Chocolate, Knives, and Watches....Oh my!

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

Steph and I after discovering that the Swiss Alps do exist!

So Steph and I went to Geneva, Switzerland and let me tell you I've never had more trouble in an airport in my LIFE! I can officially say that I've been locked in an airport because of this trip. How did this happen you ask? Well it started with an hour plane delay out of Nice, which left us with one shot to catch a bus into Geneva once we disembarked. So we practically ran off the airplane, followed the signs that said France arrivals, buses and taxis and ended up in a parking garage? That's right. The sign said buses tho....so we waited and waited...and then decided to go and see if we'd made a wrong turn somewhere. Nope, we were right and yet wrong at the same time. How you ask? Well, we should have followed the sign off the plane that said International Arrivals and Connections. Stupid me just thought if you are flying to Geneva- you end up in Geneva, not France! But by the time we realized this, the French Terminal was closed for the evening and although we could see the bus we wanted, unless we decided to break through glass, jump barbwire fences or pick locked doors, there was no way we were getting into the Geneva side of the Airport. So we tried walking- WAY too long and sketchie of a road...freaky, and then finally resorted to calling a cab. 40 Swiss Franks later, we were kinda glad we did, as our hotel was located near some late night businesses!

Ya.... so no bus or taxi!

Our hotel was great however, providing us with a fabulous complimentary breakfast that also doubled as a lunch thanks to our ability to sneak sandwiches into our purses. With full tummies we headed to the hostel that we'd be staying at the next night to store our backpacks and then we were off to explore the city. It was a little cloudy, but way warmer than either one of us expected. We window shopped for watches and knives, popped into the odd Chocolatiers for samples, and attempted to find this giant fountain that was suppose to be one of the towns 'many' attractions. We didn't find the fountain, but we did find a great marina, old town, mall, play ground, flower clock (k so this one wasn't that impressive) and before you know it the sun was shining and we were surrounded by the alps. AMAZING! We then headed back to the hostel where we napped, made dinner and chatted with our Palestinian roommate before hitting the sack.

The Swiss Alps

The next morning we were up bright and early (k, not really) and off to find the UN and maybe this mysterious fountain. Without asking for directions, and only knowing the street it was located on...we found the UN with only a minor wrong turn. It was cold, and we were a little more than soaked from the rain at this point, so we really didn't hang out long. We were there long enough however to discover that someone had burnt themselves alive about a week before we arrived in protest of the war in Sri Lanka, and that the mark from his body was still on the pavement right by our feet. Kinda creepy. We then headed down the water front and finally saw the fountain we'd missed the day before, which was right in front of our noses the whole time, but not actually working because of the windy weather conditions. The grey sky provided a crappy backdrop for our photos, but at this point it was starting to snow and we both just wanted to be dry again. So we walked and we walk and we walked in search of a restaurant that wasn't going to rob us of all our hard earned money. We finally found one and with food in front of us we chilled out and watched a few different episodes on MTV...how American of us I know.

Birds Birds and more Birds

At this point we decided that we'd seen all that we needed to, and headed to the airport to chill out. Boarding time came and went and....you guessed it, an hour flight delay. The reason? A little snow that didn't even stay on the ground. I guess people in Switzerland are only use to seeing snow in the mountains...oh what we put up with in Canada! We finally arrived back in Nice at about 10:30pm, and thanks to our great timing ran into Ryan who provided us with money to take the bus home- ya I know, who travels without having at least a few Euros in their pocket?...this girl! Oh well...

And there you have it ladies and gentlemen...Geneva, Switzerland.

Like Julie said, next up -
London, Prague and Porto!