So much has happened during this amazing weekend, I don't even know where to begin or which stories to tell. I'm not capable of putting into words how much of a great time I had. This entry will never do my experience justice. And neither will the photos. But I'll do my best.
I guess first thing's first, I arrived on Friday night where I met my friend, A, at the airport. We talked and caught up over sandwiches and a croissant. I wanted to go out that night, however, I could tell I wasn't up to it since I was so tired that I didn't even know how to speak properly.
Saturday, we were joined by A's friends called S and J. J being accompanied by B and R. J, B, and R are all friends from Australia (this is starting to sound like one of those narrative jokes). We walked around Geneva, seeing the old city, le jet d'eau (which is a jet of water just shooting up 10km at 200km/h), walking through beautiful parks (even a couple with free wifi) and high-end shopping districts, and stopped for some ice cream. Later on for dinner, we had cheese fondue at Swiss Chalet (completely different from the one in Canada), which was extremely expensive, by the way. But I must say, my first experience with cheese fondue was a pleasant one. Later we went to a bar for some beer. We talked, laughed, and told stories, enjoying each other's company, completely in bliss - well, I was anyway. I'm pretty sure the alcohol had something to do with it. I learned a lot about Australia that night, actually. Loads about their wildlife - mostly about vicious kangaroos, their climate, their capital city, and some Aussie slang. T'was a delightful night indeed! And I think it's safe to say that I love Aussies :)
Sunday was a pretty epic day. Our goals were to climb Mont Salève, find La Jonction, and then see the United Nations headquarters - all of which we completed! Hiking up Mont Salève was incredible, and a great achievement for me, considering the fact that I'm not very athletic. I would also like to point out that this mountain is in France. All you had to do to get from Switzerland to France was as simple as crossing the street. But anyway, I admit I almost chickened out when we joined the hiking group and saw that everyone had hiking shoes and hiking poles, while A, S, and myself were merely in running shoes. Though frightening at first, our shoes didn't let us down. The group we walked with was great. They all go together every Sunday to the top of the mountain, and were so welcoming. They were all like family, even treating us like family. We walked through a forest, through muddy trails, up steep hills, climbing through rocks and trees for two and a half to three hours. The journey was very tiring, all of us dreading it. But once we reached "la cerise sur la gâteau" all the struggling was forgotten. The view of Geneva from the top was breathtaking. It was great to just sit there, stare, and take a moment to just simply be in awe. To soak in how overwhelmingly beautiful it was to see the fields, the houses, the lake, the mountains in the background, and beautiful clouds just above. The most incredible thing was that if you turn around from the view of Geneva, you get yet another breathtaking image of the Alpes - Mont Blanc being among them. A lot of the time, we just took photos, sat, ate prepared sandwiches from home, relaxed and talked while admiring the stunning landscapes. If I had all the time in the world, I would have just stayed there the whole day, soaking up the sun. But then again, already a couple of hours in, my face got sun burnt. Maybe soaking up the sun isn't that great of an idea.
After Mont Salève, we went home and took a well-deserved shower and rest! But on to the next adventure - La Jonction. It's a junction of two rivers, called the Rhône and the Arve. They're two different colours and at one point, they meet, but never mix. After taking a few buses/trams, we took a walk, guessing which ways to go and finally found it! However, when we saw it, we were too low to get a good view of it so we had to find our way to the Pont de la Jonction, which is a high bridge that overlooks the two rivers. As we tried to find our way, we found a small trail and thought, "hey, we climbed a mountain today, why not have some more adventure?" So we went, and found ourselves looking up at a steep hill that we had to climb. It wasn't fun climbing it in flats! But we made it up, and yet, still couldn't find the bridge. We asked around for directions and viola, we finally got there! It was a beautiful thing to see, especially during sunset and le jet d'eau in the background. Next stop: the United Nations headquarters. That wasn't too hard to find. We took our good share of photos and were on our way!
We decided that for our last dinner together, we'd grab kebabs, some beer, and feast at Le Parc des Bastions. At the park, there was some party going on with salsa and bachata music playing so it was cool to eat and talk, and to have that playing in the background. We then took last minute photos with the Opera House and the statue of Monsieur Dufour, then went home.
My flight back to Stockholm was on Monday afternoon. Since A had class that morning, I roamed the streets of Geneva on my own, map in hand, looking like the typical tourist. I really loved Le Parc des Bastions so I decided to walk there again. I got a bit lost, but luckily met a gentleman who was happy to help. At first he came up to me because he was lost, as he forgot where he parked his car. I think he wanted to use my map to find it, but we got caught up with talking about Toronto and Geneva. I ended up wasting too much time talking to him that I really needed to go. He pointed me in the right direction and as I left to find my way, it hit me that I didn't even help him with finding his car. I felt pretty bad. At least I got to practice my french? Later on when I walked back to A's residence, we met up, gathered my stuff, went to eat cake at this great place called Martel, bought a few souvenirs, then had a final Starbucks date before leaving for the airport. I was glad to finally have Starbucks again, but uber disappointed to find that they don't make green tea lattes in Switzerland. Oh well.
When I was going to buy my train ticket to the airport, an older woman approached me and kindly asked if I had extra change to pay for her train ticket to Lucerne. Something about her really touched me. I don't know what it was. Maybe it was the way she asked me, or carried herself, or her poor clothing that implied she doesn't live the most luxurious life. The look in her eyes and her stature implied feeling a bit lost in life. This may sound ignorant and I hate to assume, but her shaved head perhaps a sign of sickness? Something about her made me feel more than happy to pay for her ticket. Once I did, the happiness and appreciation that you could so clearly see in her eyes was enough for me to feel that I had ended my trip on a very good note.
Although I felt that I saw everything I wanted to see in the city, I wasn't satisfied. I loved the atmosphere and hearing french everywhere I went. Leaving Switzerland was very hard. But I know for a fact that I'll return to visit the other cities. As for Geneva in particular, I hope to return eventually.
Ps. I'd like to point out that the weather was amazing. I prepared myself for rain because it was supposed to rain the whole weekend, but instead the sun was out, projecting a 27 degree climate! For the first time in Europe this year, I got lucky :)
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