Your personality

This is pretty cool... Let me know what you saw...
This is what we got:
Me: Impatient, Elegant, Reserved, Sentimental.
CJ: Genuine, Dramatic, Sweet, Shy.

Enjoy!

Shizz New Moms say...

I just watched this twice and just about peed my pants!! Enjoy!

Can we be girly for a moment please?

Ok, so I am a bit of a blog stalker from time to time. And recently while stalking other people's blogs I came across this awesome video, which in turn took me to more cool videos by the same person... All related to fashion. The scarf one especially is super important if you're planning to come to Geneva. Take note ladies and gents! A bag full of stylish scarves is a must when living here.
Check it out...



And here is another one I like... I found it clicking around Wendy's collection of YouTube videos.



I like her narrated fashion videos too - not gonna post them all, no worries. The ones with tall boots would be the bomb here. Every other girl in the street has tall boots on.

Completely unrelated - when we were in London, I kept calling their Underground system YouTube... You know it's called The Tube, right... We'll I kept saying You Tube all the time... haha... pregnancy brain...
Hope you enjoyed the girly moment!

Walking around Geneva - Occupy: Swiss Edition

I was walking by my favorite park Parc Des Bastions (I posted about it HERE) the other day and I noticed protest signs and tents with people camped all over. OCCUPY has made its way to Switzerland! Too funny!

Walking around Geneva - Ladurée

The French and Swiss French are very much into Macarons... Dainty pastries which can be decorated in a million ways and colored and flavored to match any occasion or outfit. Geneva is home to a branch of ths most famous Macaron maker in the world, the French company Ladurée...

A little history...  The history of Parisian tea salons is intimately tied to the history of the Ladurée family.
It all began in 1862, when Louis Ernest Ladurée, a miller from France’s southwest, created a bakery at 16 rue Royale in Paris.
Ladurée sells cakes, chocolate truffles and many other delicious foods, But Macarons, the  small, round cakes, crisp on the outside, smooth and soft in the middle, are their most famous creation. They are a perfect sweet little gift for a loved one, or a beautiful favor at a wedding or baby shower. The gift boxes are little works of art in itself.
The story of the Ladurée macaron starts with Pierre Desfontaines, second cousin of founder, Louis Ernest Ladurée, who at the beginning of the 20th century first thought of taking two macaron shells and joining them with a delicious ganache filling.
With each new season, Ladurée pays tribute to its most famous creation by creating a new flavor. The existing range of macarons is always the starting point when a new one is created, as the variety of colors is as important as the range of flavors, and a vital part of their appeal.

Here is the Geneva store with some of the famous Macarons. I pass by it on my way to the Library.

Walking around Geneva - Something is happening on the Bridge

I've decided to start a new series about the things I see while wandering around Geneva. I've had more time recently to enjoy life, and I've been walking a lot, as means of staying in shape. My old days of running like a maniac are temporarily suspended. Anywho, we'll see if I can keep this going...

So here is something I saw one sunny day while crossing the river on the pedestrian bridge. I don't know if someone jumped, dropped something important - like an expensive watch or a dog - in the water... I just know there was a serious looking crew of Police with dudes on speed boats and divers in gear. Pretty cool... Judging by the interest amongst the public it must have been something interesting...

A rainbow on Monday

It's been pretty cold here since we came back home on Sunday. I feel like the weather switced over to full on fall with no in between step. It's been rainy too. And thanks to that, here's a view I caught out of our window the other day... Pretty cool!

120–year Anniversary of the Jet d’Eau

Here is some fun facts about Geneva’s most famous and most recognized landmark, the Jet d’Eau, aka The Spritzer, which is celebreating its 120 year anniversary this fall…

The first Jet d'Eau (or fountain) was installed in 1886, further downstream from its present location, as a safety valve for a hydraulic power network. At the time, it could reach a height of about 30 meters (100 feet). In 1891, its aesthetic value was recognized and it was moved to its present location to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation. To pump lake water instead of city water, it was decided in 1951 to install the Jet d'Eau in a partially submerged pumping station.

Today, five hundred liters (132 gallons) of water per second are jetted to an altitude of 140 meters (460 feet!!) by two pumps. The water leaves the nozzle at a speed of 200 km/h (125mph) and when it is in operation there are about 7,000 liters (1,850 gallons) of water in the air.

To celebrate the 120th anniversary of the Jet d’Eau and further educate people on the virtues of tap water, the SIG (local electricity company and owner of the Jet d’Eau) is organizing a number of activities from the 15th to the 18th of September at the foot of the Jet d’Eau.

An exhibition presenting the history, the technology and the beauty secrets of the Jet d’Eau will be open to the public and tours departing from the pier will be organized to explain how the Jet d’Eau works.

SIG will also take this opportunity to further promote the use of tap water as a way to contribute to good health and preserve the environment. A large tent ‘Eau de Genève’ will be installed near the Jet d’Eau to offer lots of interactive workshops and activities for the whole family. Participants may win one of the many prizes offered, including a unique opportunity to turn the Jet d’Eau on!!

(this picture is fun... people on the Jet d'Eau catwalk running from the falling water...)

If any of you would like to see the jet and participate on the festivities, all you need to do it get a last minute ticket and come visit us.

Geneva Fast

Geneva was a center of Protestantism and the Reformation. There are many Reformation themed monuments throughout the city and while walking through the old town, we even stumbled upon a house where John Calvin had lived back in the day.

Here is a photo of the Reformation Wall in Park Des Bastions. These statues are about 10-15 feet tall. Impressive! The people on the wall are Theodore Beza, John Calvin, William Farel and John Knox.

 And here is Cathedral de Saint Pierre, the largest Protestant church in Geneva. Calvin used to preach there.

The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (now also called Geneva Fast), the slaughter of several thousand Huguenots (Protestants) in 1572 triggered a fast in Geneva the next year to remember those who were killed.

St. Bartholomew's Day is the first Thursday in September.  Over time, it lost its religious significance. It is now associated with eating plum tarts. According to my friend Samantha who researches this stuff, people were supposed to abstain from meat on a day of penitence, and plums happened to be in season.

Since this is Switzerland, banks, post offices, shops, restaurants and bars close. Many people use the Friday falling after the Fast to take a long weekend off. But since both our jobs are pretty busy right now, we could not do that. But our office is locked down like Fort Knox, so we are working from home today.

It would have been nice to actually get this day off, since we did not get any time off for Labor Day, but what can you do...

While the cat is away...

Cory is in the US (again!) and I am home alone so I figured out a way to keep myself busy by.... cooking!
Here is my first atempt at a French apple tart galette style. It was yummy. I totally improvised the recipe and made it with whatever I had in the house (like 2 leftover applies...) but it turned out great.
I am so happy that I am able to buy ready made pastry dough here. I see a lot of baking in my immediate future.
My next goal - savory tarts or quiches. Can't wait.

And while I'm at it... this is not related to my baking attempt but it's blogworthy anyway...

We had friends over for dinner the other weekend and I made 2 yummy casseroles: meaty and meatless baked ziti - since our friend Rachel is vegetarian (btw, Kelly, if you're reading this - I can't wait to make it for you! It is delish!)

And this was our appetizer. Oh so tasty, and so pretty!

Who is sensing a slight obsession with food here.... :)

Vent... Rant... Whatever you want to callit... plus no pictures... sorry...

We probably mentioned to everyone that our apartment was right smack dab in the middle of the city which is super nice as far as getting places and finding exciting things to do, but at the same time it is also pretty noisy which is a slight problem at night.

During the day, in the evening it's fine. Our TV drowns the noise, but late at night... that's a different story. The first few weeks I absolutely could not fall asleep. Every time a tram rolled by (we have 3 lines running right beside our building) the thud would wake me up. Trams run from about 5am till 1am so there's only a short window of time when the street is relatively quiet.

But then there are drunk people or just young punks running down the street screaming or singing in the middle of the night. One night two girls were yelling "Killing me softly" totally off key (not that it would be any better if they were in tune)...

And not to forget - the hateful scooters, aka super annoying and noisy vespas. OMG! When that sucker stops at the light right beside our bedroom window and keeps revving the engine all through the red light... well you can imagine.

And finally - by the time all the drunks are back in bed, and it's too early for trams to start running for normal people, the f-ing street cleaners come out around 4am with their noise street sweeper squeegee machines.

Gawd...

At first I slept with foam ear plugs on, but then my ears started hurting from it so I had to stop. I would wake every time there was a noise outside the window. Did I mention I was a light sleeper from the burbs?...
Of course after weeks of losing sleep your are so tired that you just crash as soon as your head hits the pillow and don't wake up till the alarm goes off.

That was me until last night.

Last night brought the most obnoxious and annoying noise and disturbance ever... I could not believe my ears and eyes when I heard and saw what was rolling down the tracks down our street.

At about 2am we were woken by this unbelievably loud and persistent SCREECHING sound, a sound of a metal grinder on metal, plus the hum of a rolling tram.

The noise went on for about half hour going up and down our street. At one point I got up and went to the window to see what the heck it was.

What did I see? A FRIGGIN' TRAM TRACK GRINDER MACHINE, a boxy yellow vehicle with some sort of a grinder attachment which was scraping and grinding the tracks, thus making the horrible screechy noise and shooting fire and sparks every which way.

O  M  G!!!!!

2am mind you!!!!! This went on for about 3.5 hours, during which time I had my head under the pillow and was ready to cry.

Finally the scraper-grinder monstrosity left, to be quickly replaced by the REGULAR street cleaners which rolled out around 4:30!

There is just winning...

I am so mad, I want to petition the local authorities to forbid TPG (local transit authority) to do any such obnoxious repairs and noise in the middle of the night. I was ready to rip somebody's head off...

So much for all the BS we heard about the Swiss being quiet and considerate and not making a peep after 10pm.

How do you like that?...

What CJ brought me from Poland

CJ had a business trip to Poland last week and it was so interesting to hear his stories when he returned. Apparently his co-workers there found out that I was from Poland and that he had been there before and had a good idea about the country, the people, the language etc. which scored him all kinds of extra points with everyone. So funny...

Anywho, he made a trip to a local supermarket on his last day there and got me all my favorite candy from childhood. Pretty awesome. Check out all this yummy goodness! Now the challenge will be to pace myself so all this stuff doesn't disappear within two weeks...

Pianos

Nothing in Geneva happens without a reason. See bands of kids on bikes = anti-driving protest..
But that does not mean that the reason is obvious or makes sense...
Why?
Well, I went for a walk on Sunday and on the way from out apartment to lakefront I came across 5 spots where upright pianos were set out in the street and people were playing music. So random.

This one is literally outside of our building.

This one was in Parc des Bastions

This one in front of the Opera building

This one on the main street in Old Town.

And this one by the Flower Clock on the lakefront. A few people tried playing it while I was standing there taking pictures.

By the time I spotted the last one I figured it out.
Notice the sign on the side of the pianos. It says in French: "Please play, I am yours".
And on the other side of the piano there is a sign about a Geneva Festival of Music...
I have a theory that some of the people playing were actually hired, since they were suspiciously good at it... Like the guy by our apartment. When I was leaving for my walk, there were 3 hippy kids playing Let It Be on that particular piano, sounding pretty bad. Then as I came back, this guy walked up to the instrument with firm intent, put out his sheet music and started playing...

Kind of fun to see.

Anti-driving protest

One Friday we were driving back home from work and were stopped on one of the main roads by a huge group of young people (teens and up) on bikes, rollerblades, skates etc. As a caveat, we don't typically drive to work since taking the light rail is so convenient plus gas is so expensive...
Anyways, our car got blocked at one intersection for a few minutes and we had no idea why. The group rolled in and just stopped in the middle, started playing music and just talking and hanging out.
Eventually, as the kids kept passing by, we realized that it was an anti-driving protest.
We noticed signs and flags with car pictures crossed through.
My camera is pretty slow so I did not catch a picture of the flags, but here is some shots of the group...
Apparently this happens every Friday.
How we know this? Completely unrelated to this day, we were walking one Friday when we were still staying at the Novotel, we were crossing over the pedestrian bridge to go have dinner in the Old Town. We passed a huuuuuuge crowd of youngsters on the bridge, all on bikes, skates, rollerblades (all smoking pot by the way.. haha...). We had no idea what that was about.
Well now we have the answer...