But What Do I Know? My Favorite Posts Of 2012

I listed the top viewed posts of 2012, but thought I would post a list of my favorite posts of 2012 too.

1. Duomo’s Rooftop, A Sculpture Garden In The Sky – I just like the pictures.
2. Dubai’s River, It’s Other Waterfront – I liked how different Dubai was from Geneva and loved its mix of cultures.  While you can see cool skyscrapers lots of places, there aren’t many where you can see the old wood dhows and the people from all over the world who trade on Dubai’s waterfront.
3. Millennium Trilogy Walking Tour Of Stieg Larsson’s Stockholm – Part Two – I loved The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Men Who Hate Women in Swedish).  When we went to Stockholm, I toured the sites mentioned in the books.  Most of them were in the super-cool Sodermalm neighborhood.
4. Mohawks Welcome But Not Required At The Groezrock Festival– We love live music and a European Music Festival is something to experience.  This one had a great lineup and was well worth the resulting fatigue (better described as exhaustion).
5. The Toblerone Line, One Sweet Barrier– We looked all over Switzerland for this puppy.  Once we found it, we couldn’t stop seeing it places (Reichenbach Falls, near Thun, etc.).
6. Why I Love Running– One of my favorite things.
7. Weingut Otto Laubsenstein – Fantastic people + fantastic wine = unforgettable time.
8. It Wasn’t Premeditated, Our Hike Up Rochers-de-Naye – A reader suggestion and one of the best views in Switzerland.  If you’re not up for hours of hiking straight uphill, you can always take the train there.
9. The Shock Of Your Life – Culture Shock – I tried to keep it real.
10. Les Contamines – Although we’ve done a lot of skiing, this was one of our favorite days because we spent it with wonderful fr

Our Trip To A Local Movie Theater

We saw our first movie in a theater since moving to Geneva.  Switzerland is expensive and movies are no exception.  I read the series of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo books by Steig Larsson.  I watched and enjoyed all three Swedish films in the Millenium Trilology.    We saw the new version starring Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist and Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander.  I was surprised at how many big name actors were in supporting roles (Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård, Joely Richardson, Robin Wright).

When I first heard Hollywood was making a version, I was skeptical that they could remain faithful to the dark spirit of books, but still could not wait to see the movie.

We had no idea where to go see the movie.  We looked up movie times, listings and locations for Geneva. There are a fair number of movie theaters here. Thankfully, our friend Hokie had told us about a cool theater near old town, The Astor Film Lounge.

 

Courtesy of Astor Film Lounge

At a bit over $50 for two tickets, it was a little pricey. On the bright side, it was a bit fancier than your typical movie theater.  They gave you a complimentary drink, had stadium seating and a modern lounge where you could wait.

Although I didn’t order anything, I perused the menu while we waited for the movie to start.  You can order food and drinks from your stadium seat.  They had appetizer plates and Haagen Daas, but no popcorn. For a mere 4,140 CHF (around $4,500), you can have a nice bottle of wine, Chateau Petrus Pomerol 1987!