Fun Friday with Fondue, French, and Frankenstein

As previously alluded to on Twitter and this blog, I have some wonderful travel plans in the first half on 2012.

At the end of April I'll be going to Lake Geneva in Switzerland. I'm pretty excited. The cheese, the chocolate, the chocolate, did I mention there is great chocolate? Well there is and it's worth repeating a few more times.

To be perfectly honest cheese, chocolate and fondue, the most well-known Swiss meal option, were all big factors in selecting this as a vacation destination. It's very important to consider the food available on vacation. My disinterest in olives is constantly to blame for moving Greece farther down on my must visit list.

Of course, aside from the cuisine Geneva has many enticing elements that made me book my flight.


Here are some Friday Fun Facts for you.

-Switzerland is the birthplace of absinthe and as of 2005 it is once again legal to produce and sell in the country.

-Lake Geneva is a sickle-shaped lake between Switzerland and France.

-Switzerland has four languages. German, Italian, and French are the most common. Though English is also spoken widely.

-I'll be in the French speaking area. I've downloaded podcasts to learn some conversation skills...it should be interesting to say the least.

-The carac is a popular chocolate pastry in the French-speaking portion of Switzerland.



Nom. Carac. Nom.


-There is a statue of Charlie Chaplin on the shore of the lake.

-There is also one of Freddie Mercury.

-Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes, is credited with bringing skiing to Switzerland in 1894. I have no idea what they did with their winters before that.

-The average Swiss citizen eats about 25 pounds of chocolate a year. That's about half a pound of chocolate a week and is more than double what Americans average.


-In May of 1816, Mary Shelley came to Geneva and it was there she began writing Frankenstein. Her doomed main character, Victor Frankenstein, is born and raised in Geneva.




The house where Mary Shelley stayed in 1816

-Mary Shelley said her Summer in Geneva was when she "first stepped out from childhood into life".

-Frankenstein is one of my favorite books of all time. And it's the biggest factor in me choosing to go.

-This will not be the last you are forced to read about my trip, but I will try to save most of my gushing for a post-vacation blog.


Hope you all have wonderful weekends!