So, this past weekend, Cari and I decided to go to Switzerland. Neither of us had been there and we just really wanted to check it out. I was told by several people not to go...most notably my French mom, Chantal. But, me, being so stubborn, just had to check it out.
The vacay started off normally. Cari and I got on the train, which was really nice. Everything is going just great, until we hear an announcement over the speaker.
We weren't really paying attention, but I was not going to understand it at all anyways, so we didn't hear what they said. We sat in this one town for a really long time and we finally began moving again. The SNCF man started walking through the train and taking tickets. I had everything ready so I could just give him everything.
He took on look at my ticket and asked me, in mumbled French, "So you're going to Geneve. You were supposed to get on the last car at the last stop." (I clearly did not understand any of this and left everything to Cari to figure out.) Turns out, the train broke apart!!! I didn't know that kind of technology existed in France! You could just color me embarassed at this point. Cari asked how to get to Geneva from where we were and where we were going.
Three stops later, we got off the train in Annemasse, a nice little border town, but much nicer than the ones in Texas. We bought a bus ticket at the Office of Tourism there and 10 minutes later we were at the douane. Cari said it was a very serious place and you can't have your cameras out and all that jazz. We followed some people who looked like they knew where they were going and we traversed the border by foot and we were in Switzerland! No passport check. No baggage check. No racial profiling! No tampon in my passport!
After thinking we broke several international laws, because I had a bag of oranges in my backpack, we were ready to go out and see the city! It was chillier than I have felt so far in France, probably from the high altitude. The first stop was the Cathedral where you could see a panoramic view of the city. But, we never quite made it because we took a wrong turn, and stumbled on the gem that is the Jet d'Eau.
The Jet d'Eau shoots water from Lake Geneva out at 200 km/h and 140m into the air! It was actually really cool to see. However, the walkway was really dangerous. It was soooo narrow and had no guard rails. It is a wonder more tourist lives are not lost every year.....
After that, we really decided to go the Cathedral. So, we walked in that general direction and came across an odd little ceremony. It included people in period costumes, open fires cooking food, and said people selling these little pins for your lapel (I had mistaken them for gypsies and did not make eye contact for a while). Cari and I had NO idea what the hell they were doing, so we just went with it, fighting our way into the church where they were the most populous. However, once inside, we could not go up in the tower because we did not have Swiss Francs and it looked clothes...whoopsies!
With all major tourist sites seen, we decided to walk around and came across the Musee des Beaux Arts. I saw a little sign hanging from the lampposts that they had a Nefertiti and Akenantin exhibit, and I was all for it! We went in and the receptionist didn't make us pay because we said we were students, which we aren't, and because we didn't have francs. The exhibit was really cool, looking at heiroglyphics from 1000s of years ago. There was also a movie about how to read heiroglyphics, which was really interesting. I only understood it becaus
e it was pictures haha.
From there, we stumbled on the Russian church which looks like the one in Moscow, but smaller I imagine. I thought this was an odd choice, but there must be a pretty strong Russian Orthodox population. I'm guessing there was a huge rise in the population after The Wall came down. Those run down Soviets wanted a taste of what money and banks looked like.
More walking around and boring stuff...but eventually went back to the hostel where I fell asleep for a little. It was a long day looking at all that wealth and wishing I was a part of it.
(1 Hour Later)
I woke up and it was dinner time. We really wanted to taste the local fare, which was fondue!! We went to one restaurant and asked if we could eat fondue and they said, "Yes, yes, of course!" like we were fools for wanting it. Literally, 5 minutes later, they said they had no fondue. 5 seconds later we left.
So we walked in the cold mountain air and finally found a place that had fondue. We ordered and it came and we were so excited. The server lit the little candle underneath the pot and almost immediately, the cheese started to bubble. I thought the flame was on too high but was reassured by Cari it was not. The cheese was devoured a few minutes later, but not before a couple of battle wounds. Both of us burned the roofs of our mouths and I burned my lip!!! What is Switzerland trying to do to me?!?!
It was after dinner we decided to see the Jet d'Eau at night, since there is nothing else to see. So, took the tram to the Centre Ville and started walking the exact same route we took earlier that day. It was when we got to the Lake that we stumbled upon the drug transaction taking place! I said, in a very calm voice, "Oh, this is scary," and Cari and I just walked the other way from the Jet d'Eau, which was not even on!! I swear, Switzerland is crazy! That was the icing on the cake and we decided to head back to the hostel so we could sleep and just leave this city ASAP!
We woke up in the morning, and decided to go to the UN building and see it. It was actually really cool, even just the outside! There was an awesome scuplture there called "Broken Chair" which celebrated the world ban on land mine usage. Very cool. From there, we went to the train station, where we hunkered in a phone booth eating the last of my clementines because we thought we couldn't take them back to France. Little did we know there was no one who even cared to look at our passports at the customs area!!
I was never happier to be on the train heading back to Lyon from this ill begotten vacatoin from Hades.....
The vacay started off normally. Cari and I got on the train, which was really nice. Everything is going just great, until we hear an announcement over the speaker.
We weren't really paying attention, but I was not going to understand it at all anyways, so we didn't hear what they said. We sat in this one town for a really long time and we finally began moving again. The SNCF man started walking through the train and taking tickets. I had everything ready so I could just give him everything.He took on look at my ticket and asked me, in mumbled French, "So you're going to Geneve. You were supposed to get on the last car at the last stop." (I clearly did not understand any of this and left everything to Cari to figure out.) Turns out, the train broke apart!!! I didn't know that kind of technology existed in France! You could just color me embarassed at this point. Cari asked how to get to Geneva from where we were and where we were going.
Three stops later, we got off the train in Annemasse, a nice little border town, but much nicer than the ones in Texas. We bought a bus ticket at the Office of Tourism there and 10 minutes later we were at the douane. Cari said it was a very serious place and you can't have your cameras out and all that jazz. We followed some people who looked like they knew where they were going and we traversed the border by foot and we were in Switzerland! No passport check. No baggage check. No racial profiling! No tampon in my passport!
After thinking we broke several international laws, because I had a bag of oranges in my backpack, we were ready to go out and see the city! It was chillier than I have felt so far in France, probably from the high altitude. The first stop was the Cathedral where you could see a panoramic view of the city. But, we never quite made it because we took a wrong turn, and stumbled on the gem that is the Jet d'Eau.
The Jet d'Eau shoots water from Lake Geneva out at 200 km/h and 140m into the air! It was actually really cool to see. However, the walkway was really dangerous. It was soooo narrow and had no guard rails. It is a wonder more tourist lives are not lost every year.....
After that, we really decided to go the Cathedral. So, we walked in that general direction and came across an odd little ceremony. It included people in period costumes, open fires cooking food, and said people selling these little pins for your lapel (I had mistaken them for gypsies and did not make eye contact for a while). Cari and I had NO idea what the hell they were doing, so we just went with it, fighting our way into the church where they were the most populous. However, once inside, we could not go up in the tower because we did not have Swiss Francs and it looked clothes...whoopsies!
With all major tourist sites seen, we decided to walk around and came across the Musee des Beaux Arts. I saw a little sign hanging from the lampposts that they had a Nefertiti and Akenantin exhibit, and I was all for it! We went in and the receptionist didn't make us pay because we said we were students, which we aren't, and because we didn't have francs. The exhibit was really cool, looking at heiroglyphics from 1000s of years ago. There was also a movie about how to read heiroglyphics, which was really interesting. I only understood it becaus
e it was pictures haha.From there, we stumbled on the Russian church which looks like the one in Moscow, but smaller I imagine. I thought this was an odd choice, but there must be a pretty strong Russian Orthodox population. I'm guessing there was a huge rise in the population after The Wall came down. Those run down Soviets wanted a taste of what money and banks looked like.
More walking around and boring stuff...but eventually went back to the hostel where I fell asleep for a little. It was a long day looking at all that wealth and wishing I was a part of it.
(1 Hour Later)
I woke up and it was dinner time. We really wanted to taste the local fare, which was fondue!! We went to one restaurant and asked if we could eat fondue and they said, "Yes, yes, of course!" like we were fools for wanting it. Literally, 5 minutes later, they said they had no fondue. 5 seconds later we left.
So we walked in the cold mountain air and finally found a place that had fondue. We ordered and it came and we were so excited. The server lit the little candle underneath the pot and almost immediately, the cheese started to bubble. I thought the flame was on too high but was reassured by Cari it was not. The cheese was devoured a few minutes later, but not before a couple of battle wounds. Both of us burned the roofs of our mouths and I burned my lip!!! What is Switzerland trying to do to me?!?!
It was after dinner we decided to see the Jet d'Eau at night, since there is nothing else to see. So, took the tram to the Centre Ville and started walking the exact same route we took earlier that day. It was when we got to the Lake that we stumbled upon the drug transaction taking place! I said, in a very calm voice, "Oh, this is scary," and Cari and I just walked the other way from the Jet d'Eau, which was not even on!! I swear, Switzerland is crazy! That was the icing on the cake and we decided to head back to the hostel so we could sleep and just leave this city ASAP!
We woke up in the morning, and decided to go to the UN building and see it. It was actually really cool, even just the outside! There was an awesome scuplture there called "Broken Chair" which celebrated the world ban on land mine usage. Very cool. From there, we went to the train station, where we hunkered in a phone booth eating the last of my clementines because we thought we couldn't take them back to France. Little did we know there was no one who even cared to look at our passports at the customs area!!
I was never happier to be on the train heading back to Lyon from this ill begotten vacatoin from Hades.....
No comments:
Post a Comment