Geneve for a Day
Bonjour,
It's taking me a lot of effort to get used to saying things in French instead of in Italian. I keep saying grazie instead of merci beaucoup. Hopefully I'll get the hang of it while I'm in Switzerland, the French themselves won't be as nice I have a feeling.
I did intend to write another entry last night but our internet went haywire at the hotel as it so often does despite the exorbitant cost. Honestly though, not so much to say. During early evening I did some last minute shopping. I finally found some shoes I like, after days of searching, and on sale quite low at that. Then I came home and made dinner - a pasta with tomato sauce and spicy pancetta. Unfortunately the tomato sauce I bought at the store was just that - tomatoes and nothing else. So the sauce was pretty bland and I didn't eat much of it.
Last night I hung out with my friends from our program, some for the last time ever, some for the last time until I get back to Morgantown. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to Jessie and Brittany, but oh well. Some of them had projects due today so they were furiously working on drawings. Thank goodness I wasn't in that boat.
This morning I woke up early, and finally scooted myself out of bed sometime well before 7am. 6am? Thereabouts. The train I was hoping to take left at 8:25am so I had to get out of the hotel early. I made pretty good time but for some reason I was thinking I was running behind and even though I'd budgeted half an hour to wait for the taxi, I thought I was going to be half an hour late. Luckily I had just gotten my times mixed up and I found the train with few problems.
The train ride to Geneve rivalled any I have been on thus far. First we rode through the Italian Alps, craggy mountains covered in crumbling stone houses. And I mean literally crumbling. They seem to belong in the rock geography of the region. Before we crossed into Switzerland, just outside of the town of Brig, we had three different police officers, one with a handgun at his side, check passports and so on.
Oh, I nearly forgot to mention. In Milan they had a series of about 100 arrests following the London bombing, though they admitted most of them were for other crimes such as drug peddling. Rumor has it that there were people arrested with intent to put a bomb on Milan's public transportation system. When I first heard this I was glad I was going to Switzerland and France. But now I am inclined to think that it was just a rumor, since none of the major news sites have even mentioned it.
Anyway, once through security we passed through Brig, a town on the Swiss border, and the differences were immediately noticeable. The mountains get steadily higher and the buildings began to look less run down and more like, of course, traditional Swiss structures. Interspersed with the chalets was the occasional sleek modernist structure, and as we got closer to Geneve these became more common.
I slept a lot of the way, since I hadn't had much sleep and my compartment was shared with an older, graying Italian couple who I couldn't see bothering with petty thievery. But I woke up close to Lausanne. Lausanne is a largish community across Lake Geneva from Geneve itself. I'm not sure of the differences exactly but it was gorgeous. Terraced gardens swung up the hill, full of green crops. I saw for the first time houses somewhat similar to ours in America, with little yards on little inclines, and I had a deep-seated feeling of homesickness. Luckily for me I'll be home in about three days.
Lake Geneva itself is stunning. There was a hazy mist on the water such that the distant peaks of mountain seemed the same blue as the water, and the fuzzy shorelines all disappeared. The effect was that the lake and the mountains were of the same material, a giant protrusion which went outward and then upward, like the wing of a glider. Small sailboats flitted across the otherwise languid surface.
Here I made a small mistake. The announcer had mentioned two stops in Geneva - Geneve and Geneve-Aeroport. I figured it was best to get off at just Geneva, but when we got to the first of the two, I saw signs saying Geneve-Aeroport. I assumed this was the Aeroport, since the station was smallish, and continued on to what was, in fact, Geneve-Aeroport.
Luckily the airport is only about 10 minutes away. I got some money changed, and then found an American Express stand so I got some travellers' checks cashed as well. Swiss francs are the most beautiful money I have ever seen. I just want to keep them all. Five dollars is roughly equal to 6 francs. I'll have to take some pictures later.
I got a cab into town, and the cabbie was a nice guy who had gone to Cornell in the states bizarrely enough. Apparently Swiss cabs are privately owned and a lot nicer, and more expensive than their American counterparts. He exlained the tram system to me and chit-chatted as he drove me to my hostel. Final bill - 31 francs. Yikes. Expensive mistake.
I checked into the hostel but I can't get into my room until 3pm...which it is by now but I paid for an hour of time here at their internet cafe so I'm going to be in here a bit. I left my bags and found a small place to eat. Now, I don't know anything about Swiss cuisine, but this place was all Italian food excepting some salads, steaks and fish. The prices were very high, so I got a standard cheaper dish, spaghetti arrabiatta. Here in Switzerland they make it as spicy as hot Indian food is, which was nice. The sauce is nothing like Italian sauce, more of a spicy tomato broth than anything else, but the meal was quite good and in all honesty nothing like the pasta I'd had in Italy. I had planned on trying to find something more authentic for dinner, but at those prices I may just get a quick bite here and save up for a good meal in Paris. It was 20 francs (a litte more than $16) for a Coke and pasta, and this was just a little cafe.
So now here I am in the internet cafe. I found a record store I want to go to which Miss Kittin worked at before she became mildly famous. She DJed last night in Bern, Switzerland, and tonight is spinning at a big festival in Amsterdam, where my friend Jessie is going. But I digress. The store seems to be in the main area of town so once I check into the hotel and maybe grab some groceries I'll go in and do some shopping and sightseeing. It's possible I might pick up some flyers or ask at the store and try to find a club to go to tonight, but I'm on my own so I'm not sure about it. If I don't go, you might see me online tonight, since this internet cafe in the hostel is open until nearly 2am. Until then.
It's taking me a lot of effort to get used to saying things in French instead of in Italian. I keep saying grazie instead of merci beaucoup. Hopefully I'll get the hang of it while I'm in Switzerland, the French themselves won't be as nice I have a feeling.
I did intend to write another entry last night but our internet went haywire at the hotel as it so often does despite the exorbitant cost. Honestly though, not so much to say. During early evening I did some last minute shopping. I finally found some shoes I like, after days of searching, and on sale quite low at that. Then I came home and made dinner - a pasta with tomato sauce and spicy pancetta. Unfortunately the tomato sauce I bought at the store was just that - tomatoes and nothing else. So the sauce was pretty bland and I didn't eat much of it.
Last night I hung out with my friends from our program, some for the last time ever, some for the last time until I get back to Morgantown. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to Jessie and Brittany, but oh well. Some of them had projects due today so they were furiously working on drawings. Thank goodness I wasn't in that boat.
This morning I woke up early, and finally scooted myself out of bed sometime well before 7am. 6am? Thereabouts. The train I was hoping to take left at 8:25am so I had to get out of the hotel early. I made pretty good time but for some reason I was thinking I was running behind and even though I'd budgeted half an hour to wait for the taxi, I thought I was going to be half an hour late. Luckily I had just gotten my times mixed up and I found the train with few problems.
The train ride to Geneve rivalled any I have been on thus far. First we rode through the Italian Alps, craggy mountains covered in crumbling stone houses. And I mean literally crumbling. They seem to belong in the rock geography of the region. Before we crossed into Switzerland, just outside of the town of Brig, we had three different police officers, one with a handgun at his side, check passports and so on.
Oh, I nearly forgot to mention. In Milan they had a series of about 100 arrests following the London bombing, though they admitted most of them were for other crimes such as drug peddling. Rumor has it that there were people arrested with intent to put a bomb on Milan's public transportation system. When I first heard this I was glad I was going to Switzerland and France. But now I am inclined to think that it was just a rumor, since none of the major news sites have even mentioned it.
Anyway, once through security we passed through Brig, a town on the Swiss border, and the differences were immediately noticeable. The mountains get steadily higher and the buildings began to look less run down and more like, of course, traditional Swiss structures. Interspersed with the chalets was the occasional sleek modernist structure, and as we got closer to Geneve these became more common.
I slept a lot of the way, since I hadn't had much sleep and my compartment was shared with an older, graying Italian couple who I couldn't see bothering with petty thievery. But I woke up close to Lausanne. Lausanne is a largish community across Lake Geneva from Geneve itself. I'm not sure of the differences exactly but it was gorgeous. Terraced gardens swung up the hill, full of green crops. I saw for the first time houses somewhat similar to ours in America, with little yards on little inclines, and I had a deep-seated feeling of homesickness. Luckily for me I'll be home in about three days.
Lake Geneva itself is stunning. There was a hazy mist on the water such that the distant peaks of mountain seemed the same blue as the water, and the fuzzy shorelines all disappeared. The effect was that the lake and the mountains were of the same material, a giant protrusion which went outward and then upward, like the wing of a glider. Small sailboats flitted across the otherwise languid surface.
Here I made a small mistake. The announcer had mentioned two stops in Geneva - Geneve and Geneve-Aeroport. I figured it was best to get off at just Geneva, but when we got to the first of the two, I saw signs saying Geneve-Aeroport. I assumed this was the Aeroport, since the station was smallish, and continued on to what was, in fact, Geneve-Aeroport.
Luckily the airport is only about 10 minutes away. I got some money changed, and then found an American Express stand so I got some travellers' checks cashed as well. Swiss francs are the most beautiful money I have ever seen. I just want to keep them all. Five dollars is roughly equal to 6 francs. I'll have to take some pictures later.
I got a cab into town, and the cabbie was a nice guy who had gone to Cornell in the states bizarrely enough. Apparently Swiss cabs are privately owned and a lot nicer, and more expensive than their American counterparts. He exlained the tram system to me and chit-chatted as he drove me to my hostel. Final bill - 31 francs. Yikes. Expensive mistake.
I checked into the hostel but I can't get into my room until 3pm...which it is by now but I paid for an hour of time here at their internet cafe so I'm going to be in here a bit. I left my bags and found a small place to eat. Now, I don't know anything about Swiss cuisine, but this place was all Italian food excepting some salads, steaks and fish. The prices were very high, so I got a standard cheaper dish, spaghetti arrabiatta. Here in Switzerland they make it as spicy as hot Indian food is, which was nice. The sauce is nothing like Italian sauce, more of a spicy tomato broth than anything else, but the meal was quite good and in all honesty nothing like the pasta I'd had in Italy. I had planned on trying to find something more authentic for dinner, but at those prices I may just get a quick bite here and save up for a good meal in Paris. It was 20 francs (a litte more than $16) for a Coke and pasta, and this was just a little cafe.
So now here I am in the internet cafe. I found a record store I want to go to which Miss Kittin worked at before she became mildly famous. She DJed last night in Bern, Switzerland, and tonight is spinning at a big festival in Amsterdam, where my friend Jessie is going. But I digress. The store seems to be in the main area of town so once I check into the hotel and maybe grab some groceries I'll go in and do some shopping and sightseeing. It's possible I might pick up some flyers or ask at the store and try to find a club to go to tonight, but I'm on my own so I'm not sure about it. If I don't go, you might see me online tonight, since this internet cafe in the hostel is open until nearly 2am. Until then.
posted by Brian at 2:57 PM
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