...Which was more of an afternoon- after the skiing madness, we were both pretty pooped, but I thought we should at least see some culture and the starting point of all Geneva tours should begin in the old town, according to my professional opinion.
So we headed off to St Peter's Cathedral- well actually, right next to it where there's a sleepy little Creperie- it's pretty rustic/basic, but I love their 'saint-malo' crepe- mushrooms, ham, basil and a whole lotta cheese.
Anyway, after a quick bite we headed into the Cathedral. It's all very plain stonework on the inside because of it changing into a Protestant Cathedral. Geneva was the centre for theological thought on how to improve the Catholic Church- the main player being Jean Calvin or the lesser known Zwingli. It means that some people find it underwhelming, but Merryn (Smarty-pants that she is) said that she didn't think places of worship should be all about ostentatious demonstrations. I'm not desperately religious, but I agree with her- surely it should be about what we believe rather than how we express it?
Before I get lost in confusing theology/meaning of life things, I shall share the real reason I took Merryn there. For 5 Francs you can go up the main tower of the Cathedral- it involves some very narrow stone stairs that make you feel dizzy at the best of times. It is in the end, all worth it for the amazing views.
It was a fun little trip and if you want to see the Cathedral for yourselves, the best time to go would be Christmas- on Christmas Eve the Cathedral has a nine lessons and carols service in English, which really captures how amazing the acoustics of the building are with it at full capacity. It's my favourite part of Christmas in Geneva.
The following day was pretty similar- I took Merryn into the centre of Hermance, a village on the French boarder. It was nearly as nice weather, so here's some photos of it on a prettier day.
We were still pretty sleepy, but we spent the afternoon at the Red Cross Museum- it only re-opened in 2013. This was the second time I have been and it still interests me. It's been done in a slightly unconventional way, with 3 sections demonstrating the aims of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. You get an audio guide included in your ticket (which are half price for students) which starts automatically when you enter the exhibits. These aren't foolproof, so sometimes I had to retrace my steps to hear the right thing, but they've improved since last summer! The Second visit was definitely worth it as they've sorted out a few kinks. The main one and (because we are that mature) the highlight of the visit for us was the Hurricane game. You had to try and save as many people on an island from the incoming hurricane using red cross tools- it was definitely not designed for our age group, but we loved it! It wasn't working when I last visited, but Merryn and I unleashed our inner child and played it twice. We actually scared off a few other visitors from the table...
This was Merryn's last day, and we said our farewells- next time I see her it will be exam season eeeeek!
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