May 24-26, 2007

Geneva, Switzerland

Melissa and I went to the wedding of (former Elder) Erickson Denina. It was AWESOME to see him again! And his bride ... Celine - how sweet! We fell in love with her immediately! Let me give you a rundown on our trip ...

Well, this time we tried something a little different - we flew out of Luton airport (as opposed to Stanstead) and arrived in Geneva on Thursday morning.

Eric and Celine met us at the airport (how kind) and drove us around the area. We stopped by a really great manor-chalet-type place (don't you just love my intellect here?) on the shores of Lac Leman (or Lake Geneva, as we would call it it English).

Next, we went back to Geneva to have some lunch. We went to a restaurant which was 1/2 Italian and 1/2 Chinese food. Melissa had a pizza (obvious choice) and I had a pesto pasta dish. Melissa and I ended up switching lunches ... she really loves pesto!

Celine needed to pick up a few things, so Eric showed us around a bit ... we walked to the Jet d'Eau (water jet). It is a large fountain and is one of the most well-known landmarks in Geneva. You can even see it from the air, flying over Geneva. It was moved to its present location to honor the 600th anniversary of the Swiss Confederation. ;)

Walking around to view the Jet d'Eau, we walked by the famous Flower Clock (1995), another landmark in Geneva.

Well, Eric's favorite companion, Elder (Gordon) Riebe, came to the wedding and we picked him up at the train station. He was unaware of our attendance, and it was exceptionally fun to surprise him! (I won't even tell you who he thought I was at first ... geesh!) ;)

We went to McDonald's (we're lovin' it) and Gordon told us that the McD's in Switzerland are the most expensive in the world! Well, we had to try it out! We had supper with Gordon, Eric, Celine and her brothers and sister.

Eric and Gordon came to our hotel room to play Settlers of Zarahemla (woo hoo!) ... Gordon wishes he could beat me! muah ha ha ha ... I told Melissa that she was a witness to a "bachelor party" ... cool.

After a hot night in the hotel (it was over 80 and no fans, no air conditioning, no window open ... I'm such a baby!) and a measly breakfast (10 Swiss francs - ouch!), we went over to Eric and Celine's apartment. Eric and Gordon cooked us lunch (chicken, rice and pizza). We played another rousing game of Settlers - Eric won (as he should, it was his wedding day!) He was very calm, cool and collected! We didn't even get ready until about 1/2 hour before we were to leave ... ;)

The wedding was nice ... and hot! It took place in the city hall - again, no air conditioning. Talk about a sauna! I believe "my back is sweating" came out of my lips.

Next, it was off to the reception! It was located at a converted barn a few miles outside of the city. There, in Switzerland, I tried caviar for the first time. The verdict? Well, it wasn't the greatest, it wasn't the worst. The caviar had a creaminess in it that was a little slimy ... I guess I didn't expect that.

The food was interesting, to say the least. They cook food differently ... the courgette (zucchini) was really overcooked (to me) and everything seemed to have peppers in it. Melissa had a lot of bread that night, needless to say! ;)

The cake ... I need to talk about it because it was different. Due to the weather being so hot, the cake was very welcome! The bottom was similar to a raspberry ice cream and the top was a cooked meringue. I ate the bottom part, Gordon ate the top part.

The dancing ... I need to talk about this, also. The dancing didn't start until 11:15 or so ... and Melissa didn't dance much - she just stood there! Funny, she dances all 'cool-like' at home all of the time! ;) Bless her heart, she was at a wedding where French was the dominate language - hardly any of the youth there spoke English (well). She did well!

Well, we arrived at our hotel at 1:30am and were up-and-at-em early so we could hitch a ride to the Bern Temple (1 1/2 hour drive). The temple is actually in Zollikofen and the view of the Swiss Alps is beautiful!

Next to the temple is a little LDS store where they had some American food items - pop (Mt. Dew, Dr. Pepper, A&W), mac 'n cheese, marshmallows and Skippy peanut butter. Okay, I love peanut butter, but would you buy it at almost $10? OUCH!

The sealing was wonderful (I blubbered, as usual) and we enjoyed seeing our old friends and meeting new ones (except for that German woman at the gas 'n sip - she was awful!)