Today is our last day in Switzerland - tomorrow we fly to Amsterdam and then home. I will then rush to Home Depot to buy the hanging pots always on sale on Memorial Day weekend and start my flower planting!!!
This is a sign from yesterday and it was supposed to be cool and rainy but turned out to be a very nice day. We have had showers off and on and temps mainly in the 50s but we know very well how to layer clothing so it has not been a problem except for one drizzly windy day way back in Amsterdam. We are headed or a half-day tour (really 7 hours!!!) by bus and then cable car to Chamonix/Mont-Blanc where I know skiing and avalanches occur. I will weare 4 layers and a scarf!!
The "Museum Day" a couple days ago as I call it - 3 museums in a day - one of which was the Patek Philippe watch museum and I have never seen such an exhibit. I did a little research and a "regular" watch is from $10,000-$30,000 and then up in the many millions. In the store window they just look like "regular" watches. Since Swiss is clock and watchmaking country the watch stores are everywhere. This was an outside clock as we walked down a street - huge - and how much might a huge Rolex clock cost - no idea!! If you are family with the Swatch brand it is short for "Swiss watch".
The floral clock in the large Jardin Anglais (English Garden). All times are correct to the second! Switzerland is a very well run country and has their own currency (Swiss Francs) whereas the rest of Europe has the Euro for many years now. I also hear the banks are private which probably is why many people can "hide" money in the Swiss banks!!!...including crooks.
We visited St. Pierre cathedral and the archeological crypt yesterday. When excavating under the church they found remnants of a very old huge church, tombs, bowls, dishes, money, baptismal fonts, housing etc. This is thought to be the skeleton in the tomb of an Allobrogian chieftain and is probably about 2,100 years old.
Another shot - the head was carefully removed and who knows where that is! We have seen skeletal heads in a few places around the word and they seem to be the best part of the body - good thought since it contains the brain - and they are sometimes on display in glass cases in churches.
I have learned a lot about the Protestant Reformation. This is where John Knox preached and it is very "plain" compared to other cathedrals. It is the Church of Scotland and another example of trying to get away from the dominant Catholicism. There is a Knox Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis and I would guess it is named after him.
We have used public transportation of bus, tram and including the "yellow boat" across Lake Geneva (or Lac Leman in French). The jet d'eau is in the background and it shooots water high in the air (140 meters or 420 feet) and is the emblem of Geneva. It started as a pressure valve release for a water plant.
Typical street corner in Old Town and it looks like Paris. So for languages we have gone from Dutch in Holland, German in Zurich and now French in Geneva. If we went a little to the east we would hit Italian (next trip?!!!).
Son Chris and little Lucy after her Hawaiian dance recital that we missed last week - what I miss most when traveling are the "kids" and grandkids and my friends.
So I have worn my jeans 12 of 13 days and they are still just fine and very comfortable. If we are going to dinner I wear khakis - for dress up. I can wash my hair every 3rd or 4th day and in each new city all I need for food supplies in the kitchen are milk, bread, butter, jam and cereal and since I am thrifty I am finishing the first box from Amsterdam - I hate wasting food!! The owner of this apartment left us a lovely dish of Swiss chocolates - mmmmmmm.
All for now - time to head out to the bus stop for the tour! Passez une bonne journée or Have a Good Day!
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