Geneva!!!

Geneva!

So I just got back last night from Geneva! It was absolutely amazing! I had heard mix things about this city, so I went in with an open mind and I was completely blown away! Upon arriving we immediately located a McDonalds so that we could access internet to find our hotel in relation to the train station. Once located Ally and Tyler went to check in and BJ, Hayley and myself went to walk down by the river and wait for Michael (who had missed the train (surprise surprise) and was getting in a few hours behind us) It was absolutely beautiful! In that time waiting for Michael we saw street performers get arrested, walked by the river, got free wine and cheese and ended up sitting on rocks out in this peninsula in the lake. The sky was blue and the weather was fair. It was amazing!

The rocks where we sat! probably spent an hour there just relaxing

So after we finally caught up with Michael we attempted to find our hotel. Attempted being the key word in that sentence. We ended up on some other side of Geneva in some residential district, however the greatest part of being "lost" was we stumbled upon this chicken griller who literally just had a truck on the road, was potentially the best chicken I have ever eaten! (might have something the do with the fact that French people hardly ever eat me, and therefore I hardly ever eat meat) After walking sketchily across some highway (after asking approximately 7 people where our hotel was) we managed to make it!   That night we went into the heart of Geneva for dinner (note: the buses are free for non-locals) Everything in Geneva is super expensive, but we managed to find this little Italian place that was too bad. It ended up being a terrific decision! There were two people who worked there/ owned it and they were hilarious! They spoke some English too which helped! We had pizza and pasta, but the greatest part of the evening was when BJ told them it was Michael's birthday, so they brought out their signature tiramisu. Now if you know anything about me you know that my absolute favorite dessert (besides my grandmothers german chocolate cake) is tiramisu. I was in heaven! It was fabulous!

The Italian restaurant, it probably sat 25 and was packed! (for good reason too it was excellent!)

Tiramisu!

On saturday we got up and went exploring Geneva! We started at a "flea market" in the center of town. Essentially it is a large yard sale, it was something I highly recommend experiencing! It was crazy to see everything and how the people interacted with others. I definitely enjoyed it. After the market we went to find the Hotel De Ville (town hall) and the cathedral. We walked around for hours just taking in the sights. After a lunch of sandwiches we did some shopping (chocolate shops, H&M, etc) then we headed to the UN. Unfortunately we couldn't go in since it was the weekend but it was cool just being there. Then Ally, BJ, Michael and Tyler headed to the 81st International Auto Show while Hayley and I (who didn't know enough about cars to pay the money and actually care) went back to do some more shopping/exploring and then took naps!

flower clock

United Nations

Reformation wall

Hotel De Ville

Jet d'eau

Cathedral St. Pierre

On sunday we woke up and walked around a little bit more than headed to the train station! We had a sleeper train from Geneva to Lyon, so I took a nice two hour nap. We arrived back in Vichy around 10:30 pm. Geneva was an amazing weekend! I loved it!