This weekend we enjoyed our first official outing together since arriving in Geneva. Dave found a website outlining the 32 most enjoyable hikes in Switzerland. The first one was calling our name (“Swiss Wine Hike”), a day hike through the Lavaux Vineyard Terraces on the shores of Lake Geneva. We took roughly an hour train ride to the small town of St. Saphorin. The plan was to hike 11K to the town of Lutry and train back home. Once we arrived it was like being transported back hundreds of years. As you can see from the pictures below, the villages were quaint, the vineyards were lush, and views were awe-inspiring. We couldn’t wait to do some tasting…the only problem is that nothing was open to taste! Out of the 5 or 6 villages and dozens of wine caves, only 2 or 3 of them actually opened that day and only during the evening hours (we arrived at noon ready for business!). Unfortunately we found all this out slowly throughout the day and ended up making it to only one tasting room. Regardless, the wine we did try was pretty delicious and the wine maker was very hospitable. Dave was even able to speak a little French to him, telling him the wine was très bien (very good), at which the wine maker smiled (perhaps he understood, perhaps he was just being polite). In the end it was a fun first adventure for us and great exercise climbing up and down the rolling vineyard hills.
Speaking of pleasant encounters, we are continually amazed by all the friendly people over here. It’s not just new acquaintances, it’s pretty much everyone we interact with. One of our favorite things to do thus far is go out to the local farmers market in the park right outside of our place. Even after we ask the vendors parlez-vous anglais (do you speak English) and clearly establish that we are not from around here with our dumbfounded looks when they try to speak French back to us, they just smile warmly as we fumble our way through the transaction and say merci beaucoup, au revoir (thank you very much, goodbye). We bought some snowshoes for Dave off of our local Craigslist-type site, and when we met up with the seller we immediately hit it off and are going to have a drink with him this week. At the fireworks show we met a nice couple that invited us over the next day and offered to loan us several hiking maps and a DVD player. What a blessing to help us settle in and feel more comfortable and at home in our new city.
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