The first hitch started with their flight from SF to Frankfurt getting cancelled. Gotta love the airlines. Luckily they found out before they go to the airport, and were able to re-route themselves on another flight through DC. So they ended up getting to Geneva about 5 hours later than expected, but were still in good spirits, even with the jetlag. Knowing it was going to be a long flight for them, we kept things simple their first night, catching up, showing them our apartment, and cooking dinner at home.
Their 1st day in Geneva, I took them on the tram to Carouge to walk around the cute town for a bit. Unfortunately, in typical Swiss fashion, most of the shops were closed, and it was still too cold for any outdoor seating. So we walked around and then decided to head back to Geneva. We walked through the Parc des Bastions to see the Reformation Wall. Then strolled around Old Town, up the cobblestone streets, past the antique stores, and stopped at the St. Pierre Cathedral before heading toward Rive for lunch. We went to one of my favorite places, Le Pain Quotidien, for tasty open faced sandwiches and salads.
After a long leisurely lunch, we walked towards Eaux-Vives to stop by Travers' office, then onto the quai to see the Jet d'eau and the lake. Since they were still a bit jet-lagged, we headed back towards home, stopping at the Coop (local grocery store) for some cheese and crackers to have as an appetizer before dinner. Dad took a nap, and mom and I relaxed and chatted. 
A few hours later, when Travers got home, we had a little happy hour at the house before heading into Old Town for dinner at Cafe du Bourg de Four, a restaurant that Travers and I have wanted to go to for awhile. We were not disappointed. The food was delicious, the service was friendly, and the atmosphere was lively but not too loud. Its great to have a new restaurant to add to our list of favorites. After dinner, we stopped in at a bar in Old Town called 22 Grand Rue for an after dinner drink, before heading home for everyone to get some much needed sleep.
Saturday we got up and out the door early (for a saturday) and headed to the train station to go to Nyon, and then to take a boat to Yvoire. We got to Nyon, strolled through the town which had a farmer's market on the main street, then walked through the castle that sits on top of the hill and overlooks the rest of town and the lake. After finding our way down to the water, we had some cappuccinos at an outdoor cafe and waited for the next boat to take us to Yvoire. When the time came for the next boat, we bought our tickets and waited. And waited. And waited. Realizing that the boat was not coming when it was scheduled (this being very strange because the Swiss are very prompt with their public transportation), we did some more research on the schedules posted, and called the help line that was listed. All to find out that the boats did not run on Saturdays during the month of February. Who knew!
So we changed our plans quickly, and headed back to the train station to continue up to Lausanne. M&D had been to Lausanne before about 20 years earlier, so were excited to see what they could remember from that trip. We caught the train, and then the metro up the hill to see the Cathedral of Lausanne, which gave us wonderful views of the city and lake below. After realizing they didn't remember anything about Lausanne, we headed down through the Old Town, which also had a farmer's market going on, and found a crowded cafe for a late lunch. My dad and I each had a traditional swiss dish called Croute, which comes in a small crockpot with cheese, ham, and toasted bread all melted together, topped off with a fried egg. Delicious! We called it a day and headed back to Geneva to get some rest before our evening plans began. We made another tasty dinner at home that evening, then our friend Mike came over, and the five of us headed to our friends, Jasmine and Chris' house for their going away party. They were moving to London in a few days, so they had a "garage sale" for all the things they couldn't take with them, and a party to say good bye to all their friends. M&D were happy to meet everyone, and see who we had been hanging out with these past several months. Everyone was getting along so we decided to play a game of Celebrity to top the night off. (If you want to know how to play, let me know and I'll send you the "rules"). Needless to say, it was an exciting game, and made the night go much later than anticipated. But everyone had a fun time and we all got to sleep in a bit the next morning.
Sunday was spent packing and travelling. My dad had a work conference in Barcelona the next week, so my mom and I tagged along with him and I left Travers on his own for a whole week. We caught a flight on EasyJet mid-day Sunday, and checked into an apartment in Barcelona a few hours later. Gotta love Easy Jet and the convenience of flying between countries in Europe. I think M&D got to see a lot of Geneva, but I was happy they were returning at the end of their trip for a couple days before flying home, so they could see even more.
Barcelona and rest of their trip to be continued....
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