Geneva!

Geneva is a really interesting city, and actually quite small. I came across these 2 small children who took every temper tantrum ive ever witnessed, times it by 100, and put it into these 2 kids. The dad (maybe) just stood there with his dog, clearly unsure how to handle the situation. Talk about birth control... Anyways, I made my way down to the path along the water called the Bains Des Paquis and found a really neat area where I could put my feet in le rhone river which was freezing, but refreshing. After a bit, i noticed some commotion on the other side of the river  and decided to check out what the familiar music was coming from. When i got the i realized it was some sort of summer music festival and they were definitely singing songs like "highway to hell" and "I kissed a girl." don't they have any french pop songs? Either way it was a good time, but i definitely needed something to eat. I decided to make my way back towards the hostel with ambitions of getting a good nights rest after a full belly. I stopped into a boulangerie and had a wonderful apple tart and a mediocre cappuccino. When i got back to my room, my other roommate who I had not met yet was there. His name was Saad and he is from Egypt. After talking for a bit we decided to explore a bit of the city and ended up back at the festival. I ended up getting some real food, but learnt that the Swiss aren't the best at making veggie burgers. Some young girls next to us who asked for "money to get eats" ended up with half of a veggie burger and some frites. Though the shops were closed, we walked down this new York style street that had all kinds of name brand, fancy fashion stores and plenty of Mercedes, piracies, and rolls royces. With my stomach ailing again, we made our way back to the hostel and called it a night. The next day I had to get up early to head to the train station and figure out when i could catch a train to Grenoble. Things went smoothly and I was to take a train at 3 p.m. That left me with a good amount of time to explore more of the city. I headed towards the old town area and had my first croissant which was amazing! I washed down the flaky, buttery goodness with an apple juice box then adventured around some streets with the intention of getting lost and finding some cool sites... Which i definitely succeeded at! My first was the Musee d'art et d'histoire. The building was so beautiful and since it was on a hill, gave a spectacular view of the city and the jet d'eau, a 425 foot high fountain on the rivers edge. I mapped out a sort of route, but like most journeys, took a wrong turn somewhere along the way and ended up at the Cathedrale St-Pierre. I arrived from the side and entered to find a gorgeous interior. I saw the biggest organ and can only imagine how beautiful it must sound when it is being played. I decided to spend the 4 euros and climb up the north and south towers to get a view of the city of Geneva. I am sure glad i did. At the top, despite my panic of a very narrow and steep staircase up, it was well worth the view. I could see the entire city, 360 degrees! Though still, cloudy, I learned that one of the mountains you could see was actually the french border, which i thought was really neat. After admiring it for awhile, i made my way down and continued my walk. I got my first glimpse of the outdoor cafe at the Place du Bourgeois-de-Four, saw some impressive murals which served a backdrop to Les Canons, and walked along the Promenade de la Treille. As i came down the hill of the promenade, i came to a busy rotary which circles around a statue of General Dufour and several very impressive sights. Though the buildings of the Conservatoire de Musique, Grand Theatre, and Musee Rath were elaborate, they could not beat the appeal of the gates to Les Bastions where the Bibliotheque de Geneve and Mur Des Reformateurs are located. As i walked in, I was in awe of the trees, flowers, green, and, best of all, ginormous chess and checkers sets! It was just like you see on the movies of old men strategizing their next move in the middle of the street. I only wished dad could have been with me to play a game as its his favorite and he is a collector of sets too... Sorry dad, i don't think they could have fit in under the plane. With my back crying to sit down because of my overstuffed hiking bag, i decided to get my first crepe avec nutella and find a nice tree to sit under. I did so and gosh was it delightful! As I was eating with my rather cool wooden fork, a dog started to make his way over to me and tried to eat my crepe! Ready to attack to protect my delicious crepe in the most selfish way I could think of, the owner promptly came over and apologized. I savored every last bite and then took a walk around the park before i figured i had enough time to make it to the united nations building before i had to catch my train. Along the way i picked up some gruyere for the train ride as well as some Swiss chocolates. And then the fun began...

As the time passed, my mind began to wonder why exactly i wasn't where i wanted to be. I got to a road that just gave me the eery feeling i made a wrong turn and was not remotely close to where I wanted to be... And i was so right! I was on the complete opposite end of town that i wanted to be at and now was cutting it clods to making my train. Yet despite all this, i couldnt help but admire the path i would soon be nearly running on to make it to gare cornavin (the train station). It was set all along the Rhone river and i only wish I could have enjoyed it some more. There was some really impressive graffiti along the walls... Which unfortunately taints much of the city, even beautiful monuments like Monument Brunswick. Somehow, i made my train just in time and i couldnt wait to take off my bag and relax for a little bit. I got on the train, had some gruyere (which was so amazing) with my British rye crackers and took in the scenery of the swiss and french countryside as i rode towards Grenoble. It would soon turn out the last feelings of contentment for the next several hours.