Layover in Geneva

Once upon a time, while visiting New York, Mario and I had a picnic in Central Park. We bought all the fixing at a Kosher deli, found a nice grassy spot in the shade, and ate to our hearts' content. Upon leaving, we threw out all the trash, which we later deduced including a serrated knife we had just bought to cut the bagels and such. Not much thought was lost on this fact until today, as we were passing through security check, and Mario got stopped for what we thought was a random search. Turns out, Mario has tucked the knife into the case for his umbrella that day, back in New York, for safe-keeping, and promptly forgot it was there. We both did, and he has not used his umbrella since that trip. Today, the security agent found it, questioned Mario, who then recounted the silly little story. Obviously we were not trying to conceal a weapon, even though it looked like it, and as long as we were willing to give up the weapon(!), we could be on our way. No harm done.

We managed to sleep some on the flight to Geneva, and so were ready to go once we touched down. Plus, how can you NOT take every spare moment to visit, when the city is paying our way into the city by train! We dropped off some extra weight in a luggage locker, headed on foot over the Mont Blanc bridge, past Lake Geneva and its non-existent water jet, and into the Old City to do some wandering. The first thing we noticed was that no shops nor restaurants were open, it being Sunday and all - something I had not taken into account. We were in desperate need of caffeine, as our brains were still on Montreal time, 4:30 am(or 3:30 am, damn you daylight savings time!) and, as luck would have it, we ended up at a Starbucks of all places. Boo. So un-Swiss.

Re-energized, we wandered up some rather quaint Old Town streets, past the Parc de l'Observatoire and its pretty views, though clouded and wet on this drizzly morning, and looped our way to the Cathedral St-Pierre. There was a small group waiting for the doors to open, so instead, we headed undeground, into the crypt, where layers upon layers of old worship grounds and churches have been uncovered for our learning pleasure. It's amazing how well everything is preserved, in all its "lasagna church" glory, and how catwalks have been inserted in here, there, and everywhere, blending
seamlessly into the archaeological excavations.

We continued the tour upstairs, first in the existing church, then higher still, climbing up both North and South towers, taking in the panoramic views of Geneva from the top, enjoying the chimes of the bells at 2 o'clock, and relishing in the fact that the clouds were clearing in the distance. We'd be able
to continue our walk under bluer skies and see the city shine a little.

Crossing back over the Rhone river, we caught a whiff of roasting chestnuts, a staple in European countries come cold weather. We shared a bag of the toasty treats while sitting on a beach by the water, then slowly made our way back to the airport. We also found a couple of shops open at the train station, and spent the rest of our Swiss francs on chocolate - lots ans lots of chocolate. We even found milk chocolate bars from the Villars company, each variety being made with the milk from cows of different regions in Switzerland! Amazingly, you can taste the difference - one was almost grassy, the second creamy and rich, and the third almost caramelized in flavour!


Another caffeine boost, and now we wait in a back corner of the very crowded and confusing Geneva airport, waiting for our flight to Barcelona to begin boarding - then it's one last little hop into Spain, and hopefully a speedy train ride to our beds.



See you on the flipside -