Retired Nomads Part 4: Zermatt to Geneva, Switzerland

Friday, July 18

We had another sunny day! We boarded the bus to Geneva taking in the beautiful views. We stopped on the way at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. It was a nice museum with a lot of things displayed from the past 100 years of Olympic Games. It has a collection of Olympic Torches, medals, costumes of various sports as well as performers and laid out by years and summer and winter games. One of the floors was closed for renovation. If time allowed there were plenty of movies and other interactive exhibitions.

The best part really was the sculpture garden and the view of Lake Geneva.

waiting in the lobby of Hotel Schweizerhof to board the bus

views from the bus

first look at Lake Geneva

walking to the museum

Olympic Torches

Bird's Nest Stadium model

Basketball signed by the USA "Dream Team" Barcelona 1992

the Sculpture Garden

waiting for the tour bus

After that we went to a wine tasting at Lavaux Vineyard Terraces for a wine tasting. The Lavaux region in the Swiss canton of Vaud is home to more than 2,000 acres of neatly lined terraced vineyards that stretch some 18 miles along the lake’s south-facing shores. These breathtaking hills were planted by Benedictine and Cistercian monks in the 11th century and are protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today, a Mediterranean microclimate is created by the reflecting sun off the lake and the warmth of its many stone walls.

We had a tour of their winery before sampling 4 or 5 wines. (healthy pours) They served a small buffet of meats, cheeses, and little sandwiches with the wines that were to go with the food. The view was stunning and just lovely on the sunny day. We thought the food was good but the couple at our table didn’t eat anything or even sample the wine. I’m not a fan of tuna so I pawned off my sandwich on Greg.

the 4 wines we tasted

the lady at our table was freaking out over this little guy

We then boarded the bus to continue to Geneva. On the way we were able to see Mont Blanc in the distance.

Mont Blanc

super-zoom of Mont Blanc

We were staying at the Renaissance Hotel and the rooms were nice. They told us about a few restaurants within walking distance, and we walked to a cute place and sat on the patio where I had the best steak. (made up for that horrible one I couldn’t chew in Paris) Greg enjoyed his prawn salad.

view from the window

Cafe Du Soleil

The bakery closed just before we got there so we hopped on a bus to a Gelato shop we Googled. We caught the bus near the park near the United Nations. (Place des Nations) It’s a large public square located in front of the Palais des Nations, which houses the European headquarters of the United Nations. The square is known for its prominent role in international relations and diplomacy, often serving as a venue for protests, demonstrations, and official events.

It was in an off the beaten path in a working-class neighborhood and the gelato was very good. We grabbed the bus back to the square and checked out the Broken Chair and the UN building. It will be a stop on our tour tomorrow, but it was nice not having a large group of people.

Broken Chair by Daniel Berset is a symbol of both fragility & strength, precariousness & stability, brutality & dignity. Originally conceived by Handicap International with the aim of urging nations to van anti-personal mines in 1097 & cluster munitions in 2008. Broken Chair is a reminder to the world's nations to protect and aid our civilian victims.