Profiles » LMUK » Lindsey's Trips
Europe » Switzerland
Geneva & Around - Friday, January 21, 2000
I used to love working flex time - I could take a long weekend and go to somewhere like Geneva and not even use any of my holidays!This time I decided to go to Geneva - cheap flights and seemed like plenty to do for a weekend.
I flew to Geneva in the morning - it was very foggy and it was feeling like we must be near the ground when we were landing but I couldn't see any land at all - we'd touched down before I could see anything.
There is a train from Geneva airport to the city, which I always like, makes thing nice and straighforward, plus there are lockers at the train station to leave your bag if you can't check into your hotel/hostel yet.
I decided to head out to the Red Cross Museum first. You walk by lots of UN buildings to get out there. I was pretty impressed with the museum. It dealt with lots of gruesome thing in a tasteful way but still getting the message across.
Next I went to check into the hostel. I made the mistake of saying I'd booked a room rather than a bed which seemed to annoy the guy on the desk. The hostel seemed pretty nice - quite modern and clean. When I was there (in winter) it closed for a few hours during the day but that's not necessarily a bad thing - makes you go out and see the sites.
There were a couple of nice American girls in my room - offered to make me and another girls dinner that night.
The next day I decided to go to Lucerne - home of the Olympic museum. The museum was OK. There is also a cathedral that you can climb to the top of to get a great view of the city and lake Geneva. Also shops on nice winding streets to wander around.
The next day I went a little further around the lake (there's a frequent train) to visit Chataeu de Chillon - a very old castle right on the lake with amazing views of the lake and mountain.
I walked from the train station to the Chateau - its a bit far - I'd advise getting a bus or car.
I went back to Geneva for a wander around the old town - its a nice town with lots of old buildings and nice shops. The big fountain on the lake isn't turned on during winter. I also went into the cathedral - underneath there is an archeological site where they have excavated the old cathedral. I was lucky, I think and there was an English language film about the dig starting as I walked in - I would definitely recommend waiting to see this if its not time to start.
I like archeological things so I did enjoy it - the only problem for me was that all the signs on the displays were in French and my French isn't really good enough to understand stuff like that.
My trip nearly ended up being supercheap - they'd over booked the flight home and offered me a £100 travel voucher to get a later plane (I paid less than £100 for my flight). Unfortunately someone didn't show so I got to get on the flight, wasted money on phoning my mum to tell her the change of plans, never got to shop at the airport, and they took the voucher back! Oh well - it still cost me less than £150 for the whole trip - a pretty good deal.
- Created:
- Wednesday, October 27, 2004 at 12:06 PM
- Last Modified:
- Wednesday, October 27, 2004 at 12:10 PM