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Published: September 24th 2012
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After a long day of traveling (roughly about 8 hours), we finally landed in Geneva. The temps when we landed were probably in the 50s but by the time the day ended, it was prob in the 60s.
First thing first. We landed and we didn't really know what we were doing from a train perspective. There weren't as many information desks as we thought there would be at the Geneve Airport train station. We had a hard time finding our hotel. At least we had a hard time finding how to get to city centre from the airport. Turns out city center was only about a 7 min train ride from the airport and our hotel was just a stones throw away. We stayed at Hotel Cristal on 4 Rue Pradier. Very boutique hotel and very modern looking. The bathrooms had frosted glass versus doors... This could be a little wierd depending on how transparent it is on the outside looking in. The rooms could be considered a little small but for one night, it wasn't too bad. Very convienent due to proximity to train station and Lake Geneva.
Luckily, we were able to check into
our hotel when we arrived. I was very tired still from the plane ride. A shower and a very expensive Starbucks grande cafe americano (6.50 CHF) later, I had my second wind. We decided to walk along Quai du Mont Blanc to try to search for the Jet D'eau. No dice. It was no where to be seen. Turns out, it was windy this morning and they made the call to shut down the jets. O well. It was still pretty cool though to walk along the quai. We walked down the the Bains des Paquis. It was like a small beach area. They had rocks for sunbathing, a slide for fun and also a diving board. All a little bizarre, but very neat. Kind of makes me think of a scene from one of those old movies where the stars are in their one piece striped swimsuit heading to the beach. At one point we saw a lady jump in the lake and she told us it was 18 degrees Celsius which = very cold in my mind.
After Les Bains, we walked thru the Monument Brunswick and had lunch at a restaurant near the park. It
seemed very sustainable to me. Everything was very fresh and organic. I had North Atlantic fish over risotto. Yum!
After lunch, we walked across the Lake to the Cathedrale St. Pierre. We climbed the North and South Towers for some fantastic panoramic views of the city. Hopefully the pictures will do it justice. After meandering a little more in city center, did a little shopping. Went to Martels for fench macaroons and then into Laderach for some gourmet chocolates; the chocolates were scrumptious. I'd have to say swiss chocolate is probably the best there is. Afterwards, we decided we were going to head back to the hotel for a rest and then off the dinner.
Since everyone was tired and wanted some comforts of home, we decided to go to McDonalds for dinner; it was very close to our hotel. My Aunt and I had a "share box", cheeseburger, medium fries and a diet coke. Can you guys how much it cost us? It costed us 26 CHF. Yep, you read that right 26 CHF. One of the most expensive McD meals i've ever had. Never again! OK maybe again; the fries were very good.
Afterwards
Monument Brunswick
Monument Brunswick - Charles d'Este-Guelph (Duke of Brunswick) died in Geneva in 1873 and left his fortune to the city on the condition that his mausoleum be given prominence. This is his mausoleum. we had the French macaroons for dessert. So good. I bought 7 - mint, black current, coffee, chocolate extra bitter, sesame grapefruit, vanilla and ????? My top 3? Coffee, chocolate and vanilla. Least favorite? Mint.
All in all, not a bad day.
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