beautiful weather

Yes, this is a post about the weather. I am talking about the weather.

I think my perspective may have changed just a little. I still think anything below 60*F is too cold. I still get overly excited about snow. I still dress about four times more warmly then anyone else in this country. I still get laughed at by my Swiss and Canadian and Russian friends.
However, now I can walk outside when it's 2*C out, sigh and say, "Omigod, it's so nice out!"

I think I've mentioned before that Swiss weather is entirely unpredictable. When we left right before Christmas, it was pouring rain. When we got back, it was freezing, but no snow. A week an a half ago, we got 8 inches of snow in one night--which is really rare here, and shocked everyone. About three days later, the temperature rose to 8*C, and it's hovered between 2* and 4* ever since.

It even got nice to the point that the Jet d'Eau was turned on again!

On my way to ballet.

But... all good things come to an end. The forecast for tomorrow? Snow.
Not complaining, though. I still love snow.

playing tourist for the weekend

Seeing as we've only just moved, I still feel like a tourist in this country--I don't know the language or customs, and I'm forever asking for directions. However, this does give me the distinct advantage of having the excuse to spend my free time doing fun, tourist-y things.
Take this weekend, for example. I spent Saturday in Geneva, wandering all around the city with a girl from school. I got to see the ridiculously famous and amazing Jet d'Eau (for all of you who don't speak French, that means--rather logically--Jet of Water):(I would also like to assert that this is MY photo, not one I stole from the web... I'm mildly proud, if you couldn't tell.)

We spent quite a while exploring the shopping district. My conclusion: amazing clothes...amazingly high prices. Obviously, when I go back to the States for Christmas, I will get on the plane with an empty suitcase, and return with a full one; I can't expect to buy many clothes here!
Later, we ate at a cute little pizzeria, in a plaza that glowed! (No, seriously... evidence is below) Overall, I was very satisfied with the day.

And then, today, Sunday, my parents and I took advantage of a bargain price ticket to drive around the lake and check out some castles, Chillon and Aigle. Let me tell you, these things are cool. I preferred Chillon, mostly because it was larger and more of it was in it's original condition. Also, this is the famous castle from the famous Prisoner of Chillon, by Lord Byron. Moreover, while touring the famous dungeon of this famous castle, we came across the famous cell of the famous prisoner--and the famous graffiti of the famous poet! Pretty legit, if you ask me. Honestly, while visiting the castle that he wrote about, Byron decided to carve his name into a pillar, and it's still there today.
The weather was gorgeous today, and especially clear. While driving home, we got an especially clear view of Mount Blanc. I'll post pictures as soon as my dad gets around to uploading them off his camera. Overall, a very good weekend.
Dancin' around Chillon Castle...
A view of Aigle Castle.

oh, Genève!

After an extremely relaxing and lazy morning (and early afternoon), we headed into Geneva. We had to stop by the airport in order add my mom as a driver on our rental car--which took longer than anticipated, most likely due to the incompetence of an American company such as Hertz (hehe)--but then drove straight into the city.
I'd say the only disappointing thing about Geneva is the vast amount of shops, boutiques and stores--I can't possibly visit them all in only a year! Très tragique!
However, it was an incredibly spectacular day. Having been warned of the frigid Alpine temperatures in Switzerland, I had come prepared to be bundled in scarves and coats from September to May. It seems that the Swiss (or at least the Swiss weather) are taking a leaf out of California's book, and it has been in the high 80's to low 90's F since we've been here.
We only had time to walk along the water front for about half an hour before we had to head back in the direction of Versoix--but we managed to take some dazzling photos before leaving.
We then learned that all businesses in Switzerland close down at exactly six on Saturdays, and do not open again until Monday morning. Reaching the Co-op just in time to squeeze in, grab some microwaveable dinners, pay, and run out just before they locked us in, we doomed ourselves to unappetizing food and no cellphones (our next planned errand) for the rest of the weekend. Ah, well. We're new at this--can you tell?