Family time & gardens

This weekend Rebekah, Grace and Adam came to visit me in Geneva! This has been sometime I have looked forward to since, well, I found out they would be moving to Italy. They flew in Thursday and stayed in a cute little hotel very close to Lake Geneva. After work on Thursday, I took the tram into the city to see them. I introduced Rebekah to real Swiss cheese as we ate fondue at a local pub. It was so good to catch up!! Afterwards, we met Adam and Grace down by the lake. Grace seems so much bigger than I remember, but still acts the same. She was a little shy at first, but warmed up to me quickly. She is so cute when she answers my questions and says "Aunt Tay-tin!"

On Friday, I left work a little early to meet them back at their hotel. Rebekah and Adam were very generous to treat me to a hotel room too--a little mini vacation for me!

A panoramic view from my hotel window

We walked around Geneva a bit, sightseeing and catching up. We ate by the lake, with this view:

The Jet d'Eau at sunset

On Saturday morning, after a delicious breakfast of Nutella and (many) croissants, we took a bus to Geneva's botanical garden.

Wildflower at the Botanical Gardens

The Botanical Gardens was a great kid's place. Grace couldn't get enough of the fountains and the carousel, her two favorite things. 

Grace loves the water

 

Grace and I at the Botanical Gardens

After Grace's/mommy's/my nap, we decided to walk up to the cathedral that I visited last weekend. We also, of course, had to stop for another carousel. And more snacks: paninis and ice cream...yum! We spent some more time relaxing and talking by the lake before taking a taxi boat back to the hotel for the night. 

Rebekah, Grace, and Adam left early Sunday morning. I had such a great time with them! I loved our time together because I haven't seen them in so long, and we were having fun exploring a new place while having a relaxing vacation too. I have plans to see them again in August!! I am going to meet them in Venice the first weekend of August and then go to their house in Naples the next weekend. I am already looking forward to seeing them again! 

This morning I decided that I wasn't quite ready to leave Geneva. I took Rebekah's suggestion to visit the Parc de la Grange. I took a taxi boat across the lake, and found this beauty: 

Wow. I mean...wow. The pictures don't do the estate justice. This place is like straight out of a Jane Austen-like fairy tale. This is by far my most favorite thing I have seen yet in Geneva, it made me feel as if I time traveled into a different world. A world much prettier and more romantic. I spent a lot of time appreciating its beauty, which I think can be shown better through some pictures...

Not only was there a beautiful manor, the estate had a rose garden. I should say a rose jungle, actually, because it was more than just any old garden. It was gorgeous. (Mom, I wish you could have seen it. You would have loved it. None of the roses smelled quite as good as the bush in our front yard, though!)

This weekend was many things, and all of them are good. It was fun, happy, beautiful, new, exciting, relaxing,  refreshing, and much needed. Thank you, Cole family, for visiting! And thank you, Geneva, for being a wonderful city.