It’s our anniversary! One year of expat-hood under our belts. For a lovely bit of symmetry, we celebrated the date in Switzerland with our former almost-next-door-neighbor Patti (It was 5 doors, but who’s counting?) A few months ago, Patti rang up to say she was going to be house sitting for a friend near Geneva, and did we want to come for a long weekend? Great idea I said, let me text my favorite Swiss cousin to see if they’ll be around so we could see them as well. Andrea said nope, they would be in the Maldives, but were we interested in house and kitty sitting? Hell yes we would be! One year later and halfway across the world, we get to pretend we’re neighbors with Patti again. Our houses bookended our street, and now Patti has bookended our year. For a few days, we’re only a few miles apart. Not bad for throwing a dart at the friends and family map of the Geneva area!
Here’s the guy who sealed the deal. 15 pounds if he’s an ounce, polydactyl and flat-out wonderful, Teddy. Besides missing our family and friends, one big downside of living a less rooted life is not being able to have a kitty. We enjoyed every furry moment.
A couple of big-mitted guys
Day trip! From the Geneva area you can easily get to the Château de Chillon. It’s a nice train ride along the north side of Lake Geneva (It’s called Lac Léman here. Go figure) to the town of Vevey where you can take a bus through Montreux (of the famed jazz festival) to the island which is just a step off the road. On said bus, be sure you have coins for the fare. The ticket box is in the back of the bus. At the bus stop on the way there, the ticket machine took bill and credit cards. On the way back, Mark and I had to do a pantomime and then sit and hope like hell no one asked us to show our ticket. Not our finest travel moment.
Every castle needs a dragon. This one is guarding one of the many wooden chests that were on display.
How about a bit of truth in photography? I can take a pretty picture as well as any gal, but it’s not my preference. And yet, it’s what I show. I like weirder things for my own scrapbooks. Travel photography always insists you’re the only person there. The skies are always blue. Damn, the colors are so vivid. HDR and pop that contrast! As airbrushed people make real people disappointing, I think travel photography does the same thing with places. How can you not be disappointed by a place when it doesn’t conform to the every instagram photo? And what are all these people doing in my shot??? (Probably the standard instagram babe pose. Never mind that I’m in theirs, looking lost.)
Is Chillon Castle any less marvelous if you come to it via a wide highway? I think the juxtaposition make it more wonderful, not less. It stands there while the world evolves.
The Let's Get Lost Game 