Days 1 - 3: G E N E V A

WE MADE IT!

Well, it was a huge plane as we made our way from TORONTO to AMSTERDAM. We were all pretty tired as we made our way to our seats and settled in for the ride. The food was something to be left behind and so was the movie (Monster In-Law). But otherwise, it was great as we got a good bit of shut eye!

We made the transition from Amsterdam to Geneva only to discover, upon our arrival in Geneva, that our bags didn't make the connection. Apparently this was not a new problem, according to ground staff, with the transfer from Amsterdam, but it sure was inconvenient! Long line to "claim" our bags (which were really barcodes) but the bags were already queued for another flight from AMS to GVA, thank goodness!

Now, we should let our readers know it was not just Suley & Julie this trip: this time, we had a family reunion in Geneva. So...at the house of Khalid and Caroline were: Julie & Suley, Ayda & Faruk (Suley's Mum and Dad), Joad (nephew of Suley), Selva (Ayda's sister / Suley's auntie). Yes, an interesting posse, to say the least. Luckily we arrived around mid-day so we just hitched a ride to Suley's uncle & auntie's house and immediately prepared to head downtown.

We arrived downtown just in time to enjoy: fête de genève. A celebration along the water causeway and a midway in the middle of town! It was hot, crowded and very lively! The thing about Geneva for Suley is Mortimers & Papier Gras. These are the two MUST stops in this town. Mortimers is a cafe in "old town" that serves this amazing molten chocolate cake. Well, you can see why we have to go there. Actually, we ended up bringing a WHOLE molten cake home for dessert and WOW was it ever a hit!

The other (Papier Gras) is a very cool comic book shop on a beautiful peninsula, right in the heart of downtown Geneva.

As supper time approached, Suley's Swiss cousins, Lara & Karima, came over to say hello and it was great to see them! Somehow, Auntie Caroline created this amazing feast right before our eyes for a party of 14! A trick we must learn!! The night was spent enjoying each other's company and catching up!

Next stop...Bern!