We recently hosted our first adult visitors, our friends of 20 years from Saint Paul, Ed and Mary. (The honor of first overall visitor goes to Chris’ girlfriend Holly, who visited this summer.) The primary purpose of Ed and Mary’s trip abroad was to visit their son John who is working this fall for a design firm in Antwerp, but they figured as long as they were on the same continent, why not work in a visit to Geneva!

I know what you’re thinking… “Hmmm, I wonder what they did on their visit, because that would give me/us some idea of what I/we might do for fun if I/we were to visit.” And since a primary motivation of this blog is to provide friends and family a sense of what life is like here and to encourage visits, I figured I would prepare a blog post — using Mary and Ed’s visit as the model — that offers an insight into some of the things there are to do within easy access (walking or bus/tram) from our apartment.

I should mention upfront that Mary and Ed are very active and always game to take in as much as possible. So, with that in mind, here are some of the things we did:

Rode the tram up to the top of La Saleve and had a picnic lunch.

The tram on its final approach to the top

Went up to the top of the cathedral in the “Old City”.

The Cathedral in the Old City of Geneva

Our view from atop the Cathedral

Enjoyed a delicious fondue dinner (Geneva’s signature dish) at an open air table in the Old City.

Fondue dinner in the Old City

Walked back home along the Lake Geneva shoreline where the Jet d’Eau was illuminated in blue.

Our nighttime stroll along Lake Geneva, with a blue Jet d’eau

Went shopping at the outdoor market for Sunday night dinner.

Shopping for that evening’s dinner at the open air market

Visited a really cool museum.

The Ariana Museum, featuring historic and beautiful glassware, pottery and ceramics

Visited the United Nations plaza.

The outdoor plaza in front of the United Nations

Wandered through the Botanical Gardens.

The “Jardin Botanique” (botanical garden)

Went back to the apartment and made dinner, then had an after dinner digestif of 1974 Armagnac. (If you’re concerned about the near empty bottle, fear not. There’s more where that came from.)

Armagnac from southern France. From 1974!!

So there you have it. Maybe Ed and Mary’s visit isn’t exactly typical, because according to an app on their phones, Ed and Mary reported that we walked a total of 18 miles on the two full days they were here (Saturday and Sunday). But rest assured, we can assure adequate rest, if so desired.