une journée avec Mme. Canada et les alps

There are definate advantages when traveling and spending time with relatives, local to the region in which one may be traveling. Aside from the obvious place to stay, and break from wearing a money belt at all times (including to sleep at night), it is a valuable way to gain insight into the culture.

For the past few days Stephanie and I have had the sheer pleasure of staying with a dear relative of mine, Mary in Genéve (or for the English speaking folk out there Geneva) in Switzerland. She has been a delightful hostess, a chef extraordinaire and a great person to converse with. It has been a much needed and very restful point in my journey.

Today we went to the local market with Mary. Now I am a great lover of markets at home, so it comes as no surprise that I fell in love with this market today. With many stops to purchase fresh produce, fresh olives, fresh fish, not-so-fresh smelling cheeses, it was entertaining to stand back and watch as Mary greeted the vendors who have become her friends over years of purchasing their goods. My favourite was a sixty year old woman who greeted her with the local greeting of three kisses, alternating from one cheek to the other and then with a loud "bonjour Madame Canada". I laughed at this greeting, and Mary later informed me they have such difficulty pronouncing her last name (Honderich, which we share, and to which I can attest people often mispronounce), that she is now fondly known as Mme. Canada. It was wonderful walking home from the market with bags full of fresh goods, and makes me want to frequent the market at home on a more regular basis.

The second part of our day worthy of note is when we took a cable car up a local mountain. This three minute journey lifted us high enough to create a spectacular view of the city, the lake and of course the surrounding Swiss Alps. It was a clear sunny day and the atmposhere was breathtaking. After a short walk around we took a rest on a bench to eat our ice cream. Now I assure you I was fully satisfied and in need of nothing else... when a small group walked past us with HUGE backpacks on. They stopped on what we had decided was a "high altitude" driving range, which in fact turned out to be a launch pad. They were hang glidding from the mountain right in front of us!!! It was a real treat to have stumbled upon that, so unplanned yet a moment that made both of us feel alive as we watched them gracefully soar through the air before our eyes.

Unfortunately our Swiss visit will come to a close tomorrow morning as we catch the train to Venice. We have been told this is a beautiful journey by train right through the Alps and into Italy, so I am looking forward to it immensely, which also means I should have been asleep long ago.

For now, au revoir