Thanksgiving in Geneva

Mom, Dad, and I spent Wednesday, November 21 checking out Geneva. I met them at their apartment near Plainpalais in the morning (I helped Dad find the place on Airbnb --- very cute and a great location) and he cooked us eggs with mushrooms and peppers, which we ate along with some fresh grapes... probably the best breakfast I have had since I have been here.

After breakfast, we walked from their apartment through the Parc des Bastions and then Old Town Geneva. Here's Mom and I in front of some tree in the park:

Apparently, it is officially winter in Geneva, because they set up an ice rink in the park:

Here's Mom and Dad with one of the giant chess boards:

Dad's the king and Mom's the queen... get it?

From the park, we headed up the steps to walk through Old Town:

Dad liked the look of the green shutters and the bird's nest, or something...

Mom didn't get the memo that she was supposed to get the bird's nest, too, but still cute:

Mom and I in front of the flower clock:

In front of Lake Geneva:

Following our tour of Old Town, I took Mom and Dad over to check out the WHO... here's Mom by the African river blindness statue near the main entrance:

And the immunization statue, again:

 Then I took them to meet my supervisor, Raymond. Mom liked him so much that she got Dad to buy him a running shirt from UT (Raymond is a gung-ho runner). I showed them around the main building including going up to the balcony on the 8th floor to check out the view:

 

 Mom and I by the UNAIDS and WHO signs:

Same concept but with Mom and Dad:

Dad taking a picture of Mom taking a picture...

We also went by the giftshop and my very generous parents bought me a WHO jacket as a souvenir of my experience. Then we walked back to my apartment. On the way, we walked by the horses that live near WHO and stopped to snap more photos. First, I couldn't stop laughing at Mom trying to pronounce Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso:

Next try:

Horses + Dad:

Dad's artistic photo of me and Mom walking away from the Geneva sign:

Dad also took a photo of this graffiti:

 At my apartment, Mom and Dad made me take this horrible, goober photo:

Then we rested for a little while, and I also packed up my duffel bag with things for them to take back to Austin with them (and then Dad is shipping the duffel back to me for my flight home).

We had dinner that night at Chez Ma Cousine, aka the chicken restaurant where you can get a 1/2 rotisserie chicken, fries, and a salad for 14.90CHF... amazingly cheap for Geneva. It is also around the corner from my apartment and I love it. Luckily, Mom and Dad loved it, too.

After dinner, I went back to their Plainpalais apartment with them and we watched the new episode of Homeland together on my laptop (yay family bonding over TV shows...) and so Mom could check her work email (brownie points for me)... I was so exhausted by this point that I actually started falling asleep in their bed. It was a long trek back to my place from there (had to take a tram and a bus to get home), but still a wonderful day in Geneva with the 'rents!