After being home for several weeks (except brief trip to Long Island to bring daughter Hannah home for the summer where at least I researched the top-rated pizza in the area!), it's time to think about the recent trip and some upcoming travels.  

I consider traveling pretty much anywhere a great privilege.  Just getting on an airplane -- even with all the hassles -- has the air of expectation and excitement.  Can't remember ever not looking forward to an upcoming trip. 

But ... how to come home without the fatigue??? After 11 hours from Frankfurt to Dallas, a couple hours there and then 3 more home, it's virtually impossible to lose the restorative powers of relaxing on a trip. My solution:  stay up as close to my normal bedtime as possible, take some melatonin or a sleeping pill and get back on a regular schedule!   Day 3 seems to be the hardest when traveling east to west.  Would love to hear other people's remedies so email me.

So what's next??? Well, Napa later this month, then Tampa and New York in August, Cleveland in November and Thanksgiving where I need some input.  Instead of bringing the kids home from their schools (Ohio and NY), we meet up with them somewhere -- past locations have been New York City, Chicago and New Orleans.   But where should we go this year??  We are considering Memphis, Nashville, Charleston and ??  Let me know!  More later on planning next year's big trip to Asia and other info!

 

Warmly,

Teri B.

Continuing on with Geneva, our last day there was spent walking on both sides of "Lac Leman" as Lake Geneva is called. 

View at La Reserve

 We lunched at La Reserve which is a beautiful hotel/spa in the area where many HQ's of worldwide organizations (such as UNICEF, etc.) are located together with some gorgeous private homes.  I've included pix from the sensational terrace view where we lunched.  More window shopping and browsing around this wonderful city followed.

Lunch companion

That evening was another trip highlight with dinner at
Auberge d'Onex, a very authentic Italian restaurant a short drive from the hotel.  What made the evening special -- as much as the wonderful food -- was Valentino, the owner/chef and his staff.  These guys know how to run a restaurant.  So engaging, so friendly, so much "what more can we do for you?" that it was both delicious and a blast.  The place was packed that night and we're told is all the time.  When you look at the pix, you'll see bowls of fruit served at the end (among many other things) -- mounds of strawberries and cherries.  When we were done, they simply passed the bowl to another table.  Can you even imagine such a thing at home?  It encouraged much camaraderie among the diners.

 

Our last real destination (other than one night in Frankfurt prior to departure from that city) is Baden-Baden in Germany's Black Forest, an easy drive from Geneva.  People have been coming here for centuries to cure whatever ails them in this gorgeous place and it has been a great way to revitalize prior to the journey back.

Baden-Baden

Two things remain to do:  utilize my advanced degree in packing to organize what was both brought and acquired; and decide "high point/low point" which is something I make my family do after a vacation and which none of them likes.  For me, maybe getting lost in Lake Como would be a low point but brief and not a big deal; high points were everything Geneva and the Sound of Music tour while seeing the sights in Salzburg.  Thanks to everyone for following along and, Mom, I'll call you when we stop in Dallas! 

Warmly,

Teri B.

As we travel along on this journey, our next stop is Lake Como.  The inevitable "oopsie" finally occurred.  Blame should be squarely placed on Tim, our mostly accurate GPS voice, who has ably guided us along.  But he just blew it. 

After an easy ride from Zurich to Lugano, which is just north of the border between Switzerland and Italy's lake district, we stopped at the outlet mall.   That part was fine and who knows if our perceived "discounts" were really that, but it always seems more fun to shop when on vacation (at least for me). 

We left there for what we remember was a relatively short ride to Lake Como (Cernobbio to be exact) and that turned into a two-hour journey on narrow roads, in the rain no less -- think California's Highway 1 but with Italian drivers.   At one point we were so lost we ended up on what we thought was a road but probably more like a dead-end alley that was so narrow we couldn't have gotten out on either side of the car even if we wanted to.  Did I mention it was raining? 

So put the car in reverse gear to attempt backing our way out and the warning sensors are going crazy -- too close on the left, then too close on the right; Bruce finally gets out and is directing me, a lot of hand-waving and various gestures ... Obviously the story ended well but couldn't wait to crack open a bottle of wine, for sure!

Can't complain too much; after all, this is Lake Como  -- surely one of the most beautiful places on the planet.  No George Clooney sightings in answer to your next question; of course we (George and I)  have both resided in Studio City for 20 or so years, and no encounters there either.

 

Jet D' Eau

So after a couple of rainy and lazy days in Lake Como, we are now in Geneva.  Where Zurich is much more of a German influence, Geneva is a very French atmosphere (it is almost totally surrounded by France). This is an incredibly elegant city with a lot to do! We went barely 20 minutes outside the city to Domaine de Chateauvieux, a two-star restaurant worth EVERY calorie.  All you foodies, look at the pix of the amazing food ... one more day here and on to Baden-Baden the day after. 

Warmly,

Teri B.