A Weekend of Swiss Bliss

This past weekend we took our first trip outside of Italy to Geneva, Switzerland. Not knowing much about Switzerland except for its notorious chocolates and fondue, we set off early Friday morning. Although our flight was delayed for an hour, we made it safely to Geneva. Right when we got off of the plane we were greeted by the cold, fresh air and a view of the majestic Alps! After checking into our hostel and grabbing a map to see where we were, we set off towards Lake Geneva. It didn't take us long to realize how prominent the language barrier was going to be on this trip. While we understood English and Italian, most of the natives speak only French since Geneva is located right on the border of France. Of course, no one in our group knew any French except the common phrases "Bon Jour" and "Merci." Since this was our first country where we had absolutely no idea what to say and what others were saying, it was a bit more difficult to communicate than we had anticipated. Luckily for us, most of the people we met were very kind and willing to help. 

On our walk we stopped for a quick lunch break and munched on "croque monsieur," a glorified ham and cheese sandwich. We then stopped into the first of many chocolate shops to admire the various chocolates and to see the Swiss's handiwork. We loved being able to see them make the chocolate in the back room! In store windows we saw many chocolate cauldrons with Geneva's coat of arms, which we found out to be a symbol of a festival occurring in December. As we continued on our walk along Lake Geneva we were fortunate enough to see the classic fountain Jet d'Eau that is situated in the lake. This was the only day we saw the fountain because the following days were too windy for it to be on. 

One of the many chocolate shops we came across.

The Jet d'Eau in Lake Geneva.

We also stumbled upon the famous flower clock, which was still decorated with beautiful flowers even though winter was quickly approaching. We then found ourselves on one of the main drags of the newer district of Geneva, full of designer stores and chocolate shops. At this point we thought it was necessary to take a much deserved "hot chocolate break," so we stopped into a little bar and tasted what we both agree to be the best hot chocolate we have ever tried! It was served with steamed milk on top, and we were supposed to stir in the steamed milk before we took a sip. It was very silky and not too overwhelming; it had the perfect sweetness to satisfy us and warm us up so that we could continue our walk. 

Our group (Holly, Heather, Jennifer, Stephanie, Katie, Megan and Tess) in front of the "flower clock."

Enjoying the best hot chocolate ever!

We spent the rest of the evening walking around and getting lost up and down the streets. We walked up to Geneva's Cathedral St. Pierre, where John Calvin preached. 

Cathedral Saint Pierre

The next morning we braved the wind and walked through Geneva's old town, stopping at some historic landmarks. We returned to the Cathedral Saint Pierre, where we admired it's beautiful gothic and romanesque architecture. The Cathedral has two towers, and we went up both to see different panoramic views of the lake and the city. The first tower was enclosed, but the second tower was open at the top so we could walk around outside and enjoy some beautiful scenery. It was extremely cold and windy, but we didn't care! Unfortunately it was too overcast to see the Alps, but we could get glimpses here and there to remind us they were nearby. 

A medieval tower

Cathedral Saint Pierre

The Chapel of the Maccabees

The wonderful views from the towers of Saint Pierre. 

The Alps!

For an afternoon snack we went back to the main street for a place that sold hot chocolate and crepes. In order to get the full experience, we decided to split a savory and a sweet crepe with a friend. The first had bacon, gruyere cheese, grilled onions, and an egg while the second was simply chocolate and banana. Both were delicious! Again, the hot chocolate was delicious, but not quite as delectable as the day before. We continued to wander through the streets of Geneva and headed back towards the lake where it was so windy we could lean forward and the wind would hold us up! While on our walk we saw a motorcade drive by, and we think it definitely could have been John Kerry, who was in Geneva for the Iran nuclear talks. We also walked by a NBC news truck and think we could have gotten in one of their shots! For dinner we thought we would keep in tune with our theme of experiencing the Swiss culture through food and enjoyed some rich cheese fondue. So filling and extremely delicious! 

Katie and Stephanie getting ready to dig-in to the crepes!

Time for some cheese fondue!

Sunday morning we had a few hours to spare before our flight, so we started our day off with a visit to the United Nations and some other monuments in parts of the city we had yet to explore. While the UN was closed we still thought it was worth the visit and to see the "Broken Chair," a monument encouraging nations to end the use of landmines. We then walked to a little park that holds a monument called the "Reformation Wall," which has statues of famous reformers influential to Swiss history, including John Calvin. The park had some big chess and checkers boards, so we thought it was necessary to play a match of chess "Harry Potter-style" (where we are some of the pieces). It was a draw, partially because none of us could remember all of the rules of chess! 

The "Broken Chair" outside of the United Nations.

The Reformation Wall

Megan and Jennifer playing "Harry Potter" chess.

We had quite a bit of trouble finding someplace to eat before heading to the airport because we hadn't realized that in Geneva, all of the shops and most of the restaurants close on Sundays. It was something that took us by surprised since we're used to everything being open pretty much all of the time in the United States. We finally found a cafe that was serving brunch, so we decided to step in and get a little something to eat and, more importantly, some more hot chocolate. While eating our brunch, we noticed there was a "Swiss Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream" on the menu. This dessert caught our eyes, and we decided that since it was "Swiss" we had to try it! Four of us split this delicious cake that was similar to a lava cake, but even better! Needless to say, the cake disappeared in five minutes.  

Finishing the trip with "Swiss Chocolate Cake!"

Once we finished our brunch it was time to head to the airport to catch our flight back to Rome. Geneva was a beautiful place to spend the weekend, and we felt we immersed ourselves into the culture through its rich cuisine. Compared to Rome, Switzerland is very clean and organized, and, while expensive, our experiences made it worth our while. Even though we didn't have many opportunities to see the Alps due to poor weather, it only gives us a reason to go back to Switzerland in the future!

Southern Italy Trip: Days 3, 4, and 5

The following three days of our Southern Italy Trip consisted of some more ancient sites, an island visit, and some pizza!

Thursday we travelled to Paestum, an Ancient Greek city that was conquered by the Romans and became a Roman city. Honestly it wasn't one of our favorite days because nothing could follow Pompeii and Herculaneum. The two most notable sites at Paestum are it's two Doric temples dedicated to Hera, which are prime examples of Greek architecture. 

The Tomb of the Diver at Paestum's Archaeological Museum.

Temple of Hera II

Temple of Hera I

Worth mentioning was our dinner this night, for it had a "seafood" theme. The night before when we were at dinner the hotel had a platter with a huge fish and a sign saying, "eat me tomorrow," so all of us were nervous coming into dinner. Our pasta dish consisted of risotto with octopus, and for those of you who know our eating habits know that we are not fish people, let alone crazy types of seafood people! Following the octopus was the fish we were promised the night before. We were adventurous and tried some of each dish, and then, especially for the octopus, we proceeded to eat around it as much as we could. The tentacles were just a little too much for us! 

Friday was another fun and adventurous day visiting the island of Capri, which is off the coast of Sorrento. We were able to take a boat ride around part of the island and to one of Capri's main attractions, "La Grotta Azzura," or the Blue Grotto. In order to get into this secret hideaway, we had to take a small row boat into the opening, which was only a meter high and wide due to the tide! The opening was so small that we had to lie down on the bottom of the boat with a couple of our friends as the man rowing our boat pulled a chain and then ducked as we went into the very small opening. The grotto was absolutely breathtaking, we have never seen anything like it! The man rowing our boat told us stories about the grotto and sang to us, which only added to the ambiance. The grotto gets its color because the sea floor is a white limestone. The outside walls don't go all the way to the floor, which allows light to hit the limestone, illuminating the water within the grotto. While we were only in there for a few short minutes, the experience was totally worth it! 

After our little boat tour we had a wonderful lunch near the docks where the owner of the restaurant, a very nice man named Ivano, had helped us earlier by giving us a map and telling us where to go on the island. He was so surprised we came back for lunch that he gave us free antipasti! We even splurged on some Caprese salad with buffalo mozzarella (we were in Capri, after all)! After lunch we hiked to a part of the island where we had fantastic views. It was definitely one of the most beautiful areas we have seen in Italy so far, and all of the people were extremely cheerful and happy to talk with us. 

Lunch with Ivano!

Another note about dinner: we dubbed Friday night "dairy night." Before the main course, the chef and the manager brought out this beautifully presented table with a tin foil swan and platters full of large pieces of buffalo mozzarella. We didn't quite understand the meaning of this (we just thought he was showing off the quality ingredients he uses) until we received our main course platters, which consisted of potatoes and a huge slab of this high quality cheese. The servings of cheese were bigger than a piece of steak we usually eat! Keep in mind that we had already had three previous courses, one of which being Caprese Salad, so we were already extremely full and wondering how Italians could possibly eat this much on a daily basis. The cheese was delicious, and we struggled to eat as much as we could because we didn't want to dishearten or offend the chef who was so proud of his meal. And, of course, dessert consisted of the ricotta cheese filling of a canoli, which only added to our dairy heavy meal. If we were lacking in Calcium we sure made up for it this night! 

Saturday we traveled to downtown Naples to visit the archaeological museum and, more importantly, to eat some pizza! We saw lots of beautiful ancient statues, Roman wall paintings, and floor mosaics that were found at many of the sites we visited earlier in the week. It was a great conclusion to bring everything together. We made time to try some famous Napoleon pizzas, which were fantastic! We had no problem each finishing our own individual pizzas! 

The Alexander Mosaic

Megan's Pizza: mushrooms, ham, cheese, and a cream sauce.  So good!

We had a quick stop at the site of Cuma, another ancient port city, to take a look at the bay of Naples before heading back to Rome. It was a jam-packed and an exhausting week, but it was a perfect break from classes and a wonderful opportunity to experience another part of Italy. While we enjoyed spending time in Campania, we were definitely getting "Rome-sick!"