This past weekend was not only the perfect fall weekend, but also a refreshing and defining “Geneva weekend.” Starting with an epic Muzy bonding night in the basement and continued at Java, our first Geneva club experience, and ending in the Lavaux vineyards today—this weekend couldn’t have been any better.
After a completely lazy Saturday, which was much needed after an endless first week at our respective internships, Danny, Steph, Mags, Emma, and I hosted a scrumptious American-style brunch on Saturday morning. We might as well have called it lunch seeing as we didn’t get started until noon. Our first course was prepared by Steph and was the most delicious caramelized apple and Brie omelette. Yum. Next came the preparation of my contribution—Mom’s famous Blueberry Buckle. Conversions were tricky and I definitely made up my own crumble recepie but it turned out divine. The smell filled the kitchen and I felt like I was waking up the morning after Prom or some other high school event where everyone stayed over at our house afterwards. The smell also made me nostalgic for May Birthdays and other family functions when Buckle and/or coffee cake is essentially a requirement. While that was in the oven, Mags and Emma concocted delicious French toast on a fresh, French loaf of bread. We even managed to scrounge up some maple syrup. Yum again. Finally the buckle was ready and we literally attacked the pan with our forks. Community buckle for the win. We devoured the whole thing, after having planned on sharing “leftovers” with late morning straglers. So much for that plan! Yum yet again. By this time it was nearing 3pm. Where had the day gone?! We quickly dressed and met down to continue what will now be referred to as “Learning to Love Geneva Day.”
Personally, I would reclassify this as a “re-learning” day for me, seeing as I have never doubted this city, but have also had the opportunity to explore a lot of the surrounding area due to art history. Nonetheless, since the majority of our party (Steph, Mags, and Danny) classified Saturday as the above name, we’ll reference that title from here on out. After a pit stop at our favorite little café around the corner from Muzy (to pick up coffee, NOT more pastries or other delicious food items that reside in the walls of this café), we hopped on the 8 bus and reached the end of Saturday’s line by Nations. While we have inhabited Geneva for nearly 2 months now, we all loved playing tourist and snapping the UN flag, emblem, and broken chair pictures as we made our way down to the botanical gardens. From there, we couldn’t get enough of the changing fall leaves that were everywhere to be seen. We kicked, threw, and crunched our way all the way to the various green houses (note to self: do not attempt to take pictures in the tropical fruit/climate green house…also, you will not last more than 2 minutes in that place, get out while you can!) and an “artery” park that is home to a party carousel and various exotic birds and foreign animals. While we were looking/talking to a young fawn, the cutest grandparent couple approached with their blond haired granddaughter, who of course had the most adorable jacket and pink bow in her hair. All in French of course, the grandmother described to her granddaughter why the fawn’s nose quiverd and why his ears perked up so quickly. Definitely a touching moment that made me wish I was with my grandparents or had a little munchkin with me to explain the “little things” to about animals. Adorable moment to add to the day. By this point we were starting to fade and so was the sun. We made our way across the stree to our final destination of the Garden Observatory down by the lake. We “ooed” and “ahhhed” at the red and golden ivy-clad manor that overlooked the lake. After snapping what was probably our 100th picture of the changing colored leaves, we finally made our way back to central Geneva where we picked up some apple juice that would quickly be heated up upon return to Muzy, poured in mugs, and carried down to the lake and sipped on as we watched another incredible sunset over the Jura mountains and Lac Leman. When we were thinking our night couldn’t get much better, we came home and watched Crazy Stupid Love as a nightcap. While this time we weren’t “oohing” and “ahhing” over the beautiful, Fall leaves we all definitely “oohed” and “ahhed” over Ryan Gosling! The movie was entertaining and the perfect way to end a perfect, Autumn Saturday.
Sunday was yet another magical day in Switzerland. We had an early morning that started off with a brisk walk to the train station followed by an hour train ride into the Vaud region, more specifically the Lavaux vineyard region. We had been told to prepare for a 20-30 minute walk to the Daley vineyard after disembarking the train but let me tell you—none of us were prepared for the hike UPHILL that seemed like we were climbing Everest. The vineyards of Lavaux have been there since the 13th Century and literally cover any and all ground in the surrounding area, regardless of how steep they are. We definitely experienced this first hand. However, none of us were complaining when we were greeted by Jean-Christophe Piccard, our host and resident winemaker, and his adorable dog Dartagnan. We wandered the vineyards as JC made final preparations for our tasting. After a tour of , we were all cozied up in the cellar area of JC’s home where we sat on wooden stools around three wooden tables. In total throughout the day, we sampled 6 varieties of wine all from the Piccard vineyards—a vineyard that is currently in its 4th Generation within the family. Our sampling menu in order of consumption:
(1) Unfiltered, 3 week old Chasselas--for the upcoming line of production
(2) 2010 Lavaux Grand Cru, Dalley Villette, Chasselas
(3) 2009 Charmillon - Pinot Noir, Gamay and Garanoir blend
(4) 2009 Alunisense Plant-Robert
(5) 2009 Trait D'Union
(6) Fantasie d'Automne
We were all feel pretty good after these generous "samples" and the snacks were much appreciated! We all left in the cheeriest moods and in love with the Daley vineyards. To bring an end to our day, we spent an hour and a half walking along the lake back to Lausanne where we boarded the train back to Geneva. All in all, this has been one of the most laid back, cultural, and best all around weekends abroad. Getting to spend time with the majority of our group and enjoying the incredibly lucky fall weather we have been enjoying was priceless. Everyone bonded on a whole other level and conversations were had with people I haven't gotten the chance to have "real talks" with. Definitely a win of a weekend, and the wine wasn't half bad either :)
so beautiful! loving the fall colors
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