The itinerary for my trip with Amy had only the barest details of our flights, where we were staying, and “Do fun things. Eat chocolate.” I should have added “walk all over creation” because we certainly got our steps in, but we made good on our primary intention. The week felt like it went by in the blink of an eye and that somehow we had a month’s worth of experiences. We had a guided tour for the Tower of London and learned that the etchings ostensibly created by the various prisoners were usually done by artists paid by the prisoners to come in and do the work. We saw the Crown Jewels, where Anne Boleyn most likely lost her head to a skilled French swordsman (a concession by Henry VIII because the usual ax method was quite messy and fallible), and Henry VIII’s armor with which he tried to assert his ego and manhood. Amy fed a squirrel! On purpose. The guide gave her peanuts to offer to the squirrel.
I didn’t want us to feel rushed on the day we were flying to Geneva and I didn’t want to mess around with timing at Heathrow, but the result was that somehow it took an entire day to fly the 75 minutes to Geneva. We got to Heathrow so early that we had to wait 90 minutes to check our bags, so we suffered through pistachio croissants at a coffee shop. Finally we landed in Geneva and wended our way through the passport control where we did almost everything twice, and got to my friend’s house in time for dinner! After leaving our morning hotel at 10am! Perhaps I overdid my cautious timing a bit.
Geneva was as chilly and windy as London had been, but we kept warm with our coats, crepes, and chocolate. It was incredibly wonderful to get to much time with Erika (my bestie since I was four) and her family. It was as if no time had passed since our last time together. On our first night we did a blindfolded taste test of chocolate bars, which was definitely the most laughter-filled chocolate eating of the trip. We made chocolate watches and sampled chocolate at La Bonbonierre. Amy was beside herself at the cat cafe in France where the cats ruled the roost and sat on the table or on shelves above our table, watching carefully was we ate and even reaching a paw onto a plate sometimes. We rode on a carousel, sat on the longest bench, walked around a tulip festival, visited the Chateau de Chillon, toured a chocolate factory in Gruyere, toured the Chateau de Gruyere, and indulged in delicious cheese fondue. We sampled lots of chocolate! They no longer make you write out a list of what you bought before reentry into the US, but I was ready to declare my six boxes of Jaffa Cakes and multiple bars of chocolate. I even bought Carl a Swiss watch… made from chocolate. With full hearts and full bellies and wishes that the trip could be longer, Amy and I flew home on Friday.
Given the offset of spring breaks and travel, it didn’t work to celebrate Easter on the actual day. And by celebrate, I mean hide chocolate, find chocolate, and eat chocolate. So we did that yesterday. We designated one room for each kid so that the level of difficulty could be different, but we also had two rooms for both to search in. Amy used her foot to reach one foil egg in the end of a curtain rod, showing how much more flexible she is compared to her parents. It is always so fun to perplex Amy with some very tricky spots. The best this year was that Carl hid her basket under her art desk. She was so close to it multiple times as she snuggled with our cat who was sitting on the chair at that desk, and yet somehow Amy didn’t notice the basket at all! Carl also had her stumped for a long time about a few extra sneaky spots for foil-wrapped eggs. Soon the laughter was on the other foot though, as Amy hid foil and plastic eggs for Carl and me to find. She was very sneaky and put things higher up than we ever have.
Sarah enjoyed her Easter hunt and also had a fun time on her senior class field trip during which her sneakers got incredibly muddy. She and Carl had a good week overall, and as usual she did more things independently than when I am around. Last Sunday they went to a 412 festival to celebrate Pittsburgh so Sarah was able to dance and get a new t-shirt – what could be better?
Wishing you chocolate and laughter.
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