4 day weekend!-Saturday

Since arriving on the ship, I've heard rumors of a magical place off the coast of Conakry where unicorns frolic and dreams come true. Roume Island may not have mystical creatures, but it was a definite respite from the constant work at the hospital and pretty close to paradise. 

Kindia Part 1

This past weekend was a visit to a city about 120 km outside of Conakry. Guinea has beautiful landscapes and forests and mountains as you move east in the country, but being in the port at the western point of a 2 million inhabitant city, I had no idea that so much green existed. The main color scheme of our life on the ship is ocean blue and the dusty brown and gray of a city, but it took leaving the boat to realize how much I missed the grass and trees and even cucumber plants we saw as we left the city.

Return to me

Our last day in Geneva let us get some souvenirs (most importantly chocolate), take a long stroll out to the Water Jet, and leisurely meander along the boardwalk while people watching.  First things first, one of my coworkers (Melissa) made me promise to sing "The Sounds of Music" while in Switzerland with the mountains around me. Nevermind that the movie takes place in Austria, but being obliging, here's the silent proof. Sadly, no one asked me to participate in any remakes of the movie.

Geneva

We survived the France train system! I'd never taken the train before (in the States nor Europe), so I was a little nervous, but everything went smoothly, and the train is fantastic! So smooth and quick and you get to see all the great French countryside. Every village reminded me of the one in Chocolat. *sigh* So when we arrived in Geneva, I wasn't sure what to expect, other than there was a large lake nearby. It's beautiful! I'll post a few photos, but we really hit the ground running as soon as we checked in.

Ah Paris...

Well, it's official. We're in the City of Lights. By the time Mom and I arrived, it was 2pm Paris time which means it was 8am Indy time, and 7am Chicago time, and 3pm Helsinki time. But really that meant it was TOURIST TIME!

Part deux

Side note, apparently Michigan landscape looks like Finland according to our flight attendant. Who knew?

Part One

Helsinki here we come!