Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Friday, May 20th, Dad, Mom and Kyle stepped off a plane in Geneva. This trip had been a dream in the works since the day Chris and I found out we were moving to Europe. Kyle was the driving force behind this dream becoming reality. He had his heart set on seeing Europe.
There are thirty pictures here, only a small sample of the hundreds we took during their two and a half week visit. These images will tell most of the story for me.
Kyle, jet lagged, but too excited to sleep, discovering the apartment upon first arrival.
The next day Chris and I took them on a walking tour of Geneva.
Reformation Wall
Dad knew more about this wall and it's significance than we did.
He explained that the statues of religious leaders of the 1500's are bigger and higher on this wall than the civil leaders also on the wall. This is intentional as it is understood in Geneva that the religious Reformation not only changed the religious landscape, but also birthed civil freedom for the western world.
A serious game of chess in Parc des Bastions
Dad, pretending to be John Calvin
Kyle, drinking from an old horse trough, now a public water fountain
Mom, just standing there
Kyle and myself, Sunday morning outside church
Walking home from church, Mom and Kyle were amused by the unusually placed statues
Monday I took Mom and Kyle to Chateau de Chillion, the most popular Castle tour in Switzerland, a 90 minute drive up the lake.
The tour is in our headsets
Tired feet, I take a break. I've done this tour once before with Kellie and Brady.
Nonetheless, it's a truly amazing tour and I enjoyed it equally the second time.
Rome
On Wednesday Chris took time off work and we all flew to Rome for three nights.
Arrival in Rome.
Waiting for the owner of the apartment to come give us our key to get in.
View from our bedroom window
After a good night's sleep, our first stop... the Colosseum of course.
Meandering around the Palatine
Rome Day 2
The Vatican
Walking across the bridge, headed for the Vatican. Random ancient castle coming up.
The Vatican
Lunch beforehand, to get us through.
I waited with great anticipation to see Michelangelo's painting of the finger of God on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Alas, it's so high up, you can barely see it! Not nearly as moving as I expected it to be. Instead, I was deeply and unexpectedly moved by this replica of Michelangelo's sculpture of Mary holding Jesus as a boy.
"Home" again to Geneva
A day of recovery at the park. Kyle impresses us by jumping off the high dive into Lake Geneva
Dad and Mom take a train to Strasbourg for a three night romantic getaway.
Kyle stayed with us, finally getting to exchange the couch for a real bed.
We also took him to see the 4th Pirates of the Caribbean. Movie Theaters are pretty much the same in Europe as they are in the U.S.
Strasbourg
Annecy, France
When they returned we took them to Annecy, France, a small mountain town 30 minutes from Geneva.
Annecy has the most beautiful views any of us had ever seen. It was delicious weather too.
On a whim, Mom, Kyle, Chris and I rented a motor boat for an hour while Dad was resting. We didn't bring swimsuits, but Kyle and I couldn't resist a jump in the clear water out in the middle of the lake. We stripped down to underwear and dried in the sun on the boat deck after!
Worn out and happy, on the ride home.
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