This is what happens when Daniel makes the bed. Winnie gets his eyes gouged out by cute, chubby Mr. Walrus. I digress. On to the real blog post.
On Tuesday we crossed the border into Switzerland and drove into Geneva. Geneva is only 45 minutes from Annecy. First we visited the Reformation Wall. I would not have known about if not for Dad's recommendation that we stop by and get some photos.
From Wikipedia: The Wall is in the grounds of the University of Geneva, which was founded by John Calvin, and was built to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Calvin's birth and the 350th anniversary of the university's establishment. It is built into the old city walls of Geneva, and the monument's location there is designed to represent the fortifications', and therefore the city of Geneva's, integral importance to the Reformation.
Unfortunately I could not get a very good photo of the large inscription on the wall: POST TENEBRAS LUX (AFTER THE DARKNESS, LIGHT)
That was the motto of the Protestant Reformation.
"Dear Lord, please bless me so that I might receive a multitude of applesauce packets soon."
He must have received an affirmative response to his petition.
"1.......6.......0........2"
Must have a photo in front of the famous flower clock in Geneva. We wandered over to the huge geyser, for which Geneva is also famous, but it was turned off.
Tuesday was a cold, windy day, so we were thrilled when we happened upon this Moroccan restaurant.
The couscous was amazing, even more so because we were hungry and cold. And I could finally communicate with someone! I had fun speaking Arabic with the Moroccan family who own and run the restaurant.
Later that afternoon we left Geneva and drove to Nyon to visit one of Sam's former roommates. I was elated to get out of Geneva. I have driven in countless cities in many countries, and never have I driven in a more confusing city. It was a miracle that we did not get in an accident or run over a bicyclist. I do not have the words to describe driving in Geneva. Just go there and experience it, and then you will understand.
Marine (Sam's former roommate) was still at work when we arrived in Nyon, so we all took a nap in the car and then played at a nearby park for a while.
Marine took us to pick up two delicious pizzas and we went back to her place to eat and chat. The salad was awesome as well. By 9:00pm we (mainly Douglas and Daniel) were getting tired, and we still had a long drive to Bern, so we departed Nyon and hit the road once again. We arrived at the Bern Temple housing and finally made it to bed just after midnight. We were exhausted.
Wednesday morning was frosty (in the mid-30s), but sunny. I was grateful as I needed a good photo or two of the temple. I got up early to do some work in the temple before I would switch out with Sam. Fortunately, the kind temple workers let me slip in to do some initiatory work until the patrons on the schedule showed up. They performed the work in Italian (one of the three official languages of Switzerland) and gave me the English card to follow along.
Normally one must check out of the Bern Temple housing by 8:00am, but the nice cleaning lady told us she would clean our room last and she let us stay until noon. She knew we had come in late. Cute little Douglas is also good to help convince people of our plight.
While Sam was inside (doing a session) I played with Douglas and took him outside to give him more practice taking photos. He is improving. In the photo above I was trying to get him to tilt the camera up a bit.
On my way back to provide more instruction.
Ta da! He figured it out.
Honestly, my Bern Temple experience wasn't the greatest. I was exhausted from a late night and Doogles waking up all night long, but we did it. In fact, Wednesday was simply one of those bad days you have now and then.......but it ended well. Remember up above when I said that it was a miracle I didn't get in an accident in Geneva? Well, I did hit someone Wednesday night. We drove three hours from Bern to Gries, a small town/village just north of Strasbourg, where we had booked a room (it's actually half of a house) on Airbnb. Wednesday evening we went out to pick up some Chinese food. When we arrived at the restaurant I backed up to let another vehicle leave the parking lot, but I backed up too much. I didn't see the car behind me. We thought the damage would be bad (the bump sounded bad), but when we got out and examined both vehicles, there was no damage at all (maybe a minuscule scratch or two on the headlight covers of the lady's car). Another small miracle, you might say. We couldn't communicate much with the lady (Mrs. Schuster), but Sam understood that she was asking us to follow her back to her nearby home where her husband was located. She wanted to make sure that everything was indeed in good condition.
We arrived at Mrs. Schuster's home just as her son, who spoke decent English, and his wife and boy arrived at the home. They live one hour away from Gries and they were paying an unexpected visit to his parents. Another small miracle. After ensuring that her vehicle was fine, we were invited inside for some drinks and snacks. Kind Mrs. Schuster even brought out some little sausages and made sure that Douglas was happy. Douglas had no clue what happened and he was in his naturally-goofy state throughout the evening. The family loved him. We spent about an hour chatting with them and we found out that they had been to Las Cruces, New Mexico, to visit a great aunt years ago before she passed away. The great aunt and her husband both served as US Air Force pilots in WWII. When we told the family that we are from Utah, they knew exactly where it is located. I have found in all my travels that foreigners rarely ever know that Utah is one of the United States.
We eventually exchanged information, thanked the Schuster family for their hospitality and invited them to visit us in Utah, and said our goodbyes. We were blessed yet again.
"I wonder when Mom will get out of the shower."
"Yeah, she's out! We can eat!" This was the breakfast we were served this morning before going into Strasbourg to explore.
We drove into Strasbourg and visited the Notre Dame Cathedral, which is one of the most-visited cathedrals in France (second only to the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, which Sam tells me is smaller than the cathedral in Strasbourg).
Impressive structure
This guy was playing the cello when we arrived.
Gutenberg Plaza. The statue in the background is dedicated to Johannes Gutenberg, who invented the printing press.
The inscription on the proof sheet for his bible says "Et la lumière fut," which means "And there was light" in French (Genesis 1:3)
Wandering around the Petite France section of Strasbourg. Douglas appears to be making the "u" sound because in this photo he is finishing saying "BYU".
Back to the cathedral, this time with a different Frenchman (cigarette in mouth) playing the cello.
Douglas enjoyed the music, as you can see in the video below.
Inside the Strasbourg Cathedral
Pretty cool organ pipes
Two funny stories about Doogles:
For months I have been asking Doogles who he would like to say the prayer whenever a prayer is needed (beginning and end of the day, over the food, etc.). Most of the time he picks Mom, so I usually form the question as follows: "Douglas, I have a very important question for you." [At this point he gets a big smile on his face.] "Do you want Dad to say the prayer, or do you want Dad to say the prayer?" Normally he replies quickly with "Mom!"
This morning he surprised me after we read scriptures. He got on my lap, looked in my face and said something like "Dad, impotant queston for you. You want Mom to say prayer, or Mom to say prayer?" Wow, that cracked me up.
Second story:
We are trying to teach Douglas proper English as he grows. Whenever he is looking for his water (or anything else) he says, "Where my water is?" I need to get it on video, because every time I hear him say that, it makes me think of a little black boy asking for his water. I always reply with "Where IS my water," with heavy emphasis on the "IS," but Doogles knows I think his "little black boy" question is funny, so he usually repeats his grammatically-erroneous request. Is this paragraph racist?
By the way, lest anyone think that this vacation has been all pink roses and pretty ponies, it has not. We have been together for over one month (in foreign countries!). Family vacation for over one month? Need I say more?
The End
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