix and ate at our favorite restaurant, Elevation 1904, and enjoyed their tasty homemade chicken nuggets!  That night, we had a 4th of July party at a park with six other families.

These kids reconnected as if they had never been apart- 

Thursday morning, we left Geneva to another one of our favorite places, Lauterbrunnen Valley.  For the past year, the mountains have been calling; hiking and landscape are what we miss most about moving from Geneva.  Snow capped peaks, sharp narrow cliffs and charming mountain villages had filled our imaginations and we were excited to explore again.  We have visited the Lauterbrunnen Valley before and always stayed in Grindewald, so this time we decided to stay in Wengen.  Wengen is a car-free Swiss Alpine village, you take a train to get to the village.  Unfortunately, it was a bit rainy for our stay but we made the most of it when the rain stopped and enjoyed exploring the town of Wengen and the amazing views.

                         Overlooking the valley-                    Every hike has a vending machine with fresh
                                                                                   cheese and meats... right???!

Friday, we drove to Verbier, which is another Alpine village sitting up on a small plateau of the steep Swiss Alps.  Our good friend was running a trail race there so we were able to combine a weekend with friends in a stunning scenery.

Saturday, we woke up to sunshine and were ready to enjoy the mountain air.  In the morning, we did a hike up in the mountains with friends.  Later in the day, we cheered on the trail runners.  That night, we had a wonderful traditional Swiss meal.

On Sunday morning, we took a series of 4 cable cars to reach Mont Fort, which is a mountain peak with a height of 10,919ft.  I'm not a fan of heights or swaying cable cars but with the encouragement from the kids, I made it!

Mont Fort 

On Monday, we woke up and packed our bags for San Sebastian, a seaside village in the Basque region of Spain.  We were lucky to have our good friends join us on this excursion.  When we arrived later in the day, we settled into our apartment and went to explore the Old Town.

The Spanish eat dinner around 10pm, which for us Americans is really late.  Instead of a traditional dinner, we spent most of our nights eating pintxos, which are small finger foods.  There is a variety of types of pintxos, many include some type of seafood or ham.  At first, this way of eating was a bit difficult for me, I like to know all of the ingredients in the food that I am eating, no surprises!  Once we visited more and more pintxos bars, I got more comfortable with my food selection and enjoyed being able to try a variety of different foods, mainly croquettes.  The girls were very adventurous eaters, trying anything Chris gave them!

Pintxos Bar- 

Fish n' Chips?!

Tuesday, we went to Zurriola Beach, which is known for their surfing.  Adalyn and her friend, Jonah, really wanted to learn to surf and this beach turned out to be perfect for beginners.  Adalyn loved surfing and was surprisingly very successful!  Eliza enjoyed riding the waves- it was a great beach day.

 

                  So happy!                                   Ended the day with a suit full of sand!  

Surfer Girl!  

Wednesday, we ventured over to France, only a 45 minute drive, to Biarritz.  We walked along the beach of the seaside resort town and enjoyed lunch in the Old Town.  We could have definitely spent more time in this town, but the beach was calling, so we headed back to San Sebastian.

Thursday, we visited Parque Atracciones Monte Igueldo, which is a theme park overlooking San Sebastian.  Unfortunately, it was raining so many of the rides were closed, but the view was worth it.  We then headed to Bilbao and walked around the Old Town and enjoyed our final pintxos before heading to the airport.

Until next time, Spain...

On Friday, we had a relaxing day at a park in Geneva with friends.  That night, we were able to do an adult night out at one of our favorite restaurants.

Saturday was a bittersweet day, our last full day of our trip.  We always enjoyed the vineyards of Switzerland, so we went back to our picnic table and took in the view for one last time.

 

This view never gets old- 

Later in the day, we went down by the lake and finished the day with dinner at Luigia's, Eliza's favorite restaurant.

The joy of this trip was to watch the girls reconnect with their Geneva life.  As soon as we arrived they were pointing out favorite mountains, parks, restaurants and even grocery stores and shops.  Lots of smiles everyday for two weeks.  The hospitality granted by our friends, Lukasz and Ashley, was a blessing.  Our good fortune of sharing new adventures with so many families made the trip special, the kids playing together like they had never been apart.  Geneva is a transient place, the families that become friends will not be there forever, so capturing this time together was not taken for granted.  

Until next time Switzerland...