Our First Bus Ride

They call this a "river cruise" but the extension we are taking includes some other means of travel, too.  We left Geneva, traveling by bus along the western side of Lake Geneva.  Our first stop was the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, home of the International Olympic Committee.  After a few minutes scanning souvenirs from Olympic Games, we saw a history of the Ancient Olympics.  Each time the games were held in ancient Greece, all fighting ceased.  How nice if that could happen today! 




There were 3 floors of exhibits, with everything from how the games were planned to costumes for various sports, examples of medals (they have gotten bigger over the years), mascots and housing for the athletes.  In another area you could choose any Olympic year and find out about where the games were held and any outstanding events taking place.  The last floor even had "games" so you could see some of the skills needed by the athletes.  There were several where you had to stand on a platform, hands on hips, and tilt the board you were standing on to get a marble sized ball along a given route or across a specific spot in the shortest time.  I did not do very well!  Several school groups were there enjoying all the interactive exhibits like racing on a mini-track. 






At the entrance the walkway was painted into 5 lanes representing the 5 Olympic rings, such things as Excellence, Friendship, and Respect.  The fifth ring was for Peace.  It is a sad commentary on our world today that, as the road narrowed from 5 lanes to 4, the lane that ended was "Peace."




Our guides kept up a running commentary on the site and places we passed through until we got to a World Hermitage Site, the Lavaux Vineyards.  Here we toured this mall winery and tasted 4 different glasses of wine.  Fortunately, they also provided a light lunch to go with the wine. 

White wine is aged in huge barrels.

White grapes are pressed and only the juice is fermented.  Red grapes are fermented in barrels, then the wine is pressed from them.  These wines age in smaller oak barrels.  Some of the barrels had the ends fastened on with strips of wood, something we had never seen before.

Wood strips on the ends of some barrels

When we left there, the guides were quiet so we could take naps.


This is actually a warm part of Switzerland, growing different fruits and grains in addition to the many vineyards.  One area was so warm that cactus grew!

As we neared the southern border of Switzerland, the mountains grew in height and the road went through small villages until we reached Tasch where we boarded our cog rail train for Zermatt.