French Open Trip 2018 Day 3: Dinner with Uncle Felix
When we finally woke up this morning a little after 10 AM we weren't sure how long the sun was going to hold out. Although the weather called for a beautiful day the clouds looked menacing. Luckily by the time, we left our hotel room a little after 11 AM it had turned into a beautiful overcast day.
Our plans for Geneva were minimal. Walk around town, enjoy good food, and walk around town some more. What we've learned in our many years of traveling is that the first 2-3 days are the toughest for adjustment and so being in Geneva to start has been a godsend. It's such a beautiful, quiet, and peaceful city. It reminds us both a lot of the French coastal city of Nice. I could see why people would love living here.
Jenn found a coffee shop for us for our breakfast/lunch as we were both still relatively full from two big meals yesterday. I had a cappuccino and Jenn had a berry muffin. We sat on a bench and over the next couple of minutes were surrounded by a decently sized protest. The protest for lowering health care premiums (we learned thanks to Google Translate) in Switzerland had its own drum line. We sat and watched there first fifteen-minute song. A lady got on a loudspeaker after that and was saying things in French so we gave up and moved on.
For the next couple of hours, we just strolled through Geneva. There's a beautiful park right next to our hotel that has a 5km track that we walked along. There was just enough cloud cover to keep the temperatures mild and made for a glorious walk. We made our way through the park stopping to take pictures, sitting on park benches and just enjoying a beautiful day. Most days we like "activity" but I think this trip is all about enjoying the beautiful cities with less to do and more time to just take it all in.
We came back to our hotel room and napped for a couple of hours off and on before going back out for dinner. Jenn had been craving Italian food (no shock to anyone) so she found a restaurant called Milan about a 15-minute walk away. When we arrived the restaurant was just opening so we got a window table and were waited on by one of the jolliest gentlemen we've ever met. Instantly he reminded us both of Uncle Felix in Christmas in Connecticut. We started off with a glass of merlot and sharing a bowl of minestrone soup. We both had a tomato pasta dish, mine was spicy with a penne and Jenn's came with spaghetti.
After a great dinner with an amazing waiter, we took a nice leisurely stroll around town, taking one last view of the beautiful lake before turning it in for the evening. Although our time in Geneva is rapidly coming to a close, we went to sleep tonight knowing one thing for sure, that Switzerland remains one of the most beautiful countries we've ever visited.
