Rachel visited me today, all the way from Geneva in the morning and back again at night (4 hours each way). So I had about 8 hours to show off St. Gallen.
Stop #1: Carnival Parade. It was hilarious - costumes, confetti, music, more confetti... actually it might as well be a celebration devoted to confetti... or maybe it's the brainchild of an ingenious confetti company? In any case, we left the parade covered in multicolored paper. Great photos coming soon from Rachel's camera.
Stop #2: St. Margarethen, Mineralheilbad. This outdoor sauna-park seems like the height of luxury to us Americans, but apparently it's not so unusual in Switzerland. We enjoyed lounging in the bubbles, taking a whirl around the lazy river, and seeing how much heat we could take in the eucalyptus sauna.
Stop #3: The Cathedral. We arrived just as an organ concert was ending, and one could almost imagine the crowd was applauding our entrance... or at least I like to think of it that way! St. Gallen has a cathedral that could be the pride of a much larger European city, with beautiful murals on the ceilings and a truly impressive organ in the choir loft.
Stop #4: Fondu. The restaurant was full, but we promised to eat quickly, and ended up sharing a table with none other than the President of the Carnival Committee - a sweet older woman who seemed like the furthest thing from rowdy carnival antics. The whole restaurant was full of performers in costume (including face paint) and they occasionally broke out into song. The fondue was strong in taste and smell, and we enjoyed it with kirsh for dipping.
Stop #5: Asian-inspired lounge. With a little time to spare, we had a glass of wine in an interesting local bar, and ran into some friends from my doctoral studies - so we ended up being a group of 5, talking about Switzerland, Germany, Sweden and the US.
After that, Rachel made her train, and is on her way back.... hope she visits again soon! Or perhaps I'll show up in Geneva for a day to visit her - if she'll stop traveling long enough to allow that. ;)
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