Stop #1 : Geneva

We departed for our brief little August getaway early morning with the idea of spending most of the day in Geneva, Switzerland. It is just under a three hour drive away but this was our first visit to the city. Jonathan has long wanted to do a little Reformation tour so that is where we focused our attention in touring the city.

Seeing how Geneva ranks in the top 5 most expensive cities in the world, we definitely tried to tour on the cheap. In fact, Zurich and Bern also make the top 10 list, which provides the rationale for finding more economical lodging in France or Germany. Seriously, we have never seen so many Porsche, Ferrari, Maserati and other high end vehicles as we did in Geneva. They are like the Fiat of Italy there. A tall (small) cup of plain Starbucks coffee cost 4.50 Fr (about $5)! Dare I mention how much a speciality drink costs?!  I digress.

For our three day adventure Jonathan made up a trivia sheet for the three cities we would visit. The kids were so cute as they took the task very seriously using their sheets like clues on a treasure map filling out the answers they found along the way. I think they might have learned a thing or two so that is always a plus, right? It definitely kept them excited about getting to the next thing to see. 

We made our way to the Reformation Wall first where four influential men are honored for their role in the Genevan Protestant Reformation. The wall is located in the beautiful Parc des Bastions that made us wish we had more time to sit and enjoy the surroundings and play a game or two of chess.

The Reformation Wall is 100 meters long and the central statues are 5 meters tall. 

The four central figures on the wall are: Theodore Beza, John Calvin, William Farel and John Knox. 

Standing with his heroes of the faith

From there we headed to Collège Calvin after passing the house of Turretini, an Italian reformer that lived in Geneva. 

Turretini's house is on the left where the big brown door is.

John Calvin founded the Collège Genève in 1559 and it is used as a secondary school to this day and has changed its name to Collège Calvin.

We walked back through Old Town Geneva taking in its quaint European atmosphere.

We arrived at St. Pierre Cathedral and spent some time taking in its simplistic beauty (compared to Roman Catholic cathedrals). This is where John Calvin preached.

Bell tower (L), Front facade (UR), Calvin Auditorium (LR) was closed

Post Tenebras Lux (Light after Darkness) is written below where the Bible is placed. The motto represents Calvinism and Protestant Reformation. The latin phrase is also used on the seal of Geneva.

Standing next to John Calvin's chair

Standing under the pulpit where Calvin preached

We took a little pit stop to eat lunch and refuel outside the Cathedral. The kids were lucky not to twist an ankle while goofing off...

We toured the Reformation Museum as our final stop for the afternoon. The museum was well done and if it wasn't for everyone being able to have their own handheld audioguide it could have been pretty miserable for the kids. We all learned a lot and had fun along the way thanks to our amazing tour guide and historian, Jonathan!

Who could resist?

As you drive into Geneva you can see this huge water fountain out on the lake. The tourists were in abundance along the boardwalk.  We ventured over to the lake just for a couple of pictures before pilling back in the car for the 2.5 hour drive to Colmar. And that was our day in Geneva...

Mr. & Mrs. for 15 Years!!

5 - 10 - 15...each one of those year markers feels like they have come extremely quick! We step back and reflect in awe of the adventure we have lived together these past 15 years--5 homes, 2 countries, 3 kids and a guinea pig. We have come a long way since the day we said "I do". We have certainly changed in many ways, including grey hairs and maturing faces! However without a doubt we can say we have changed and grown for the better as Christ has remained the center of our marriage. Over the years we have had our seasons of highs living on love and seasons of drought as ministry, kids, health problems, cross-cultural living etc. sucked out all energies leaving little for the other. No matter the season we have remained committed to each other, but more importantly God has kept his promises and has been the life source of this marriage. We have grown to complete the other one's thoughts, know what the other is thinking by just a glance or touch. We have very diverse gifts and strengths but that is what makes us so compatibile. We can honestly say that we are more in love with each other than we were on August 19, 2000. We give God the glory for these past 15 years together!

I could not ask for a better partner in life, parenting, ministry and globe-traveling than my best friend and love of my life--I love you more everyday, Precious! Happy Anniversary!

We did get away for a little trip to celebrate our anniversary. The kids tagged along with us, and it was a fun way to celebrate. We spent two nights in Colmar, France. We rented a charming little place in the heart of Colmar that was a complete delight. I always have fun searching out places to stay and everyone was happy that my track record for good finds continues.

House with a view

A traditional Alsace decor with hearts, because the region is located at the heart of Europe. The apartment was on two floors complete with balcony perfect for an afternoon coffee and reading break.

Colmar is such a beautiful and romantic city located near the borders of Germany and Switzerland. We were married in Solvang, the Danish capital of America and Colmar gave us a similar feel which made us reminisce of our wedding all the more.

However, we also chose to visit Colmar because it is the home of the Isenheim Altarpiece painted by Matthais Grünewald in 1512-1516. Jonathan has been wanting to see this work of art in person so it was a win-win place to choose. The Unterliden Museum was closed for remodelling so the altarpiece was moved to the Dominican church. This hugely cut down our museum viewing time but since the goal was seeing this specific piece it all worked out. It is nice that all the museums we visited on this trip offer free audio guides with the ticket. This greatly helps to keep the kids engaged and explain things as opposed to reading plaques. We got much less "when are we done?" questions.

After checking off this must see in the early morning we had the rest of the day to just wander and explore. We took a little train ride that the kids enjoyed and we learned more about the history of the Colmar. Did you know that Auguste Bartholdi, the man who sculpted the Statue of Liberty was born in Colmar? There are many original Bartholdi sculptures located throughout the city. A large 12 meter replica of the "Liberty lightening of the world" can be found outside of town, but this was as close as we saw giving honour to the famous sculptor and his world famous masterpiece...

The kids had no difficulty in choosing an afternoon snack. The Bretzel-Donuts were a hit and Luca got two rounds of them! Emma thought it was cool to eat French fries in France. Luca endured a French pizza declaring that Italian is better. At dinner Samuel said he has eaten better but the ice cream made up for it. Jonathan and I had a regional speciality of pork knuckle (ham hock) with Sauerkraut topped with Munster cheese and Cremini mushrooms. The German influence was definitely noted with their food. It was super good, rich and filling.

The food displays were so beautiful. I always enjoy seeing regional specialties.

The smallest house in Colmar (the red one). It is a law that each house is painted a different color than its neighbor.

The following pictures are from "Little Venice" named because of the canal running through that section of town.

As you can see every corner was picture worthy and thus it was really hard to narrow my picture selection down for this post. You can count it as your virtual vacation for the day. :)

What more can I say? It was the perfect place to spend our anniversary! Stay tuned for our little Reformation tour through Geneva and Basel on our way to and from Colmar.

Goodbye July

If I could describe the month of July in one word it would be: HOT! Only these final couple of days of the month have brought us some much needed relief. We will have this weekend to enjoy the upper 70s and mid-80s before we climb back up into the 90s again. Poor Jonathan has had a hard time breathing through his nose with the heat which leads to light headedness and tingly arms. He saw the doctor and was told to try to stay in cool places and use some nasal spray. Kind of hard when we don't have AC in our house nor car, but we are thankful to have found a couple of remedies that have made breathing better for him. He might look a little funny with his nose "ring" but at least it opens up his airway to breathe instead of passing out.

Air conditioning the old fashioned way

Watermelon takes SO good for everyone on a hot day

Samuel and Emma, whose rooms are on the upper floor have had to relocate for the summer. Samuel has been sleeping in the basement laundry room and Emma has bunked up in Luca's room. All in all, everyone is happy with their new summer sleeping arrangements and thankfully we have slept fairly well despite the heat.

After several nights with two in the laundry room it ended up not being such a cool place.

The kids and I enjoyed a day at the pool last week. There is a sports complex at the end of our street that has an outdoor pool. We went during the lunch break for three hours since it is half price then. It was our first time at the pool and I should have known better that they would not be allowed to swim without swim caps. I brought with us the two caps we did had and therefore, the kids had to take turns swimming. We bought more caps this week and will plan to go back on Monday. For me, it was three hours of complete relaxation sun bathing and reading--down time I don't always give myself, but should. Let's hope we can make it a weekly activity for August as our ministry schedule slows down.

Total relax for the mamma

Thankful we had no fights over taking swimming turns

We started our jobs course just two days after we got home from Michigan. That takes up 2 mornings a week, another morning was usually filled with baking for an afternoon ministry at a local charity, and yet another morning for a team meeting, which left us with just one free morning a week that we usually used to do grocery shopping or yard work. I have lots of house projects that I hope to get done yet this summer like sanding and staining shutters and painting some rooms, but the heat has really slowed down my motivation and energy levels. I did get one set of window shutters completed last weekend and hope to finish some more on this cooler weekend.

Retained shutters on the left vs. unfinished on the right

The garden has been producing a good amount of cucumbers and tomatoes that the kids enjoy harvesting. We have made several jars of pickles and eaten a lot of tomato, cucumber and feta salad. We still have nothing on our zucchini plants but maybe August will bring some results, even though someone told me today that the heat is to blame.

Getting sidetracked from gardening work to play with lizards

Lots and lots of cucumbers...

Refrigerator pickles..oh, so yummy

The kids have been doing lots of indoor activities this month. Samuel continues to diligently write his book and work on summer homework, Emma has been busy drawing and building a doll house that someone gifted her and Luca has faithfully completed at least 2 pages of homework a day while working on his drawing and game playing skills. He loves games so we have played a fair amount this month on hot afternoons. Settlers of Catan has been introduced and embraced by the kids which has been a fun for us all in addition to the usual favorites of Bonanza, Bananagrams, Quiddler, Skipbo and Monopoly Deal.

Emma's drawing that she did yesterday

We say goodbye to July and anticipate the month of August with some planned family getaways and hopefully more tolerable temperatures during a slower month of ministry.