1 - Did you Swiss me? - Genève

 February 22, 2025 - Geneva

With my goodbyes said and bags packed, my flight from Newark to Geneva went smoothly.  The boarding process went quickly and smoothly; with the back door open the grounded plane was cool.  Sadly, things heated up over the course of the flight but I managed to snag about 2 hours of sleep by putting my backpack on my lap and using it as a forward pillow.  I watched Emilia Perez for the first two hours of the flight (drink and meal service); overall, a very good movie: the musical element was neat and I'd say it was like a combination of Les Miserables and Breaking Bad.  The ending felt a bit rushed to me but who am I to say.

I suppose the Swiss Consulate must've correctly issued my visa because they let me through at the border.  Sadly, I ended up having to file a missing baggage claim: only one of my checked bags actually made it on the plane, the other was left behind in Newark.  I'll have to keep alert with my phone tomorrow for their call to deliver the newly arrived bag.  I regret not putting my toiletries bag in the carryon or even the backpack.

With only 1 bag to deal with, I opted to use the public transit to get my apartment keys (located in a different part of town as the apartment) and then to the apartment.  I'm going to blame insufficient sleep and coffee on why I ended up searching on foot for both locations about 15 minutes longer than necessary; but I did manage to find both and get into the apartment.  Even though I didn't have my toothbrush nor soap, I took a shower just to get the plane funk off of me; then it was time to get out and seize the day.

I'm on the 1st floor of the building so I don't have to traverse the section of stairs where things get charming.

Getting the real VIP treatment with my name on the door!

And this is where the magic happens!

And this is where the magic happens!

And this is way bigger than I thought a room would be in this apartment.  

My plan was to stay awake all day and go to bed at a reasonable Swiss hour; to that end, I figured that so long as I kept walking around, my energy levels wouldn't dip too low.  It definitely helped that the weather was cooperative: cool but not cold.  In fact, the weather reminded me of the PNW with its overcast sky, mild chill, and light drizzle.  

Today's walking was more atmospheric sampling rather than tunneling down on specific attractions.  I started in my neighborhood of Carouge, which has this cute village aesthetic to it.  The aesthetic was helped by the weekly market being active: lots of food, grocery, and flower options to choose from but I wasn't ready to buy something yet.  I was actually searching for a bakery to have a coffee and a viennoisserie, which was surprisingly difficult (perhaps there's not as many in Switzerland as France).  I did eventually find one but the prices made it clear that I wasn't in Kansas France anymore.    

The market in Carouge was buzzing with people, a lot of people were buying tulips/lilies (I gotta brush up on my flowers again).

It hurt too much to say pain au chocolat instead of chocolatine but asking for a suisse was perfectly painless.  

After refreshing myself with a capuccino, I continued the walk and stumbled upon a large opening called Plainpalais.  There, a large market centered on antiques and 2nd hand stuff (brocante en français)  was in full swing.  From there, I continued on to Gare Cornavin to get my commuter card sorted out.  Turns out my whole commute lands within Geneva's 10-zone monthly metro pass, so 70 CHF/month takes care of the vast majority of my travel needs for this trip.  It's going to interesting having a work commute that I won't have to drive; who knows what I'll do with idle hands?  Probably be researching weekend stuff on my phone, who am I kidding 😆

The market at Plainpalais was also abuzz with people hunting a wide variety of stuff.  I was surprised by how many booths had just random retro/antique junk.  I know I'll need to buy some more clothes eventually and like the idea of buying used clothes, but as far as I could tell, everything at the market was oriented towards women.  

I thought it was neat they layed out which markets focused on what fares.

Chicago has its bean, maybe this is Geneva's pea?  I had a small murder of crows scoping me out while I sat on this bench eating some bread.

Ooh, the Rhone is a nice blue color here and very clear.  Almost like the mediterranean.

The Gare Cornavin features a lot of shops and food stands, this on was called Pretzel King (what are Wetzel's odds of becoming royalty some day?).  I recalled a friend sending me a video about Swiss specialties and these awkwardly filled pretzels resonated with that memory.  

And this is where the magic happens...

From the gare, I observed the Jet d'Eau from the Paquis baths and even spotted a few people doing a chilly swim.  The walk through this part of town actually started to jog my memory of when I'd last done a short visit to Geneva for work back in 2019.  I'd forgotten about all the waterfowl that hang out along the shore despite the water here being fairly devoid of life.  In comparison to Carouge, the area near the Paquis and the train station is metropolitan and gimicky; though in its own way Carouge feels like a themepark village.  

I recall walking past this fountain thing a while back, I don't remember what it commemorates but I'm sure I'll find out at some point during my stay haha

And there it is, the Jet d'Eau.  Apparently those yellow tour boats are called mouettes/gulls.

It's an impressive stream of water, if the clouds had cleared, it would've been even more spectacular with Mount Blanc in the background.  

Looks like somebody is concerned about keeping their ears warm.

"It's not a bug, it's a feature!"  Or, "The bad news is we had to divert some excess pressure away to avoid overloading the pump; the good news is the marketing department is going nuts right now".

I crossed the Rhone (bisecting Geneva) and made my way into the old town.  There, I managed a bit more walking just up to the big cathedral before I touched base with a colleague and friend.  It was good to talk face-to-face again and to bounce some weekend trip ideas off of a local.  She had plenty of good advice for my time in the SW of France so I'm all ears for Swiss recommendations too!  After more walking and a glass of wine, my energy quickly began to dwindle.  

Duck, duck, goose!  Pigeon, pigeon, coot!

This seems like a neat way to let cyclists use the stairs

A little bit of history in the old town near the Hotel de Ville.

Don't forget that the Swiss flag is actually square rather than a rectangle.

Cathedral Saint Pierre, from the waterfront I could see it lauding from its hill.  Up close, it doesn't quite pop out as much.

All roads lead to Santiago de Compostella / Saint Jacques de Compostelle; I'd previously seen plenty of routes working their way through Pyrinees but I suppose it makes sense that people in the alps would want to make the pilgrimage too.  

And this is where I had my first bout of Swiss culture shock, stores close early.  By the time it clicked that my bag with toiletries wasn't coming this evening and I'd need to buy some soap and a toothbrush, everything I could find was closed.  Granted, if I wasn't so tired, maybe I could have ventured further for supplies but instead I accepted my stinky fate and took a rinse after partially falling asleep while typing this entry.  

Carouge by night looks so quaint yet empty.  It's oddly quiet, or maybe that's just me getting used to a city that's removed from New York's hustle & bustle.

All in all, I'd say the first day was a success: I'm on schedule for overcoming jetlag, my commute ticket is sorted, I got a nice appetizer course of the city, and I'm in good spirits about this adventure.  Things are going too well for a delayed suitcase to stop this train, showering without soap only furthers my goal of living a European lifestyle by smelling like one 😜