Switzerland

Location: Sion & Geneva, Switzerland
Travel Time: June 16-20, 2016

Late Thursday night, we arrived at the Sion train station. It was still pouring rain so we were so grateful that our friends were willing to pick us up. Let us introduce: Gionatan and Maria Fazio. TJ had met them in 2009 when he went to the International Convention in Rome and they have kept in touch ever since. They were kind enough to make accommodations for us and our friends during our stay in Switzerland. That night, we had a nice family dinner (and one of the best nights sleep) ready to start the next day. In the morning, we had a traditional family breakfast together where we exchanged our favorite moments of the trip thus far. Then Gio and Maria took us out for the day. We were in awe of the beautiful mountainous landscape. Our first stop was visiting the newly constructed Kingdom Hall in Sion. We also walked around the local area and ran into some friends from the French Congregation engaged in public witnessing. We made a quick stop for lunch and espresso and then we were on our way to our first tourist spot: the zoo!

Gionatan made the suggestion of taking us to the Zoo Des Marecottes; a zoo found in the Swiss Alps sitting at an 1100 meter altitude (http://www.zoo-alpin.ch). We had a lot of fun looking at the owls, bears and much more. Not to mention the view was absolutely breathtaking. We definitely had a few ‘photo shoots’ for the girls. I would highly recommend visiting this place if you are in the area.

Gionatan and Maria took us to another spectacular tourist location: the Chateau de Chillon (http://www.chillon.ch/en). The Chillon Castle is located on Lake Geneva. It is one of the most visited castles in all of Europe. Fun fact: the castle was also the inspiration behind the Little Mermaid castle. I definitely felt like Ariel climbing on some of those rocks! We captured some amazing photos and just sat there gazing at the landscape. That is… until it started pouring rain on us. No worries though, we had some Swiss chocolates and Swiss cheese to numb the pain.

The next day, we opted for some time in the ministry. Our friends are serving in the French congregation in Sion. Since none of us speak French, we figured public witnessing would be the easy way to go. So we followed our group with the carts and to the streets we went. We set up in front of bus stations, shopping plazas and parks.

That afternoon, we did a tour of the Saint Leonard Underground Lake, the largest underground lake in Europe (http://www.lac-souterrain.com/index_eng.html). It was a very cool experience. How many people can say they took a boat ride underneath a mountain? The tour (lasting about 30 minutes) was very informative as well. The acoustics in the cave were amazing as well; there are even concerts performed at the underground lake. I would definitely check it out if I were you.

That night, we enjoyed the ‘last supper’. Our dear friends Luis, Loraine, NaLene and Tracy were going to be going their separate ways in the morning. Since TJ and I had plans to go to Finland, they had made arrangements to go to Italy. So Gionatan and Maria were kind enough to make a very special dinner for our last meal together. We ate, drank and played Monopoly Deal. It was definitely an emotional night since this was our first big trip together. We couldn’t wait to meet up Stateside and share the rest of our European experiences together.

TJ and I had one more day left in Switzerland to spend with Gionatan and Maria. We went to Geneva with them since he was giving the outgoing talk in the Italian Congregation. We both had an opportunity to comment in Italian which was a first time experience for me. The friends were so warm and loving towards us afterwards. They even included us for hospitality. We ended up spending the whole afternoon at our new friends house, the Sciuto’s. We had an amazing meal followed by basketball, foosball and even some karaoke (yes, I sang in French!). It was an awesome time with our new found friends.

That night, we were dropped off at our hotel in Geneva. Since our flight was early in the morning and Sion was over an hour away, it was easier for us to just spend the night. We stayed at the Nash Hotel, right across the street from the airport (http://www.nashairporthotel.com/default-en.html). It was hard saying goodbye to our dear friends but we look forward to the time where we can see them again! Now, it was time to rest and get ready for the biggest part of our trip yet: the Special Convention in Helsinki, Finland!