Sweden Bound: Geneva

Happily, we had reason to go to Geneva for several days. I know!

The fountain you see in this picture has become a symbol for the city. In the 1880's Geneva refurbished their water system ensuring a water supply to all areas of the city. A pressure release spout/valve was installed. The resulting fountain had a nice aesthetic and the spout was moved to this location on Lake Geneva. It is no longer created passively by the water pressure, but now requires a pump. The spout is impressively high. It flies up to 140 meters!

Watches - OK- a brief history (I went to the watch museum and you will now benefit from my new found knowledge.) Follow me on this: In 1432 the "main-spring" was invented, which later allowed for watches to be wound without a key. (At least I hope that is right.) Martin Luther got the Reformation rolling, and the printing press helped things along. German merchants traveling to Geneva spread the word (Word). In 1536, Geneva formally adopted the Reformation and called John Calvin (a French scholar in ancient languages). At some point around now, an anti-luxury law/rule was established in Geneva. (Think Puritan simplicity - again more about this later.). So, now the city had a bunch of gold and silver smiths who didn't have any work. What is a person to do? Make watches! And so it went.

Reformation - as promised, here are a few pictures of the St. Pierre, where John Calvin himself preached.

The picture below is from a nearby building, the Auditorire de Calvin, "In the middle of the 16th centure, reformers and reformed, exiles and communities of all languages wold meet in this plain Gothic style edifice...".

Food

OK - So on the day I took this picture it was gray and pouring rain and my feet were soaked. I was trying to find the next museum and got turned around. I was a little sad and thought I would just go back to the hotel room and read my book. Then I passed a beautiful shop and decided that instead of being defeated by the circumstances, I would turn it around and sit in this lovely shop with pastry and a great cup of coffee and enjoy a good read. It was a wonderful decision. I am so glad I did it.

Dinner. I know this is blurry, but it is the only shot I have of the fondue. And I needed to include the fondue! We are in Switzerland!

John's dinner, in the background, is a salad with duck, foie gras, chicken gizzards (which ended up being his favorite part of the salad) and a fried quail egg. My meal was a sausage that had cabbage (sauerkraut). Mine was good, although a bit vinegary.