Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Day Trip to Annecy, France

Monday, April 20th, 2009

Hi folks! It’s been a bit since our last update, and Spring is now in the air! We’ve been staying active here in Geneva, enjoying the lake, the weekend farmer’s markets and continuing with our weekly French lessons, which have been going well. At the beginning of April we also made an all-to-brief trip back to Chicago for a week to run lots of errands and catch up with friends and family. Unfortunately, a week just isn’t enough time to see everyone and we were a bit sorry to have to go!

Last Saturday we took the Geneva Coach Station bus south over the Swiss border into France and visited the charming city of Annecy (map) for the day. With it’s many canals, storybook castle, flower-filled parks and a pristine lake surrounded by mountains, it’s easy to see why people fall in love with Annecy. While there, we enjoyed walking throughout the old town, taking a scenic boat tour on the lake, relaxing in the park and enjoying some of the local delicacies (we had some of the best crepes of our lives at a little Creperie we found.. check the pics!).

Annecy, France

Click Here to view all Annecy, France pics!

Snowshoeing at Night

Tuesday, March 17th, 2009

If you’d told me three months ago I would voluntarily venture out in over 4 feet of snow, at night, in a snowstorm - to walk around for no particular reason - I would have told you that you were crazy.

Turns out, it’s a lot of fun. :)

Last week Adam and I ventured out with 23 of my workmates to Les Paccots, a small skiing village about 1.5 hours outside of Geneva. The group left work around 5 pm and caravan-ed up to the mountain top. The weather forecast called for snow that evening and mother nature delivered!

Once there, we bundled ourselves up appropriately and strapped on our snowshoes. (If you check out our pictures you’ll see that this isn’t a particularly sexy look.) We hiked about an hour up the mountain to the chalet, where we stopped for a delicious dinner of (what else) fondue!!

After stuffing ourselves silly (ok and maybe the wine helped a bit too), we hiked back down the mountain, turned in our gear and headed back to Geneva.

It certainly was quiet around work the next day…

Click Here to view all Snowshoeing Pics!

Weekend in Amsterdam

Tuesday, March 17th, 2009

Recently, we caught up with our good friends Diana and Jose for a weekend in Amsterdam. We’d love to tell you all about it, but unfortunately… we don’t remember anything!! JUST KIDDING!

We had a great time walking around the city and touring the museums. The canals around the city are lit up at nighttime creating a Paris-like feel. Everyone is friendly, and it’s true what they say, bicycles are everywhere!

Special thanks to Jose who did quite a bit of research prior to the trip and kept us well fed. We dined at Restaurant De Kas, which is contained in a greenhouse and grows it’s own food; Lof, where the chefs go to market every day and create the menu from what they mind; and Wynand Fockink which opened in 1679 and make Jenever (purportedly the precursor to gin) using original techniques.

Perhaps our favorite eating experience? A picnic of wine and cheese we had in a local park.

Click Here to View All Amsterdam Trip Pics!

Salsa and Pepper

Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009

There must be something in the water here.. I’m not sure how else to explain it, but there is obviously something at work here that makes these normally reserved Swiss folks want to get out and SALSA! It’s true. I was a bit surprised at first to find out that there were so many Latin clubs here in Geneva, and you do not have to look hard to find a salsa night going down every night of the week. What was going on here? What was this mysterious dance and why was it seemingly so popular? I began to have more questions than answers…

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One Weekend, Three Languages

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

I looked at our blog and realized the last few posts were about food. So I thought it might be time for a little female intervention. I’ve taken over the posting duties for our first weekend getaway to the Swiss cities of Zurich and Lugano.

Friday started out a promising day and we weren’t disappointed. Bright and sunny, it was the perfect day for a train ride through the countryside of Switzerland. Our adventure started with a 2.5 hour train ride from Geneva to Zurich. The route hugs the coast of Lake Geneva then runs across the countryside until it rolls into the vibrant city of Zurich.


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Fondue For You!

Friday, February 20th, 2009

I’d like to talk to you today, about something that has changed my life recently. An experience in culinary bliss unlike anything else in the world. I’m talking of course, about fondue. In Switzerland, fondue is a pretty big deal. The Swiss love it, which is good, because I love it too :)

If you have yet to experience the magic that is known as fondue, or don’t know what I’m talking about, here is what the Fondue Wikipedia entry has to say:

Fondue is a Swiss communal dish shared at the table in an earthenware pot (caquelon) over a small burner (rechaud). The term is derived from the French verb fondre (to melt), in the past participle fondu (melted).

Diners use forks to dip bits of food (most often bread) into the warm semi-liquid sauce (commonly a cheese mix). Heat is supplied by a wicked or gel alcohol burner, or a tealight.

While cheese fondue is the most widely known, there are other pot and dipping ingredients.

Yeaaaahhh, that’s right. A big bowl of melted cheese. You dip bread into it. That’s it. So simple, yet so perfect.

Two weekends ago Paula and I went out for some tasty fondue at a restaurant in Plainpalais, Geneva after venturing around the expansive Parc des Bastions. It was an experience we will not soon forget… and even though I’m still full, I’m looking forward to going out for more fondue again soon!

Insider Tip: Don’t drink beer with fondue or you’ll explode… white wine is the way to go ;)

Click Here to View all Plainpalais and Fondue Weekend Pics!

First Geneva Trip Pics

Tuesday, February 17th, 2009

I’ve posted a new Picasa album full of pics that we took during our first week in Geneva, Switzerland last December. We spent the week looking at apartments and wandering all around the city trying to stay dry and out of the snow. Check the link below for the first pictures of our new apartment in Eaux-Vives, downtown Geneva, Old Town and more!

View First Geneva Trip Pics!

Adam

Tapas Tuesday

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

Last night we ventured out into the cold around 8pm in search of someplace nice to sit down and eat after a long day…. our prospects looked like we would be settling for Italian food (there are a LOT of Italian restaurants in Geneva!). Well, as we lucked out, we came across a decent looking Tapas restaurant down the street called La Bodega that was still open, and much to our surprise was getting more full by the minute. So we sat down and had a look at the menu, but I knew right away that we absolutely had to order what I saw that other guy eating when we came in.. which was an ENORMOUS platter of shrimp, fitters, fried calamari, and various other meats. Mmmm. Tapas.

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Welcome to PandaBytes!

Monday, February 9th, 2009

Hi there!

You’ve stumbled upon Paula and Adam’s (P-and-A’s) secret web hideout!

We’re sorta new to this whole blogging/web journal thing, but we figured it would be a good way to stay in touch with everyone, especially now that we are living in Geneva, Switzerland for a bit! So please feel free to bookmark this website, and check back from time to time as we’ll be posting pictures and updates from our life overseas :-)

Adam and Paula

Talk to you soon!

Adam and Paula