All posts tagged switzerland

Moving on too soon

by noel.piper on May 15, 2012 in Europe with No comments

I haven’t had time to tell you all I wanted to about Geneva, and now we’ve been in Hamburg since Saturday evening.

At least, I’ve uploaded all the Geneva photos for you to see.

Flying Bucharest to Geneva, via Munich

Around Geneva

Geneva Bible Institute / Conference

Lunch by Lake Geneva

Walking around the village of Veigy-Foncenex

Calvin’s old city of Geneva

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Don’t miss the giveaways for this Europe trip:

You can see photos from this trip, as they’re uploaded, at my Shutterfly Share Site.
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Subscribe to Tell Me When To Pack. Use the links to the right or click here.
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If you make a purchase after you click on some of the product links in a post or after you use an on-line shopping link in the sidebar, I receive a small commission, which costs you nothing extra. I recommend only items that I think will be of interest to my readers and that I probably have used personally or wish I had.
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I hope you’ll also visit my other blog–NoelPiper.com

East meets west

by noel.piper on May 10, 2012 in Asia, Europe with No comments

You may have thought that when I came to Europe, I was leaving the  Esther Expedition behind for a while. Not possible. Esther’s world seems to follow me wherever I go.

Joann, my travel companion in China in March, had been fascinated to discover that the Lutheran World Federation in the 1940s operated a charter plane, which they named the St. Paul. Ever since then, she’s been researching the history and story of the Lutheran Airline, as she called it.

Now here’s where east meets west (if you use your imagination). Earlier this week for the second leg of our flight to Geneva, the carrier was a regional affiliate of Lufthansa.

After we arrived, as soon as I had Internet, I emailed Joann: “There is a Lutheran airline–Augsburg Airways–and here’s the plan of salvation they make available to each passenger.” (Augsburg is to Lutherans as Westminster is to Presbyterians–Lutheran churches, colleges, publishers, nursing homes named Augsburg, and now apparently an airline!)

Some discussion of the name followed. Augsburg Airways is obviously ELCA, because LCMS would have been Concordia. Air is good–it’s appropriate that Christians should meet in the air, doncha think? But why Airways when we know there’s just one way?

Enough!

Here’s the scoop Joann just posted on the real flying Lutherans–the ones in China.

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Don’t miss the giveaways for this Europe trip:

You can see photos from this trip, as they’re uploaded, at my Shutterfly Share Site.
__________
Subscribe to Tell Me When To Pack. Use the links to the right or click here.
__________
If you make a purchase after you click on some of the product links in a post or after you use an on-line shopping link in the sidebar, I receive a small commission, which costs you nothing extra. I recommend only items that I think will be of interest to my readers and that I probably have used personally or wish I had.
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I hope you’ll also visit my other blog–NoelPiper.com

Beauty spot in my soul

by noel.piper on May 10, 2012 in Europe with 2 Comments

View from our apartment

I love maps (though not as much as my friend Joann, who’d rather watch the plane’s flight path than a movie during a long flight).

One of the pleasures of travel is experiencing geography. Often there are surprises–usually things I could have realized easily, but just haven’t. This trip, for example, I was surprised that Geneva is so close to France that our countryside hotel actually is in France, within sight of the village of Veigy-Foncenex.

There’s a glimpse of Veigy-Foncenex in the photo at the left. When I walked around in the village, I kept asking myself, Am I taking this picture because it touches the beauty spot in my soul or because I’ve seen such a prototypical village in a travel book and I’m copying it? But who cares. I had a great time and came back with a happy soul.

The Geneva Bible Institute , conducted in the French language, is in the town of Cologny, Switzerland, about a 10-15 minute drive from our accommodations, and even closer to the border with France. So it’s easy to see why many of the Institute’s students and teachers are French.

It’s also a short flight from Algeria and Tunisia, where French is a common 2nd language. So the Institute is in a strategic location.

Please pray for the Gospel-Centered Ministry conference, which began this morning. The 750 attenders include about 250 theological students from schools around Switzerland and France, as well as Francophone people from many other countries.

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Don’t miss the giveaways for this trip:

You can see photos from this trip, as they’re uploaded, at my Shutterfly Share Site.
__________
Subscribe to Tell Me When To Pack. Use the links to the right or click here.
__________
If you make a purchase after you click on some of the product links in a post or after you use an on-line shopping link in the sidebar, I receive a small commission, which costs you nothing extra. I recommend only items that I think will be of interest to my readers and that I probably have used personally or wish I had.
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I hope you’ll also visit my other blog–NoelPiper.com

I guess we’re safe

by noel.piper on May 8, 2012 in Europe with 1 Comment

We arrived in Geneva this afternoon. On the drive from the airport to our hotel, I learned something that I don’t remember reading in either  Cultureshock Switzerland: A Survival Guide to Customs & Etiquette or Switzerland – Culture Smart!: the essential guide to customs & culture. Maybe it was there, but I surely don’t remember it.

Until last year, every new house construction had to include a basement fallout shelter. Now it’s only required of buildings with more than 38 apartments. It’s not necessary for every new house to have one now, because every town has community fallout shelters and there’s already enough space for 1 million more people than Switzerland’s total population. So I guess there’s room for us visitors, if necessary.

I just arrived, so I’m just watching and learning. It would be presumptuous to try to explain a culture and people I’m not familiar with. But apparently, the Wall Street Journal gave it a try.

As always, I’m counting on my readers who are from Switzerland to chime in here with their thoughts, additions, corrections, etc.

One of the benefits of having so many community shelters is that there’s space going unused until it’s needed. So the Geneva Bible Institute, for example, houses students in community bunker space in Cologny, a Geneva suburb.

The Bible Institute is the venue for the Gospel-Centered Ministry conference, which is what brings Johnny to Geneva this week. Thanks for praying for him and the other speakers and for the students and church leaders who will be attending.

By the way, the inexpensive bunking option for the conference is in the local bunker. Here’s hoping nobody’s claustrophobic.

And here’s praying that we all say to the LORD, “My  refuge and my  fortress, my God, in whom I  trust.”

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Don’t miss the giveaways for this trip:

You can see photos from this trip, as they’re uploaded, at my Shutterfly Share Site.
__________
Subscribe to Tell Me When To Pack. Use the links to the right or click here.
__________
If you make a purchase after you click on some of the product links in a post or after you use an on-line shopping link in the sidebar, I receive a small commission, which costs you nothing extra. I recommend only items that I think will be of interest to my readers and that I probably have used personally or wish I had.
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I hope you’ll also visit my other blog–NoelPiper.com

2nd stop: Geneva (giveaway)

by noel.piper on April 29, 2012 in Europe with 34 Comments

Apparently my earlier post about traveling to Europe confused at least one person. When we showed up at church tonight for a business meeting, she greeted us, “What are you doing here?!” Nope we’re not in Europe yet, but soon.

The second city in our itinerary will be Geneva. You can check out the Desiring God website to see what Johnny will be doing there.

We went to Geneva once–for about 2 hours in 1972, during a layover between trains, traveling from Munich to Albertville, France. We dashed from the train station to catch a glimpse of the Reformation Wall.

Travel with John Calvin: Geneva's Minister Whose Thinking Changed the World

One of the people most associated with both the Reformation and Geneva is John Calvin. So I’ve stashed in my carry-on a copy of  Travel with John Calvin: Geneva’s Minister Whose Thinking Changed the World. The publisher, Day One, has an impressive catalog of Travel with . . . guide books.

Also, let’s celebrate my long-delayed return to Geneva with another of my mystery gifts, this time from Europe–maybe Geneva.

To be eligible, comment at this post with any or all of the following:

  • Are you Swiss?
  • Have you ever lived in or visited Geneva or elsewhere in Switzerland?
  • What do you think of when you think of Geneva or of Switzerland?
  • What would you want to do if you were visiting Geneva?
  • Is there particular Swiss food one should not miss?
  • What would you recommend as a gift to bring back?

Deadline is 11:59 pm cst, May 18.

Don’t miss the other giveaways:

For subscribing or getting someone new to subscribe

The Bucharest Giveaway

The Hamburg Giveaway

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Subscribe to Tell Me When To Pack. Use the links to the right or click here. 

__________

If you make a purchase after you click on some of the product links in a post or after you use an on-line shopping link in the sidebar, I receive a small commission, which costs you nothing extra. I recommend only items that I think will be of interest to my readers and that I probably have used personally or wish I had. 

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I hope you’ll also visit my other blog–NoelPiper.com

Hit the track, Jack

by noel.piper on April 13, 2012 in Asia, Europe with 3 Comments

Only a couple of days ago, I revealed my secret love of train travel.  In that video of my rail travel in China, I threw in some train-window countryside views.

That’s one of the beauties of going by train–seeing the land, the cities, the people, the cows–whatever’s near the tracks. You can see some of that traveling by car, but not so much if you’re the driver.

Anyway, just after my train post, this one caught my eye at Gadling, one of the travel blogs I follow: Six of the Most Scenic Train Trips in Europe.

I’ve done their #6–London to Edinburgh. And I’ve traveled in Germany, Switzerland, Holland, and France–though not on the particular lines recommended in the post.

So . . . Trains . . . Beautiful scenery . . . and I’ll be in Europe next month . . .

Whether or not I can travel the particular routes, I am hereby reminded to try to get in some train time. There’s so much to see.

QUESTION FOR YOU: WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE TRAIN ROUTE, THAT YOU’VE TAKEN OR WISH YOU COULD SOMEDAY??