Monday of Week 11 here in Geneva marked the final day of Baboo’s stay at my house and was no less of an adventure than the previous two days.
We started off our day at the Hermance Cove where I got to go swimming, but only for a short while. Since Natalie didn’t want to let Baboo off the leash and since Baboo was quite mad about this fact, Baboo made sure to bark as loud as she possibly could every time Natalie threw me the Frisbee. Even worse, Natalie got quite a few mean looks from people who lived in the neighborhood, since it was still early.
Therefore, Frisbee time got cut short and we all headed to the little café near the Hermance beach. Natalie had an extremely flaky croissant washed down with a rich espresso and Baboo and I hung out.
(Baboo and I hanging out while Natalie has her breakfast!)
That afternoon, we all got to visit Twilight Park where Baboo was finally let off leash. We both ran around and sniffed and dug and experienced all the exciting things dogs do when presented with a large patch of forest.
(Baboo and I in lock-step on our way to Twilight Park)
We made it back to the house and rested until Baboo’s owner, Karin, called mentioning she was ready for her little dog to come back home.
Natalie left me to rest (and sleep!) back at the house while she dropped off Baboo.
I have to admit that it was somewhat fun to have a houseguest for the weekend. I, of course, wouldn’t ever suggest to Natalie and Jason that they get another dog; however, every once in a while it isn’t the worst thing to have a friend stay over.
That Monday evening, Natalie and I decided to treat ourselves after a long weekend to a nice and relaxing dinner at one of Natalie and Jason’s favorite places, Café des Marronniers. Natalie, of course had her usual Parma pizza (prosciutto pizza) with a mesclun salad. For dessert, Natalie had a lovely vanilla bean panna cotta with something that resembled very tart lemon preserves at the base of the panna cotta and fresh raspberry coulis to top it all off.
(The light, creamy and tart vanilla-lemon-raspberry panna cotta!)
Jason couldn’t make it to dinner with us, as his chef (‘boss’ in French) was in town and he would be having dinner with his colleagues and his chef, Dennis.
Natalie and I met up with Jason, Dennis and their colleagues at a Belgian Bar in the Old Town late that evening. I was so nervous meeting all the people Jason works with (I really wanted to make a good impression) that my nerves got the better of me and I either shied away when people tried to stay hello, or I just laid low and hung out near Natalie and Jason.
The rest of the week, up through Thursday, was business as usual. Natalie cleaned the house, ran, baked, and did errands. Jason worked and went to London for business and I went to DDC, played, swam, and slept.
(My new favorite sport....fishing for tadpoles!)
Of course, no week in Geneva goes by without something new happening for the Horwath clan and this time, it all started with Thursday morning.
Early in the day on Thursday Natalie dropped me off at DDC for what I thought would be the usual 7:30am – 3pm day.
Well, Natalie never returned at 3pm that day – later, I came to find out that Natalie jetted off to London for a night to meet up with Jason. It was Jason’s birthday on Thursday and Natalie wanted to make sure they were able to spend it together.
I obviously would’ve loved to hang out with my Jason on his birthday; however, I can’t go on jets (which is why I got to spend 9 nights and 10 days on the Queen Mary 2 when we first came over here). Instead, I stayed in Switzerland and played with my buddies at Truffes and Co. I would just have to celebrate with Jason that weekend.
According to Natalie’s account of her trip when she got home on Friday, Natalie took a flight out to London at 10:15 am on Thursday and was on English soil before noon.
The first thing Natalie did in London after checking in at the hotel and eating a few Laduree Macarons that Jason’s colleague, Janet, gave him for his birthday, was find a classic British Pub.
The British Pub Natalie decided on trying out was called the Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. This Pub received a lot of great reviews on Yelp and lucky for Natalie, it was within walking distance from the hotel. The hotel Natalie and Jason stayed at was called the Park Plaza County Hall and was in the Waterloo district.
(Front entrance of the Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese)
At the pub, Natalie had a fantastic beer and fish and chips that were flaky, crunchy and moist all at the same time!
While enjoying good food and drink at the pub, Natalie worked on her French and continued her reading of a very interesting, yet spooky book called The Historian.
Afterwards, Natalie made her way to Starbucks to get her usual double-tall-nonfat-dry cappuccino. Unfortunately, Natalie and Jason are not able to visit Starbucks much in Geneva due to the cost and, also, there is something that does not taste quite right about Natalie’s preferred style of cappuccino in Geneva. Therefore, Natalie made it a point to go to Starbucks a number of times in London and get her favorite drink and for a reasonable price!
During the afternoon and early evening, which was pleasantly cool and breezy, Natalie wandered around London, got lost a few times, took the tube once and finally ended up at a cupcake shop, which was right in the middle of what appeared to be the Theatre district.
The cupcake was ‘okay,’ but it was nice to taste that familiar icing, consisting of powdered sugar, butter, vanilla and milk. This type of icing is quite popular in the U.S. and apparently in Britain, as well.
(Natalie's cupcake with sprinkles and the deliciously sweet vanilla icing!)
After Natalie’s cupcake tasting, there were still a couple of hours before Jason would be off of work. Natalie had already enjoyed her fill of beer, good food, coffee and dessert and she needed to work off some of this food and drink before dinner. Therefore, Natalie went for a walk along the Jubilee Gardens where she watched street performers play music, juggle, and entertain the crowds of people spending time in the Gardens. Natalie also discovered the ‘London Eye.’
The London Eye is a very large ‘ferris wheel’ and has what look like capsules attached to it instead of the usual ferris wheel carriages. These capsules are constantly moving at a very slow pace and picking up passengers along the way. Even though Natalie didn’t ride the London Eye, she could only imagine the view the passengers experienced when they reached the top of this ‘ferris wheel.’
(View of the 'London Eye' from the ground)
(The London Eye with the passenger 'capsules')
After gawking at the London Eye for a bit, Natalie made her way across the Westminster Bridge where she got some great views and pictures of Big Ben.
(A view of Big Ben before Natalie crossed the Westminster Bridge)
(Big Ben up close!)
Finally, after enough walking and exploring for one day, Natalie settled herself down at St. James Park, which is just a short walk past the Westminster Bridge, and read The Historian until it was time to walk back to the hotel and meet Jason.
Since it was Jason’s birthday on Thursday and since Jason is a huge fan on Indian food (as am I), Jason and Natalie went to a restaurant called Tamarind for dinner and to celebrate his birthday.
Overall, Natalie and Jason thought that the food was excellent, from the homemade Naan bread (which Natalie and Jason could watch being made from their seat in the restaurant) to the highlight of the evening, the Gosht Dum Biryani. The Gosht Dum Biryani dish consisted of lamb, basmati rice, browned onions, herbs, rose water, ground spices and saffron - all of which was sealed off with a pastry lid.
The service at the restaurant was a little too overwhelming; however, it was a very nice meal and Natalie and Jason would definitely go back.
On Friday, Natalie and Jason’s last day in London, Jason went into work for a bit and Natalie went for a run. In Natalie’s mind, one of the best ways to see a large part of a city in a short period of time is to run through it. London was no exception.
During Natalie’s hour of running, she got to run through all of St. Jame’s Park, run by Buckingham Palace, run up Constitution Hill, which is right next to Green Park, run under the Wellington Arch, and jog for a bit in the peaceful Hyde Park.
To avoid the potential of getting lost in this exciting city, Natalie took the same route back to the hotel and, overall, had a thoroughly enjoyable time seeing these famous sites. Afterwards, as a reward for her running efforts, Natalie treated herself to yet another Starbucks cappuccino and a lemon poppy-seed muffin.
After about an hour or so of airplane delays, Natalie and Jason finally made it home to Geneva and picked me up from DDC that evening! I was quite excited to see them and definitely a bit tired after two solid days of playing.
We arrived home to Chevrens from DDC; however, we were there for just a few minutes to pick up some cookies and a cake Natalie had made. I was confused and wondered why I had to get back in the car again when I just wanted to sleep on the couch; however, confusion (and a little irritation) quickly turned into elation a couple of short hours later when I found myself surrounded by the mountains and smells that indicated there was much digging to be had.
The town we landed in was Gryon, which is located in the Swiss Alps. We were staying at Silvio and Christianne’s place in Gryon and would be spending Friday evening and Saturday with them, plus (to my added surprised and benefit) Vicky and Eliot!
After cake and cookies on Friday evening, we all retired to bed in anticipation of an exciting day on Saturday and sure enough, Saturday did not disappoint.
That morning, Christianne showed Natalie the village and the boulangerie in Gryon and Jason, Silvio, Vicky, Eliot and me all made our way to Silvio and Christianne’s chalet, which is a healthy descent from the home we were all staying in.
While Jason helped Silvio with some maintenance for the chalet, I discovered some of the best digging of my life in the forest nearby.
Between the three of us dogs, we managed to enthusiastically build some crater-like holes in the earth and also sufficiently cover ourselves with the earth. In fact, at one point we were all digging with so much effort that Vicky lost her footing (or would you say ‘paw-ing’) and came rolling over the top of me.
I didn’t mind – I understand passion when I see it and Vicky has an unparalleled passion for digging. We got up, shook ourselves off and continued our excavation efforts.
(Digging with Vicky and Eliot....I'm there, just well camouflaged!)
(Vicky wearing the results of her digging efforts)
Natalie and Christianne eventually made it down the hill and lunch was served shortly thereafter. For lunch, all the humans got to eat sausages, ribs, salad, chips and dessert. The three of us canines took a break from our activities and joined the humans in hopes for some scraps.
(Lunch break! It was necessary after all that digging!)
After more digging, a little more chalet maintenance and a coffee break, we all headed up the steep hill to the house, cleaned up and rested after a long day outside.
(The three of us taking a break at Silvio and Christianne's place)
That evening, Christianne, Silvio, Eliot and Vicky headed back to Chevrens, because Christianne had to work the next morning.
Jason, Natalie and I stayed at Christianne and Silvio’s very comfortable place and had a restful dinner in the Gryon village.
We slept in on Sunday morning. After slowly packing up and leaving this relaxing, mountain home, we found ourselves enjoying a fabulous brunch and very pleasant weather on the patio of a restaurant called ‘Cookie,’ which is also in Gryon.
Natalie and Jason both started off with freshly made juices. Natalie had ‘straight-up’ apple juice and Jason had apple juice mixed with pineapple and mint. For breakfast, Jason had a sampling of items, which included fruit, muesli and pancakes and Natalie just had the pancakes. Both were delicious!
We all arrived home in Chevrens in the mid-afternoon and had just enough time to take a short nap and refresh ourselves before we’d be heading out for the evening.
In celebration of Jason’s birthday week, Natalie bought tickets for all of us to enjoy an evening Croisières gastronomique on Lake Geneva (aka ‘Lac Leman.’)
The cruise departed from the Jardin Anglais in downtown Geneva at 6:45 pm and would return there at 10:00 pm after slowly sailing its way to Nyon and back.
Once aboard the ‘Savoie’ ship, Natalie and Jason were served a 3-course gourmet meal while sailing around on beautiful Lake Geneva. I, of course, had to beg for bits and pieces of their meal, which included an aromatic seafood starter that included lobster, lamb chops and a buttery couscous for the main course, and a variety of desserts incorporating in-season apricots as the sweet finale to the meal.
(A view of the ship from inside the restaurant)
After a thoroughly enjoyable dinner, we all sat out on the deck of the ‘Savoie,’ relaxed after a very busy weekend, and watched the sunset.
(A view of the lake and mountains from our ship!)
(Checking out the water wishing I could jump in it!)
It is times like these and adventures like the ones I experienced this week that make me ‘pinch’ myself occasionally (I can’t really pinch myself, but, you know what I mean).
It still amazes me that I really do live in this beautiful country with the crystal clear lake literally at the tip of my paws, majestic Alps just a short drive away, and the never-ending sights and smells of Geneva and its surrounding countryside just outside my doorstep.
Paws,
Sabrina
No comments:
Post a Comment