Oh la la... the journey begins

I've finally arrived here in beautiful Switzerland, known for its cheese, chocolate and watches! There is no shortage of any of these, and in fact our apartment sits just above a wonderful chocolate shop, that is full of tempting delights! I must say I love it here and I'm eager to get a little more settled in.

As most of you know, Scout and I stopped off to visit my relatives in Florida on our journey here. It was so nice to see my grandparents, celebrate an early Thanksgiving, and enjoy the warm weather before bundling up for the rest of the winter (last night it was -2* C here!) I had a wonderful time, although Scout spent much of the week hiding in the closet. On the plane, she actually did quite well, even on the very long 15 hour leg (including all the waiting time at the Miami & Zurich airports).

So, anyway, we made to Geneva and I've been having a great time. I would have started this blog earlier, but in my first 24 hours here I managed to sleep 17 hours! That really doesn't make for a very interesting blog! It is so nice to hang out with Gary again. We took a train ride to the other end of Lake Geneva (or Lac Leman in French) where we walked through the medieval castle, Chateau de Chillon, which is the best preserved castle in Switzerland. It was rather impressive, although pretty cold this time of year!

We are already making friends too. Well, Gary has through work and I've been tagging along. One couple, Sarah & Kofi are really wonderful. On Saturday, they took us to a traditional Swiss fondue restaurant and taught us all the proper etiquette (including, if you drop your bread in the fondue pot, you either have to kiss the person to your right or buy a round for the whole table!) and introduced us to the traditional Swiss (& French) pre-meal drink (l'aperitif), kir, delicious!

During the day when Gary is at work I have been getting oriented, doing some sightseeing, figuring out the public transportation, and a doing little shopping. The language barrier has been challenging, but I'm managing all right. I'm fascinated with all the little quirky things about this town, like how everything is so small, from the washing machine to shampoo bottles.

I love our apartment! It honestly could not be more perfect. We are one block from the lake, two long blocks from the train station and right in the heart of the city. The old town is about 5 blocks away. Both bedrooms look out to a beautiful old church surrounded by trees. Just behind that is the place where the snow busses pick people up for the 1/2 hour ride to the lifts! All the building in our neighborhood are the old, European style, proudly displaying Swiss flags. There are no shortage of boulangeres and "tea houses" nearby. We really lucked out!

Well, I've been rambling enough. I miss you all! Talk to you soon.

Au revoir mon amies!

Fun Swiss fact of the week: Beer is cheaper than water! Yes, you heard it right, beer is the least expensive beverage in the land. Well, except for Corona, which is an import and sells for about SF (Swiss Franc) 8.-, or roughly $6.50 USD per bottle!!! (That is about 4x the cost of other beers). Who would have ever thought Corona was such a high end commodity?!?