As a parent, there is something about sending a child off on the first day to a new school that elicits a range of emotions. First and foremost, there is the excitement of the new adventure and personal growth that are sure to occur. And then there is the uncertainty: How fast will he make friends? How will he adjust to a much different environment than he is accustomed to? How will he like his classes and teachers? (At least for me, I find that my emotional frame of mind isn’t much dependent on the age of my kid… I feel basically the same whether we’re talking about the first day of kindergarten, or the first day of college.) We are experiencing these emotions today, as Chris headed off for his first day of his senior year in High School at the International School of Geneva. Continue reading
Author: swiftlyswiss
Another European fashion exposé: Faux leopard skin is in!
In my travels around Geneva as well as other European cities we have visited, one thing becomes immediately clear. People love to wear faux leopard skin. Faux leopard skin coats, faux leopard skin pants, faux leopard skin shorts, shoes, scarves, purses, hats. Even luggage! Seriously, there is faux leopard skin everywhere. So my advice to any faux leopards out there: stay away from Europe because your coat is a very hot commodity. Continue reading
My first real Swiss hike: 1000 meters verticle up to the Rochers de Naye
When I was a kid, my family did a lot of camping and backpacking. I’ve maintained a real love of hiking ever since. This blog post describes my first real hike since arriving in Europe. Chris and I tried a hike in the Jura mountain range, which didn’t really materialize as we had expected, and we did complete a great “hike ” in Spain with Jose and Susan and family which was fabulous and which I will feature in a future blog post, but that was only about 2 kilometers each way, which doesn’t qualify as a “hike” in my mind.
This hike however, was different. Continue reading
We went to Italy, and saw a Minnesota Ultimate frisbee team win a world championship!
My son Chris is a serious Ultimate player for his high school team back in Minnesota. As we were making plans for things to do upon our arrival in Europe, he recalled that one of the coaches of his High School’s girls squad plays for a Minnesota team called “Drag’N Thrust” that would be competing in Lecco, Italy, which is located on the south end of the west leg of Lake Como. That was reason enough for us to make the 300 kilometer trek across the Alps to see more of Italy, and to watch some world class Ultimate! Continue reading
Sometimes it’s tough being tall in Europe!
I am learning that much of Europe was built to accommodate people much shorter than my six foot five inch frame. This blog will go dormant for about a week and a half while we enjoy a vacation visiting a close friend of Nancy’s in the Basque country, but until we return, here are a few candid, unscripted shots of me finding out the hard way that I am taller than most Europeans. Continue reading
We went to Nice! Yep, it was nice!
I just posted yesterday, so because I feel very much caught up on my blogging obligations, this entry won’t display the same level of effort as yesterday’s. So here’s the deal: Chris and I took two days and did a whirlwind tour of the south of France. We drove to Aix-en-Provence — where Patrick studied abroad for a semester — and stayed overnight in a hostel; got up the next morning and drove to and around and through Marseilles; then on to a beach near Saint Tropez called Saint Aygulf where we swam at a beautiful beach for 5 hours Continue reading
An Unbelievable View from Our Neighborhood Mountain, Le Salève
Le Salève, and on a clear day we catch a glimpse of the Alps
Another of the blog posts I am planning will be a description of the coolest things we can see from our apartment. One of the things that will be included on that list is the view we have of our closest mountain, Le Salève. (Yes, it’s partially obstructed, but we are one of the fortunate city dwellers that has any view of the mountains at all.) Continue reading
What a Beautiful Place to Ride Your Bike!
My hometown of Minneapolis/St. Paul is regarded as one of the top cities for biking in America, (the Twin Cities and Portland,Oregon seemingly always take top honors) but they’ve got nothing on Geneva. Yes, there are more cars than bikes in this city (I think) but the transportation infrastructure has clearly been designed and constructed with the cyclist as well as the motorist in mind.
Chris and I set out for a ride recently from our apartment in Geneva to a town called Hermance, which is about 20 kilometers up the south shoreline of Lake Geneva, or Lac Genève in French. Continue reading
In Geneva, There are New York Yankee Fans Everywhere
One of the things an American notices walking around town is that the streets, trains, buses and malls are full of American baseball fans. This didn’t strike me as particularly odd at first, until I noticed that every last one of them is a Yankee fan. I thought this might make something of a whimsical blog post, so I ran the idea of taking some pictures of the Yankee fans we encountered that day to Chris, my son, traveling companion, and blog editor. He advised me that taking pictures of random people without their permission is a good way to get one’s butt kicked, but I was determined, so I told him I would try to be discreet. Continue reading
Rowing in Lucerne: Now THERE’S a great transportation mode!
When I was telling my friend Ed (who is also a two-time Olympic rower, including a silver medalist at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles) about all the cool things were planning to do upon our arrival in Switzerland, he said, “You should definitely go check out some rowing in Lucerne!” Nancy and I met through rowing and had successful rowing careers (not like Ed’s, but successful nonetheless) and so we both jumped at the chance to attend a world class rowing event at one of the most beautiful and famous rowing venues in the entire world, in Lucerne, Switzerland. Continue reading
Swiss Sojourner 