All Around Geneve, All by Myself (Europe #4)

Welcome back to my Europe photo series!

On our second day in Geneve, Joanna headed out to her conference in the dress she bought downtown.

My first job of the day was go to the airport to retrieve our checked luggage that missed our connection, and then go downtown to pick up the presentation poster that we had reprinted. We got an early start.

I bought an apple tartelette from a kiosk in the train station for breakfast.

Finally at the airport - but now I had to get my huge suitcase and her heavy backpack back to the hotel! Some of the trains have steep steps up into the cars. I managed to lift them up one step, then tip them backward and slide in the rest of the way. Ouch! When I got off later, two men who had been watching me kindly offered to lift it down. I was so grateful. Merci!

I hauled the luggage back to our hotel, fished out Joanna's presentation materials and clothes, and headed back downtown to pick up her poster at the print shop.

However... the print shop clerk who had promised it would be done by 11 AM could not find the finished product. Then he remembered that he had sent it out to another shop across town that did not do Saturday deliveries and would not open until noon. Oy. Oh, and he couldn't communicate that to me in English. Fortunately, a customer translated for him, and explained to me how to get to the other print shop. Then, when she saw me walking the wrong direction several minutes later, she ran after me and put me on the right tram. She was an angel named Antonia.

I had to wait for the print shop to open, so I stopped in at the McDonald's next door for a bite to eat. Not exactly authentic Swiss food, but...

I did notice this billboard in a train station later. Have you ever heard of a quinoa curry burger at McDonald's? Me neither.

After I got the poster, I jumped back on the train north to Webster University to find Joanna at her conference.

And now I could go have some adventures!

First, I went to Basilique Notre-Dame in downtown Geneve near the main train station.

I love love love cathedrals and stained glass windows! Heavenly!

Beautiful! 

Then I got on a tram to go to the old city where Joanna and I had explored the day before. My only problem is that I got on it going the wrong way, and ended up here at the United Nations. That was a serendipitous mistaken, since I otherwise would not have seen it!

A unique sculpture in front of the UN, The Broken Chair, was created by Daniel Berset to remind the world of the plight of landmine victims. You can read more here.

Near the UN building is the UNHCR facility. That's stands for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. That sure is an issue in Europe! I wish every refugee could find a safe and prosperous home, either in a host country or in their own restored homeland. 

Somewhere along the way, I discovered that I had lost my wallet! Oh no! Fortunately, I had an extra cash card in my passport belt, so I had a way to pay for things. It is an American Express Bluebird card that I bought at Walmart. You pay a small setup fee, and then you can reload it at Walmart or using your bank card on-line without paying more. I used it on our summer road trip, too. 

But now, instead of exploring more, I needed to backtrack and look for my wallet. This is what I used at McDonald's and the print shop. No luck. But I'm still so thankful for the ability to translate into French quickly using my phone! I used that function many many times, even though most people speak at least a little English. I even went back to Notre Dame where, despite that fact that a wedding was just about to start, the officiating priest insisted on looking in the lost and found box for me. Such sweet people!

Those posts are road blockades. But the unique thing is that they can automatically descend back into the ground if a qualified vehicle needs to get through.

I really wanted to buy a Huguenot cross while in Europe, since some of my ancestors were French Huguenots. I found this one at the Reformation Museum but they couldn't take my Bluebird card for payment. That happened a few times. So I didn't get the cross. Maybe I'll order one.

I had really wanted to visit Saint-Pierre, the beautiful Protestant cathedral where Calvin preached hundreds of years ago, but it had closed early for a wedding.

I was too busy to stop for another meal since I wanted to get to Webster University to see Joanna's poster presentation. So I grabbed a blueberry muffin at a stand along the way. I lost track of how many croissants, tartelettes, pain de chocolat, and other yummy baked goods I bought while in Switzerland and France.

At the mental health conference, the poster presentations were underway when I arrived. The posters were displayed on walls around the room, and participants could walk around to hear the individual presentations and ask questions one on one.

Joanna's presentation was on using Emoji-grams in Multigenerational Households. She uses a magnetic board with emoji magnets on it in her therapy sessions. Her clients can choose which emojis best express their emotions at the moment. Or they can choose emojis to describe their relationships with members of their households. The wide variety and the hands on component make this more effective than using a typical feelings chart.

When the conference was over for the evening, we went out to dinner with a UCF counseling professor and his wife (also an academic) and two UCF doctoral students. What a wonderful conversation!

And such good food! I loved the beef cannelloni!

A bit of good news! When we arrived back at our hotel, we found a message that my wallet had been found and turned in at a downtown police station! Since my hotel key card was in the wallet, they knew where to call! Yay!

A great end to a great day!

God bless!
Virginia

My Europe posts so far:

#1: Off to Europe!
#2: Our First Afternoon in Geneve
#3: On the Shores of Lake Geneva
#4: All Around Geneve, All by Myself
#5: Sweet Sunday Morning in Geneve
#6: Saint-Pierre Cathedral
#7: Musée d'Art et d'Histoire
#8: On Our Way to the Swiss Alps
#9: O Little Town of Lauterbrunnen 
#10: Mürren and Gimmelwald by Cable Car
#11: Staubbachfall in Lauterbrunnen
#12: Foggy Days in Lauterbrunnen
#13: Trümmelbachfalle, Ten Waterfalls in a Big Swiss Cave
#14: St. Beatus Caves at Lake Thun in Switzerland
#15: An Evening in Bern