"SMURF VILLAGE" - Saturday, May 9th -

This is a fanciful apartment complex that we eventually discovered is close to our apartment in Geneva. The Jarvises called it "Smurf Village" - not the official name! Notice the variety of colors and different shapes of the windows. Fun and Unique!

VILLA DIODATI - May 9, 2009 -

For our couples outing this Saturday, we went to Villa Diodati - very beautiful and picturesque! It is located in Cologny, an area known as the "Beverly Hills of Switzerland." Lord Byron stayed for a period of time. Mary Shelley lived in a place close to the Villa. They were good friends. The story goes that they challenged each other to see which one of them could come up with the scariest story first. Mary Shelley won! She wrote Frankenstein!

Theater Near Villa Diodati -

In the area near the Villa, there was a theater. Can you find the arrow that points to the entrance? A charming place for a theater!

LAKE GENEVA - Views by Villa Diodati -

There are many beautiful views around Lake Geneva. It was fun to be able to see the United Nations buildings on the other side of the lake. Delightful!

Can you see the jet of water shooting up from the lake? This is called the Jet d'eau. It is a well known symbol of Geneva near the city center. Beautiful!

MEYRIN - CITY WALKS - May -

We decided to vary our daily walks by exploring the city of Meyrin. It was interesting and fun!

FRANKFORT GERMANY - May 5-6, 2009

It was off to Frankfort, Germany for meetings with the Government Relations Missionaries, European Area Legal Council, and the Church European Area Presidency. We drove with George and Kathryn Jarvis, and had a wonderful time together. The meetings were very informative and useful to us.

We were able to see and spend some time with our good friends, Leonard and Kathryn Romney, who are doing the same thing we are in Brussels, Belgium with the Eurpean Union. After all of our meetings we over on the last day, some of us went to dinner at a very nice German restaurant. Great ambiance and delicious food!

Restaurant picture - from left around the table: George and Kathryn Jarvis - our mentors, Us, Joan and Jim Stevens - mentors to the Romneys, John Zacrison - Church Legal Council, Kathryn and Leonard Romney.

MEYRIN - FROM OUR WINDOW - May 2009

We loved the splendor of our country views! We felt as though we were on an island of apartment buildings surrounded by the countryside! Fantastic!

Can you see the tractor plowing the fields?

COUNTRY WALKS IN MEYRIN - May -

How we loved seeing the bright, yellow fields of coza flowers on our walks! Canola oil is made from these beautiful flowers. Looking out the plane's window when we were flying into Geneva, we saw a spectacular view of the many bright, yellow fields of coza scattered here and there among the green and brown fields, like an enormous patchwork quilt. It was a splendid sight!

On our country walks we also enjoyed walking through the green fields and wooded areas. We had wonderful views of some mountians that were in the area, as well. It was all very picturesque!

QUAINT LITTLE VILLAGE - May

There was a quaint little village down a small country road, behind some trees, that we enjoyed walking through. It made us feel like we were going back in time, except for the cars that were parked here and there. Notice the public water fountain where the villagers can get a fresh drink of water. These are common throughout Switzerland. Charming!

View from Mount Le' Saleve - Saturday, May 2nd

Another couple's outing on Saturday to Mount Le' Saleve. It turned to be a comedy of errors, as we had a difficult time finding the road to the mountain - even with a GPS system! Anyway we finally found our way to the top! I have only one photo to show for our efforts - a fabulous view of the valley below! It was a fun adventure!

We rushed back to get ready to go to a baptism. Two women and a man from Nigeria. It was wonderful to attend a missionary baptism. The spirit was strong and the whole meeting uplifting!

Richard Burton's Grave - May 1st

Some of us met Brother and Sister Mlotkiewicz, from Ireland, who showed us where Richard Burton, the famous actor, is buried. It is in a cemetary by the city of Celigny. A peaceful and serene setting.

A Walk and Ice Cream by Lake Geneva

After we had visited the cemetary, we walked along Lake Geneva by a park to a restaurant where we enjoyed ice cream and french fries. DELICIOUS!