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| This is a picture of the hill and stairs that follow, but it doesn't look as bad as it was |
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| Luke found some cannons to play with |
Today was quite an adventure. I have finally mastered the
bus system (or at least I am proficient enough to go the right direction 98% of
the time). Luke and I got out of the house early, during the tail end of
commuter traffic. We jumped on our train, and Luke decided things were going to
go according to his plan today. That plan started out with fantastic fit… on a
full train! Unfortunately, our stop was about 25 minutes away. Now, no matter
who you are, when your kid has a fit in a crowded area, you feel like a
complete failure as a parent. Everyone looks at you like “why don’t you just
quiet that kid down?” Ya think? Sadly, Luke wouldn’t have any of it. I look
around and everyone was looking around for the mom who can’t keep her kid quiet
then discussing the failures of American parenting. At least that’s what I’m
thinking as they are all speaking in rapid French. Luckily, a nice man standing
near us began making faces at Luke and began consoling me in broken English.
Then the people sitting in front of us turned around and started talking to
Luke too. I love kind people. It makes life just a little more manageable.
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| We had some time before the church opened, so Luke enjoyed climbing |
Once we escaped the train, Luke was as happy as can be. So
was I until we encountered the steps to get to old town. UGG those steps. I
thought I had outsmarted the stairs by taking a certain train, but apparently
not. Still sweating from the train tantrum, I unloaded Luke, grabbed the diaper
bag and folded down the stroller. Luke and I trekked hand in hand to the top of
the 40 odd stairs, only to find a huge hill and another 30 stairs at the top.
Luckily a nice man offered to carry up the stroller for me up those final steps.
Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers! |
| Inside St. Pierre Cathedral |
We proceeded to tour the inside of the beautiful Saint
Pierre’s Cathedral, it is best known as the adopted home church of John Calvin,
one of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation. We contemplated climbing the
tower… but rationalized we already climbed enough stairs to get here and the 5
CHF (Swiss Franks about 1.15 to $1) was too much. That will be an excursion
with Daddy.
Luke and I then happened upon the Reformation Museum. I
stood looking in for a few seconds weighing the benefits of climbing stairs
again and learning the history, when another nice man offered to help me carry
up the stroller. I soon realized
he was one of the museum curators and then felt obligated to enter the museum.
I obviously didn’t think this one through because 15 minutes and 8 CHF later we
were rushing out of the museum. Luke apparently was NOT interested in learning
about the reformation and he wanted everyone to know via tantrum # 2 today.
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| The random book fair entrance we found |
We then made our way to the Maison Tavel which was an
interesting museum featuring home furnishings from the 1800’s, and the Magellan
Map. Luke was pleased with this decision, as there were many stairs for him to
climb sans stroller.
Upon escaping old town and the ridiculous stairs, we found a
juvenile book fair that is occurring all week. Luke had a lot of fun visiting
the different tents and looking through the books.
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| This doesn't do justice to the many many stairs we had to climb to get here |
Being the dutiful tourist that I am, I wanted to visit one
more site before we set home for an afternoon nap. I followed the map to the
location of the Musee d’Art et d’Histoire. Everything was going great until we
encountered those blasted stairs AGAIN!!! Once again, I unloaded Luke, picked
up the diaper bag, and folded the stroller and made the climb. Luke did pretty
well in the museum. We were able to enjoy one entire floor and 2 hallways on an
upper floor before he decided he had enough.
What a day… all before 13:00. We are having all sorts of adventures here in Geneva. It's tough and the stairs sure aren't easy, but we are so grateful for the opportunity.
Here are a few other random pictures from recent days.
Oh yes tantrums in a public place. I've decided that I will just have to ignore those who seem to have forgotten that children come with personalities all their own and that life can be frustrating to small children in a big grown up world. Plus, I sadly realize that as an adult when words just don't seem to convey my point, I'd like to have a tantrum. That said , I am enthralled by your grand adventures.
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