Half-assed Switzerland

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Geo: 46.3055, 6.18535

Had a great sleep last night, despite waking up at 6:00 AM. I did wake up for a short while during the middle of the nigh,t but I still managed to get a decent number of hours of sleep. I lay in bed trying to sleep longer, but gave up at 8:15, or so.

The hostel had a really great breakfast. Cheese, cold cuts, yogurt, cereal, and great bread. I ate with David and Melissa, a girl from Singapore that works in the TV industry. It sounds like she's traveled to some great places in Asia.

It's a small world - after David left the hostel I got to talking with Stephen, the other bunkmate from Southeast Asia. He's also presenting at the computer science conference that David is presenting at. I told him to say "hi" for me.

I checked out of the hostel and sat on the lakefront for a little while. I had some time to kill before catching the train. It's a lot less foggy today - you could actually see the mountains and the opposite shoreline in the distance. With the fog yesterday it looked like a vast, infinite, endless ocean. I felt like throwing out a bunch of words that meant the same thing. Excuse the indulgence! The author of "The Piano Tuner" has rubbed off on me!

It was a very serene and peaceful picture on the lake today. A few ducks, a group of rowers ... church bells ringing in the not-so-far distance. It felt like I was sitting in an impressionist painting by Monet!

I arrived in Geneva and dropped off my bag at the hostel. I noticed a train schedule with pricing for the trip from Geneva to Paris. I should NOT have bought a plane ticket!!! Don't ever use www.raileurope.com for pricing! According to them, I should have saved 15 Euros (even when accounting for additional airport transport costs) by flying instead of taking the train. Instead, I'll probably end up paying 20 Euros more to fly, and it will probably take me an extra two hours to get to Paris (including transport to and from the airports). Terrible! Raileurope.com must tack on a pretty hefty service charge or mark-up. You live and you learn, I guess.

At the hostel, I ran into a guy from the Bern hostel. This hostel is another good one - clean, cheap, and close to lots of cheaper Asian restaurants. I will have to try some tonight to both save money, and to get my Asian-food fix. There are also lots of other ethnic restaurant options around.

Lunch was a sorry excuse for a quiche (bland) and a hot dog roll (crap). Parisian pastries will be better! I can't wait! I took a stroll while eating. Geneva doesn't have much to see - possibly because it's a Sunday. I walked through a nice park and saw the famous Geneva "Jet" (see pics). John and Nugget will be jealous - I actually saw it in action though it is nothing special. I crossed the river and strolled through the old town. It's actually quite nice, but very quiet.

Crossed back across the river and strolled along the waterfront. There was some kind of charity event taking place - capoeira, vendors, lots of people out walking, etc. It seemed like the whole city was out at the festival - maybe that explains the empty old town. I walked over to the UN - not very impressive. I didn't go to the Red Cross museum, though that might have been a worthwhile visit. I was too tired and sick, so I went back to the hostel for a rest, and to do some laundry.

The laundry took forever - I munched on some chocolate and wrote in my journal while waiting. After, I had a traditional Swiss dinner - Vietnamese food! I had a craving and couldn't resist. A medium-sized bowl of pho was 13.5 CHF!!! It was bland and terrible - the beef was bad, and the onions were sliced too thickly, giving them a very strong and unpleasant flavour. I also had two big spring rolls made with rice paper, and not spring roll wrappers. Very oily. The interior was gooey - the rice paper was bunched up on the inside, so there was a glob of gooey dough. And the fish sauce had no flavour. I also had a guava juice - the total damage was almost $21 CAD. A waste of money, but sadly, it was still cheaper than almost any other restaurant I could've gone to.

So, Switzerland is finished for me. My plan was pretty half-assed to be honest, since it was an unexpected detour. Basically, I picked the most convenient (and cheapest) path to get from Florence to Paris. I didn't exactly pick places that represent the best of Switzerland. I don't think I'd go back to any of the places I visited, but I did see enough to know that the rest of Switzerland is worth a return visit. As long as I bring garbage bags stuffed full of money!

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Photos

a
The passage of money. Only in Switzerland! Of course I was denied entry, being a scuzzy, penniless backpacker.

b
I think this was a theatre of some sort.

c
A nice park for strolling.

d
The reformation monument

e
Is that Ron Jeremy???? If it is, I suppose it's fitting that he's placed at the end of a VERY long shaft!

f
I think it's a Russian orthodox church.

g
This was either Rousseau's birthplace or house.

h
There was a very beautiful, almost ethereal light shining down this alleyway. Unfortunately, I couldn't capture it with my camera. I usually only see such a beautiful light emanating from hot Spanish women!

i
This is what happens when you can't find a bathroom in Geneva. It doesn't look very healthy with all the floaties, does it? No, it's actually a juice bottle that I had finished and filled with water - I am only kidding. Or am I???? You be the judge.

j
Some parts of Geneva reminded me of parts of Robson street in Vancouver.

l
The Jet d'eau - over-rated!!!

m
The United Nations

n
The plaza in front of the United Nations. I expected the United Nations and its plaza to be more magnificent. In the end, it was just disappointing.

o
A very unique Catholic church near the hostel

p
p

t
Taken in Parc Mon Repos, a beautiful waterfront park near the hostel.

u
The ubiquitous chestnut puree. Pretty crappy tasting.