Month one in the books!

I celebrated one full month in Switzerland with one of the greatest cheese spreads I've ever had the pleasure of consuming. Pictured below are a brie, Gruyere, goat cheese with herbs, truffle based cheese and one that I think was buffalo cheese (but I could have mixed up a translation somewhere along the way...). The truffle was my favorite and if I was so bold to draw a comparison (which I absolutely am) I would liken it to the mushroom pizza from Pitch. Condense that delicious pizza into cheese form and you can get an idea where I'm coming from... you're hungry right?

The way to my heart.

I have many days when I can't believe that I've already been here for a month. It's been such a positive experience so far and I feel incredibly lucky that I still have so much time left. 

I had my first visitor this weekend! My friend Emily is traveling around Europe before going to teach English in Morocco for a few months. We had a laid-back day exploring Geneva on Saturday and despite my failed attempt to find the Central Perk recreation, we had a great time. [In fact, we did find the coffee shop but I kid you not, it had just closed down. The walls were still painted the recognizable colors but there were no tables and the bar had been removed i.e. it was empty.] We did find a gorgeous park though that had grass couches outside the entrance and life-size chess boards inside! I will be coming back to this spot to enjoy both again soon.

Emily and I lounging

Closest I will (regrettably) get to a Wizard's Chess game

After lunch we walked through a market on our way back to the lake. There were a lot of interesting stalls and a few ~interesting~ stalls if you catch my drift. I found a few Faberge eggs that were really beautiful but upon opening one, I was horrified to find what was definitely human hair. I was much less willing to touch any of the items I was looking at after that experience... 

Emily was a perfect first visitor- she was content to wander the city with me and we got to explore a few of the districts away from the lake. This was outside a museum looking back towards the lake. 

Lac Léman in the distance

Couldn't think of a better way to end an afternoon of exploring than coffee and tea by the lake! It's so easy to fall in love with this place. I'm not saying I'll never leave (don't worry Mom!) but living in such a beautiful place has been a dream. The fact that I get to practice French makes it that much better too. 

More soon!