Switzerland

 November 2019

Crossing over into Switzerland was exciting, and arriving in Geneva, the first thing I did was check into my hostel, and drop my bag in a locker. 

Geneva was expensive, so I had picked a dorm for the night in a place which also provided a basic breakfast for free. That way, the only thing I would need to buy was dinner. I had taken out 30 swiss francs back in France, thinking this would be plenty. 

What I hadn't accounted for was just how expensive Geneva would be, and after buying some postcards, I only had 25 francs left. I soon discovered by wandering past restaurant windows, I wouldn't really find any dinner for less than 30 francs at a minimum. 

Cursing my cheapskate decisions, I stared longingly at a fancy shop window display, and then decided to hit the free museums and go for a good wander.

Geneva is full of fancily dressed businessmen wandering the waterfront, talking in English in a mix of French, Swiss, German and American accents. It was fascinating, but I felt very underdressed. Wandering into the old town fixed this however, as the streets were much emptier and seemed to only be traversed by residents in much more normal garb. Maybe the businessmen only frequent the grand waterfront?

I first stopped at the Museum of Natural History, which was mildly interesting but somewhat dark and dated. My next stop was the Art and History museum which was much more enjoyable, it had a whole archaeology wing which I spent far too long exploring.

 It also had art by Van Gogh, Monet and Renoir which I thoroughly enjoyed. 

However I suddenly realized it was getting dark, and started the 30 minute trek back to the hostel, deciding I would work out dinner once I arrived and had sat down for a while and rested.

I had arrived in Geneva late morning, and it was now late evening, so my feet were rather sore indeed. The thought of going out again to try and find dinner within my price point and potentially wandering for a long time was not a tempting one.

Therefore when I arrived back at my hostel and saw their onsite canteen/restaurant offered a single serve fondue and a bottle of wine for 20 francs, it wasn't a hard decision to make.

 I spent a rather pleasant and long evening reading a book, overloading on cheese, and drinking wine. I always feel somewhat self conscious when eating in public alone especially when no-one else is.

 But in this case my feeling was helped by the 3 long-suffering teachers who were watching a school group of something like 50 kids eat their dinner and organise to meet again in half an hour.

 They looked longingly at me in my corner, and then told me in posh English accents how much they wished they were me. I spent the rest of the evening slightly smug and smiling to myself, though that also could have been because of all the red wine. 

In the morning I took the metro to the airport (something I had been nervous about but was beautifully signposted and clear unlike some places I know - I'm looking at you Paris). The views from the flight over the snowy mountains were incredible, and I felt very sad to be leaving.