Geneva -July 28

Our trekking adventure is done and Remi and I are embarking on an adventure of our own.  We have made it to Geneva where we spent the day.  We arrived at the airport with the rest of the group. Off they went to catch their flights to whatever destination they were going to. Jodi, Derek, Rémi and I made our way to the train station.  J and D had purchased their tickets online- paid 25€+8$ fee   We paid 6Swiss Francs.  They got screwed big time.  We get on the train, a 7 minute ride. I say out loud”why the tickets if nobody checks them?”  Someone responded that you should actually not pay to take this train. It’s actually free.  What??? What a scam!! You would think the woman who took our money would’ve told us?  So, if you ever come to Geneva, the train between the airport and the city is FREE. Go to a machine and push the button for a free ticket. 😤☠️

Lake Geneva seems to play an important part for this charming city. We made our way to the lake in the rain. Today is the annual swim across the lake.  We arrived in time to hear some music and see an 85 year old woman reach the beach. Wow!  I sure hope I can do things like that when I ‘m 85! After watching the last swimmers, we made our way to the streets.

It’s Sunday so everything is closed. The streets are deserted but the cafés are full of people. I got myself a croissant for breakfast - it was sooo yummy!  Finally some food I can enjoy (the Nutella sandwiches I’ve been eating for the past 2 weeks... yuck)!

Geneva seems to be a very diverse community.  There is people from everywhere. Makes me feel like in Ottawa. It’s very different than where we are arriving from where it was predominantly caucasians... which felt kind of odd.

After we filled our belly, we returned to the lake and spent some time looking at the birds and ducks. We saw coots, mergansers, swans, grebes, mallards, various types of gulls,  greylags, sparrows and a few other ducks that I don’t know what they were.


We then made our way back towards the hotel for lunch. We had Swiss pizza- it was pretty good- and continued on to the hotel to see if we could get to our room.  Luckily, our room was ready! I was planning on having an hour long nap... Both Rémi and I had a 2 hour nap!  It felt amazing to sleep in a bed!!!  I don’t think I could spend another night in a  Tent...

After our fabulous nap, it was time for a run.  We got ready and headed out not knowing how far we would go. During our run, we came across a large group of Hispanics clapping, curious, we approached to see what the commotion was about. Ends up they were performing baptism in the lake!  What a special moment!  We ended up doing 5k which felt great!  Different movements than going up and down mountains... it was flat ground... ahhh flat space...never felt so good!

I guess that pretty much sums up our day.  Had dinner at McDonald’s, found a beautiful cathedral, packed our bags and went to bed.

This is supposedly the #1 thing to see. ?!?