"Old town" tour, Geneva - day 2

Kim, Rae-Ann, Kerri (my roommate from outside Seattle, Washington) and I, took the #10 bus downtown to the information centre and purchased the "old town" and "international" walking tours guide and MP3 to listen to the tour. 

We started at the river and did a full loop around "old town" Geneva. 

It was supposed to take 2hrs but because of rain, side trips and lunch, it took 4hrs. 

One of my favourites was the Maison Travel (the Travel House). It was this big grey building that was burned and reconstructed. It is now a museum of how life was in "old town" in the 18th and 19th century. 

The attic is now a miniature/model of "old town" before 1850. It took the man 18 years to create this. It's entirely out of metal. Composed of 86 sections, it covers a surface area of 32 m2. 

My second favourite was Saint Peter's Cathedral and Chapel of the Maccabees. It has a huge organ at the back. Beside the organ is the Chapel of the Maccabees, which houses Cardinal Jean de Brogany 's tomb. The walls and ceilings are elaborately painted.  If you pay approx $7.00U.S., you can walk up the tower and see out over the city. Kim and Rae-Anne walked up. I hope we are sharing pictures because Kerri and I didn't go up. Maybe on our free day on Saturday, we will venture back. 

I think I am going to do all my trips in the rain, as that's how it's been for the last few. Paris; Ottawa; Machu Picchu; and now "old town" Geneva. 

We walked 1-17, then stopped for lunch at a little cafe overlooking a square. I had a cheese crustinni and cappacino. It was really good. As we were eating, it started to rain. And rain it did; also a little hail. We did a lot of the rest of the walk in the rain, which was actually fun. Kerri lent me her rain poncho. 

We walked thru a big park that was walled in by the reformation wall. The reformation wall has the Lord's Prayer carved into it and different Christians that were part of early reformation in Geneva. At the end of the park were giant chess boards. Kim and Rae-Anne played a game. I now know why chess takes so long; it's a game of the mind and strategy. Not for me but I watched. 

Kim is really good at French. At the end of the chess game, she talked to a man about the rules of chess. It was really cool to see them communicating in French, some English and a lot of body language and hand gestures. 

Back at the hotel now. Waiting for everyone to arrive; then supper.