Swiss cheese, olympians and goddesses
Trip Start
Aug 17, 2007
1
12
17
Trip End
Sep 12, 2007
Geneva, Switzerland
Friday, August 31, 2007
They have the most amazing sculptures in the garden, and inside some very inspiring and moving stories that surround the games. Their exhibition called "The mind makes champions" was pretty amazing. It was made up of stories from athletes about how they needed to conquer their fears and nervousness to be able to compete. Their absolute focus being on success. Tony and I also tried out the relaxation room, which ended up listening to music and a woman speaking in a chinese dialect. I wonder what subliminal messages we received???
We also got to touch a gold medal from the Sydney olympics and view the amazing relics from the ancient olympics. Lots of goddesses featuring, particularly Athena. We found three kiwis mentioned in the museum. Barbara Kendell who is a recent member of the International Olympic Committee, Sarah Ulmer, in her role as an anti-doping ambassador and Danyon Loader who donated and autographed his swimming cap from his gold medal race at the Atlanta games.
We then headed for Vervey where we had lunch and a wander around the quaint village. This village is also home to Nestle. Now the fun starts...I spy some pairs of absolutely gorgeous white boots on the sale table outside the shop NZ$60! So I went in to try them on. Madame in the shop had no English and we had a rather funny encounter because I was wearing jeans that are narrow fitting around the leg, and these pull on boots would not easily go over the top of the jeans, nor could I pull the jeans up. So she was trying to explain to me to pull up my jeans, and I was trying to show her my best effort. Anyway I managed to get them on (all the while, Tony sitting patiently in the shop - Julie-Anne has trained him well it seems). OK, then it is time to take the boots off. So Madame is pulling and tugging on the boot to get it off my foot. Tony reckoned she nearly fell backwards into the shoe rack! It did look funny. Anyway, she was very happy with her sale and I am very happy to own another pair of white boots!
After that we headed to the very famous Chateau de Chillon. Now, I have visited a lot of castles in my time, but I have to say this was the most impressive. Parts of it date from the 11 century, and it has been beautifully maintained. The rooms and some furnishings are intact, as is some of the artwork and original features. Amazing! I took a heap of photos as you will eventually see. The chateau sits on a rocky outcrop surrouned by the lake. It is picture postcard stuff.
In the evening, we all headed for the restuarant in Geneva with the reputation for the best cheese fondue. Yum! It was very rich indeed. Thank goodness we only got the entree size.
Today has been a bit of a rest day, and in a couple of hours I leave to meet Julie Anne at the railway station where we leave for Paris. Yes, my birthday weekend in Paris has finally arrived! More soon.
Sue
xxx
Comments
white boots - yeh baby
Sounds like you're having so much fun! I've fallen in love with europe already... i have to go there... maybe for our honeymoon next year..
lotsa love, lua xox