The title of this post should really be fifth of July because on the fourth of July, I went to work as if it was any other day. As an expat working abroad in Geneva, Switzerland I get the local bank holidays off versus our US national holidays. Our bank holidays tend to be clumped together around Catholic holidays in the Spring and late Summer versus in the United States where it seems to average one per month.

While I didn’t get Friday off, I was amused to find that many people in my office were also wearing red, white and blue. The only difference was that they were wearing the colors in support of France who played, and lost to Germany, in the World Cup Friday night.

But, on the fifth of July, we did indeed celebrate Fourth of July, or America’s birthday as my friend Emily calls it. More than 30 people from five different continents came together yesterday afternoon to enjoy sunshine, delicious food, lots of beverages, frisbee, a few dips in the lake, and an excuse to wear lots of red, white and blue!

The host committee, led by Emily and a few of her friends, went all out providing patriotic leis, paper lanterns, cups, plates and more! Even though our grill was only a foot in diameter and barely held a rack of ribs, it stood up to the test of cooking lots of meat for hungry friends all afternoon!

Emily, aka Lady Liberty in Geneva, deserves a prize for being the most patriotic person I know. An equally as patriotic ensemble was worn last week during every USA World Cup game in addition to being sported at her law office on Fourth of July.

Meanwhile, yesterday’s festivities made Bo and I both realize that neither of us have any red in our wardrobe.

My favorite food of the day included the delicious cheeseburger I shared with Bo as well as a few of the ribs, freshly imported from the United States via Delta. But, the real star of the show was Emily’s homemade Salted Caramel Apple pie. It was INCREDIBLE. I would ask for the recipe if I thought I would actually last through a recipe as complicated as one that includes homemade crust, lattice crust and made from scratch salted caramel.

While Bo and I both missed the long weekend and fireworks our friends enjoyed back in the United States, we had fun celebrating with so many new friends from across the world yesterday.

What did you do to celebrate the Fourth of July?