Our flights from Ontario on our way to Geneva were all delayed. This meant that with each one, we worried about missing the next. Hower, the next flight was always late which meant we made all of our connections.
Monday night, we landed in Geneva and arrived at our hotel at approximately 11:20. We had not had dinner. Of course, our internal clocks, for both eating and sleeping, were nine hours out of sync. We walked around the corner to the only place open that late at night. McDonald’s. Yes, we had anticipated so much great food in Europe, and we started with McDonald’s. It wasn’t so bad. Their menus around the world give attention to the local palette. So, I recommend the…McFondu. McDonald’s in Switzerland, as well as in other countries, tends to surpass its quality in the US. Why is McDonald’s worst in its own country? Step up your game on the home court Mickey D’s! By the way, you can travel to Switzerland for the fondu but not for the McFondu. I made that up. Here is a picture of the McDonald’s Café.
Tuesday was our day to see Reformation sites in Geneva. First, we went to Saint Peter’s Cathedral where John Calvin preached and led the second generation of the Protestant Reformation. These pictures show you the pulpit, where he preached, and the chair, where sat when he was not preaching.
This is where the choir sat during worship. Those seats look so very comfy.
Here we are from the top of Saint Peter’s Cathedral.
Below is a picture of the Reformation Wall, constructed in 1909 for the occasion of John Calvin’s 400th birthday. I did not get close because the park that hosts this monument was closed that day due to a graduation held there that day. Bummer! Four large, looming figures populate the center of the wall. William Farel was a leader of the first generation of the Protestant Reformation at the same time as Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli. It was Farrell who persuaded Calvin to lead the Church in Geneva. Second on the wall is John Calvin, the most significant of second-generation reformers, who systematized his brand of Protestant theology. His thoughts spread far and wide through his work The Institutes of the Christian Religion. Next in line is Theodore Beza, a colleague of Calvin and his first biographer. The fourth figure on is John Knox, a student of Calvin who took the ideas he learned back to Scotland, starting the Presbyterian Church. Below is the picture that I could only take from a distance. You can google “Reformation Wall” for a better photograph. Also on the wall are several people who took John Calvin’s reformation ideas to other parts of the world.
We are now in Montreux a town on the northern side of Lake Geneva’s eastern tip. Later, this weekend the Montreux Jazz Festival begins. For now, we are relaxing and acclimating to the new time zone. Below is a picture of my view as I got up early this morning and went out to write in my journal and do a little reading before breakfast.
