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Jared Bloch
Fruit stand on the road from Bogota to Mariquita
Colombia - At least once a day, my Colombian-born wife will say (usually around breakfast time) “oh what I wouldn’t give for a batido de lulo or curuba” or one of any number of exotic fruits native to her home country.
To someone raised in a northern climate, the fruit selection at Migros pretty well represents my vocabulary of sweet succulents: apples, pears, bananas, oranges, and heaven forbid, pineapples and mangoes when they are “in season,” that is when shipping allows.
Jared Bloch
Cartagena, Colombia (GenevaLunch) – When my wife suggested combining a December work assignment in Cartagena, Colombia with holiday vacation, my first thought was “I am going to miss some great early snow!” Three weeks later, with a nice tan and saltwater still seeping out of my ears, I am thanking my wife for her wisdom. Here is what we found traveling the country largely by bus, from the Caribbean to the Pacific Coast, with a passage over the Western and middle branch of the Colombian Coordillera.
Horse carriage and fruit seller inside the walled city of Cartagena
Our trip began in Cartagena de Indias, on Colombia’s Atlantic or Carribean Coast.
The city is probably the most well known tourist destination in Colombia. The 500 year-old colonial city is a UNESCO World Heritage site, as well as home to white sand Caribbean beaches.
Jared Bloch
View of the mountains from Chamonix Village
Chamonix, France - Tired of taking all of your out of town guests to Gruyere, Annecy and Ivoire? Chamonix, just one hours drive away on the White Autoroute, offers a nice change of scenery and great day hikes. And what scenery!
The Chamonix Valley, in the heart of the Alps boasts several world class attractions including Mont Blanc, the highest point in the French Alps (4,810 meters) and the Mer de Glace Glacier.
Jared Bloch
A bakery near Parmentier Metro
Communing with the dead in the catacombs
Paris, France (GenevaLunch) - At an easy three and-a-half hour train ride (TGV), or leisurely five hour drive through rolling farmland, Paris should be on your list of weekend getaways if you live in Geneva.
My family manages at least two trips a year, usually with visiting friends or family in tow. Which begs the question, how many times can you see the Eiffel Tower or walk the Champs Elysée? Here’s a recipe for wandering in Paris guaranteed to change the way you see the world’s most touristy city.
Jared Bloch
Jewish quarters in Lyon - Photo ©Jared Bloch
It’s officially summer and time for weekend getaways! And at one-and-a-half hours south, Lyon is a great shoestring evasion from Geneva.
Stuff your backpack with a toothbrush and a camera and catch a train at Geneva’s train station, Gare Cornavin. Change trains at Bellegarde, or get the local Poste bus from there to Lyon.
Jared Bloch
The trip to Madrid from Geneva is a quick hop.. 1.5 hours by plane.. or 14 driving, minus the detour through Bilbao at midnight…
On a recent trip to Spain I was awestruck by the automobile driven megopolis that is Madrid – there are 6.5 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area and with some of the cheapest gas prices in Europe, cars and overpasses are ubiquitous. I was also happily surprised by a number of noteworthy architectural works breaking up the city scape. Read more…
Jared Bloch
I forgot how much I love to drive, and what I love about driving, or is it just the road itself…
Where the Road and the Sky Collide... Road to Nowhere
Driving through Southern France on our way to Madrid, through the Basque Country, and two days later returning through North eastern Spain, I see glimpses of the Road in a European setting; rugged hills breaking up the monotony of endless townships combined with vast spaces between settlements and an emptiness unblotted, or too immense to be paved over by humanity – and still it is the road that has brought us here.
Jared Bloch
It is an evasion of sorts and an escape marked by sadness. My sister in-law passed away last week at the age of 52; too young a death to accept, and yet that is exactly what my wife and I need to do in order to honor the life affirming woman that Conny was. In that spirit, I headed to the mountains of Valais, invited by friends to take over their chalet while they were on vacation.
Train ride from Geneva to Valais
Part of me is reticent as I board the train with my faithful dog Rocky of 12 years to head off into the hills. I am not experienced at mourning, and even as I savour the Paul Auster novel I am reading on the train, I think of my love, rushing off to Colombia to bury her sister. Only the book’s bittersweet commentary on love and loss consoles me as we trundle along through the pass from Vaud into Valais. Riders are a mixed bag of kids soaking up the European summer, moms taking their kids out to visit out of touch friends, and locals headed out to the country for some fresh air.
Jared Bloch
Islota Bella, Lago Maggiore, Italy
After two years of budget rate hotels my family finally got to experience a night under the stars over the longPentecost weekend.
It was with much relish that I recently dusted off our as yet untested 4 person tent aired out our musty sleeping bags lying dormant and still smelling of desert sand and sagebrush, for a weekend foray into Lago Maggiore, Italy.
Jared Bloch
Reading recent news from Georgia, I am reminded of my stay there and the freshwater oasis where I escaped from the disheveled city center.
Tbilisi Sea – a reservoir outside of the city and an instructive tour of Soviet era Georgia.The lake was excavated in the 1940’s or 50’s as a water source for Tbilisi. It became a sort of resort area for Russian tourists and well to do Georgians. Amongst the relics are a sort of cement terrace promenade overlooking the lake, and the shell of a former luxury hotel.
