Geneva

We spend most of our leisure time getting outdoors and exploring the mountains, but we have neglected some of the more urban attractions Switzerland has to offer. And so we decided to spend a sunny Monday in Geneva, the so-called "capital of peace" as it is home to the UN and Red Cross.

We were impressed with how very clean the streets of Geneva were. We strolled through the high-end fashion shopping district and saw first hand how Geneva qualified as the third most expensive city in the world!

A clean city centre

A bit further uphill and away from the lake, we arrived in the more historic Old Town. At the heart of the old town is the Place-de-Four, the oldest square in the city. We saw St Peter's Cathedral and then headed down into the grounds of the University of Geneva to see the Reformation Wall. This 100m-long wall was built to commemorate the 400th anniversary of John Calvin's birth and it honours the main individuals, events and documents of the Protestant Reformation. It is built into the old city walls of Geneva. At the centre of the wall are four 5m-tall statues of Calvinism's main proponents: William Farel, John Calvin, Theodore Beza and John Knox.

St Peter's Cathedral

The Reformation Wall

The main Calvinist proponents at the centre of the Wall

After exploring the old and modern parts of the city, we made our way down to Lac Léman to stroll along the promenade where the Rhône leaves the lake. There we saw the Jet d'Eau, one of Geneva's most famous landmarks. Five hundred litres of water per second are jetted to a height of 140m, with the water leaving the pump nozzle at 200km/h! The first Jet d'Eau was installed in 1886 a little further downstream from its present location and the present fountain was installed in 1951.

View from the lakeside promenade

The Jet d'Eau - I can see this from my classroom!

During out visit, the Geneva Lake Festival was taking place and the waterfront was packed with stalls, arcades and mobile restaurants. We stopped off at a wine bar to enjoy a glass of champagne in Switzerland's most international city.

A wine bar at the Lake Festival

Cheers!

Annecy, France

A lovely day trip from Aubonne is to Annecy in France, 35km south of Geneva. This charming city has been nicknamed the "Pearl of the French Alps" and the "Venice of the Alps". It lies between the mountains and a lake and has two canals and a river running through the old town. It has also won the "Golden Flower" award for being one of the nine most-flowered cities in France!

Needless to say, it is idyllic. We spent a beautiful summer's day having a picnic in the park by the lake and strolling through the old town.

Restaurants lining a canal in Annecy Le Vieux (the old town)

One of the canals passing through Annecy

The Palais de l'Isle in the Thiou River

Promenade along the lake

Lake Annecy and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alps

The park on the lake's edge

Cartagena: Old Town

We were invited to our friends' wedding in Bogota, Colombia, so we flew down a few days early to travel around the country. Our first stop was Cartagena, a city on the north coast of Colombia. Our guidebook described the Old Town of Cartagena as the "Venice of South America", with rambling streets lined with bougainvillea-covered balconies. This statement is almost accurate, but Lonely Planet fails to mention the crazy, almost Indian-like traffic that swarms these idyllic streets. There are moments of calm to be found in the leafy plazas around the city, which we experienced on a Sunday afternoon.

Cartagena boasts many museums and cathedrals and we paid visits to the Palace de Inquisicion and the Convent de San Pedro. The Palace de Inquisicion displayed some interesting torture instruments, and eerie scenes of death set in a beautiful courtyard.

The Convent was founded by Jesuit monks in the 17th century. One of these monks, Pedro Claver, dedicated his life to ministering to the slaves brought over from Africa, He was known as the "Apostle of the Blacks" or the "Slave of Slaves", and he was the first person to be canonized in the New World in 1888. He was honored in death with his glass coffin placed in the altar of the church, his skull visible to the congregation.

We wandered through the labyrinth of streets, past the vendors selling fresh fruits and arepas, to the fort wall which surrounds the city. Along these walls are canons and watch towers, while dungeons lie below. We eventually found the ubiquitous Cafe del Mar, where we enjoyed some cold sangria while watching the sunset over the sea. Just beautiful!