We made it to Geneva!
The flight was a bit rough on take-off and landing but we got a delicious sandwich that made up for it (yes, I am easily food motivated).
When we landed, I looked up the best way to get to our Airbnb and found that one of the city buses took us almost all the way there. Luckily the bus we needed was scheduled to leave in 5 minutes. So, we bought our tickets and hopped on the bus to go to our home for the next two nights.
The bus was wonderful and about 1/6 of the price of an Uber! We got off on our stop and still had some time before check-in so we decided to find some food. Initially, we planned to go to the grocery store for some quick meals, but after a bit of research, we quickly realized that almost all the stores in Switzerland are closed on Sundays….including grocery stores! Since we were feeling a bit flustered by that we found the first restaurant that was open and chose that.
The food was okay, but it was crazy expensive for what we got! Travis did some research and confirmed that mostly all businesses closed on Sunday and Switzerland is an incredibly wealthy country which makes the restaurants and cost of living higher than we expected.
Since it was the first place we saw we just decided to bite the bullet and eat, but learned our lesson to look at a menu before sitting down.
Once we were done with food it was time to check in. I cued up the directions and we hiked up a very steep hill and lots of stairs to finally reach our Airbnb…
We thought the hike up would be the hardest part, but we were so wrong. The process of retrieving the key, getting all the doors opened, and finding the right apartment was a major struggle. Now, it’s not that the host left bad instructions. Swiss doors are just complicated! We would turn the key one way. Nothing. The other. Nothing. Back again. Nope. One more time the other way…bingo. The door would open! We have no clue what we were doing wrong, but after about 30 minutes we finally made it into the apartment!
We threw our bags down and headed out to start exploring the city which we both were already in awe.
We walked through the streets surrounding the apartment and found wonderfully architected buildings and roads. We then walked down the hill and out to Lake Geneva. It was stunning.
After wandering for a while we decided to get some dinner. We found an adorable (and more reasonably priced) restaurant next to our place. Our waitress was great, the food was amazing and Travis found a new cider that was delicious!
With our bellies full we called it a night.
6/12 – Day 6
Our full day in Switzerland is here and we couldn’t be more ready!
We started the morning with pastries from the grocery store. I got something similar to a cheese danish. Travis got a chocolate donut and we shared a ham croissant! We got our baked goods to go and walked to our meeting point for the first tour of the day; a trip to Annecy, France.
Since we were a bit early we sat on the steps of a church nearby, ate our pastries, and took in the beauty of the city.
At 9 AM we were met by our tour guide, loaded the bus, and were off.
Our guide was very informative and talked about all of the scenery we saw on the way, the relationship between Geneva and Annecy, and gave some history of the town of Annecy.
When we arrive, Travis and I were speechless. The town was beautiful. The tour guide talked for about half an hour more and then we were free to explore. Travis and I started weaving our way through the streets. I took many many photos to try and capture the moment but no photo can truly replicate just how breathtaking it was.
We walked for a while and decided to get some food. We stopped at a little place that was just opening for the day. I got an Italian Panini. Travis got nuggets and fries. And I was very excited to learn that European Coca-Cola doesn’t have corn, so I can actually drink it!
After our food we walked more streets we had yet to explore. Finding many dogs, flowers, and more parts of the canals.
At 12:45 we met at the bus and made our way back to Geneva. This tour was absolutely worth it and I would recommend it to anyone who has some time in Geneva!
When we were back, we were both pretty tired so we decided to hydrate and relax in the room for a bit before our next activity; a boat cruise!
Before the cruise, I knew one thing I did not want to miss when in Switzerland…trying Swiss chocolate! We found a chocolate shop and I didn’t know where to begin. I wanted to try everything, but there were over 20 different kinds and I knew that wouldn’t end well. We found a smaller variety pack and decided to go with that.
When I say this was the best chocolate I have ever tasted…I mean it. So far we only tried a few different kinds, but they are all so unique and just melt in your mouth.
Around 3:30 we walked down to our meeting point at the docks and waited for the boat to come in! We were taking an hour’s cruise around Lake Geneva. The weather was wonderful. We found a spot and relaxed as we watched the historical buildings and million-dollar houses go by.
After our boat cruise was done, it was time for dinner (yes, a heavy part of my travels consist of eating)! When we were walking around the previous day, we noticed a majority of the restaurants offered fondue. Since Travis and I had never had fondue, and it was apparently popular, we decided to give it a try.
Simply put. It was delicious. I want more.
We shared a pot of fondue and got it with bread and potatoes. We both ate until we were stuffed and there was still fondue left! This was one of the highlights of the trip for me.
With our bellies full we went back to the room to relax for a bit and both passed out! We were both asleep for almost an hour. When I woke up I didn’t know what day, month, or year it was! As the fog cleared I realized we both fell into a cheese-induced coma. It was about 8 PM and I knew we needed to get up and moving otherwise we would be awake all night. I woke Travis up and we walked a new path we had yet to explore. We ended up finding a massive park that was so full of life. There were people walking, biking, playing chess on one of the many boards, enjoying a drink, and playing cards. We found a picnic table and played cards until we couldn’t see the numbers anymore.
After playing cards Travis was hungry and since it seemed everything closed at 8 PM we found a McDonald’s close by and decided that would be sufficient for the night. One thing I will say about McDonald’s in Europe is the quality of the food is a lot better than in the States. Plus, they have menu items that are unique to the certain country as well which makes it fun to try!
We took our food to go and went to sit in the square by our apartment to enjoy the peaceful, cool night. It was a fantastic way to cap off our time in Switzerland.
Once our food was gone we decided to go back to the apartment and try to get some sleep.
6/13 – Day 7
Today was our true last day in Geneva since our flight to Florence didn’t leave until 7 PM. We took advantage of a slow morning and slept in to catch up on some of the rest we had been missing.
When we finally woke up, we started to pack a few items and decided to go to the grocery store again for pastries. We got the pastries to go and walked back to the apartment to relax and continue packing before our 11 AM checkout.
At about 10:30 AM we were both relaxing and enjoying not having to lug our bags around when the door opened. I didn’t see who it was but I feel safe to assume the cleaners were early. That was an interesting experience because our checkout wasn’t until 11, so I was confused as to why they would just enter without warning a half hour early…but they just closed the door and we didn’t see them when we checked out at 11.
Since we were now homeless for a few hours we decided to go to the rooftop garden by our apartment to pass some time by playing cards. As much as we would have loved to explore more it would have been very challenging between our bags and the cobblestone streets. We played Rummy and King in the Corner for about an hour before packing up and walking down to a restaurant for lunch.
We ended up at the same restaurant we had eaten at previously, but it was delicious and one of the more reasonable places around us. We both got lunch and a drink and still wanted to sit for a while longer so we ended up sharing a dessert as well. It was a very peaceful afternoon and helped us not have to carry our luggage so much.
Once we were done at the restaurant, we packed up and walked back to the square by our apartment since there was nice seating, shade, and a public restroom. I read for a while and people watched. Travis worked through a word search. We rested for a while until it became very sunny and warm. We decided it was best to head to the airport a bit early to avoid melting gifts.
We hiked down to the bus stop and caught the city bus to the airport.
One praise I have for Geneva is that it is very easy to get around the city. The city bus is very user-friendly and will get you just about anywhere needed! Also, they have FREE, easily accessible, and multiple-location public toilets which are not common in Europe.
Since we got to the airport extra early we decided to set up camp in a corner to charge our phones and be away from the craziness of the airport.
When it was time to go to our gate we packed up and went to wait for our plane to start boarding…unfortunately, we ended up waiting almost two hours longer than expected! There was no announcement until our plane was originally supposed to take off and even when they did say something it was just that we hadn’t been cleared to board. So we waited…
Once they finally called us to board they said the issue was that the back exit doors were stuck shut so we had to load all the passengers into the front half of the plane and then we had to wait even longer for them to add weight to the back so we weren’t out of balance. After a two-hour delay, we were on our way to Rome for a layover that we were almost positively going to miss!
The flight was uneventful when we finally got up and going which is always good.
We landed about 15 minutes after our connecting flight was supposed to take off…all we could hope was that it was delayed because of the storms. Travis and I, along with more than half of our plane, went sprinting through the airport, found which gate we were supposed to be at, and dispersed, running to our gates.
We made it! Out of breath, but we made it.
We got to the gate and the plane was still there! We were thanking the gate agent for still being there and he said they were holding the plane for us…so really we didn’t have to run at all, but we were not told that, so we run up two flights of stairs and sprinted about a 1/4 mile with all our bags.
But, regardless we made it and were on our way to Florence!
ROVE 