Geneva

We stayed at London and then travelled to Geneva via Paris by Eurostar and TGV Lyria. We were so excited about our first visit to Switzerland. Our large purpose was to fully enjoy the excellent panoramic views of mountains, to visit St. Peter's Cathedral and to relax in the Geneva atmosphere. At a hotel in London, luckily our room was upgraded to Junior Suite. Everything seemed be great at first, but we had an amazingly eventful travel.

Suddenly TGV Lyria stopped on the way to Geneva. There were occasional announcements about an accident, but we couldn't understand about detail, because it was mainly in French. English announcement was short. Anyway, the train started to move slowly and delayed one hour. But the view from train window was awesome!

We arrived at a hotel in Geneva one hour late. Our first impression about hotel's service was really bad. At a reception, there were four men who were checking in. Only two receptionists were preoccupied with responses to them. They took times for something and we started to feel annoyed, because we were ignored. Receptionists didn't see us and didn't say anything. We waited for checking so long. After we checked in, we went out for a bit late dinner. We went to a local pub near the hotel. The menu was only in French, a lady at the pub spoken only French. The big mouse can read some French, so we ordered foods and drinks somehow. I also ordered salad as a side, but he didn't. Salad came and we realised the salad was served as a starter, not as a side. That meant he can't have a main meal until I finished starter. 

We visited an old town. Our destination was Cathédrale Saint-Pierre and its Archaeological site. This area has been excavated, revealing a rich history of the site dating back to the time of the Roman Empire.

The archaeological site of Saint Peter's Cathedral was really great. It was a huge site, more than I thought, and it was unbelievable.

 We lost a chance to have these lovely and yummy sweets, but we had a nice lunch:)

Next day, I was supposed to send a postcard from the front desk of the hotel before I went out. I usually send it to my parents and sending a postcard is usually no problem. But they said they don't have stamps. They offered me that they would go to a post office on Monday, but they didn't say about price and I couldn't trust them, because of some other events. We visited other hotels to ask about a stamp, but they didn't have or we received a cold reaction from them. And then we visited Tourist Information Centre, they said 'MAYBE you can get it at newsagents or Kiosks at the station. Nobody was sure. It was on Sunday. Eventually we got a stamp at a newsagent by the big mouse's effort, but I got exhausted and tired...

We collected ourselves, we took a lunch cruise ship. It was a luxurious tour with a nice 3 course lunch and magnificent view. During the lunch, we noticed that one of ladies on board complained and argued against a man involving in an another couple. We didn't know the reason, but she spat nasty words at the man. She was really angry. We tried to guess the reason but it's still our mystery. Was she victimized by harassment or was it a reality TV show? Eventually, the captain of the ship came and tried to calm them down.

After the cruise, I went for shopping, but the most shops were closed on Sunday, even supermarkets were closed! Unfortunately, I missed out on buying chocolates and cheeses! I thought it's OK because we would go to the restaurant of Swiss cuisine!! But I got knocked down again later. The restaurant was closed on Sunday!!!!! We missed out on eating Swiss cuisine as well!

 But we were OK. We had a nice meal at the other restaurant. And Swiss cheeses and wine:)

At the end of the day, a good event and a bad event happened. At first, I lost my new bracelet which my friend made for me... I was so shocked! I wish somebody pick it up, and keep it gently... And a good thing was our Eurostar tickets from Paris to London were the first class! We didn't notice until we actually got the train. The big mouse who bought the tickets didn't notice it! He said they were expensive ticket, but only available. All in all, it was an extraordinary travel for us, but 'C'est la vie'. That's what makes travel interesting:) We enjoyed having nice walk, great meals, and a spectacular views with up and down emotions. The big mouse smashed the jinx as a bad weather bringer at last. I've truly grateful for him:) At the last, what we got somehow was Rosti, Alps salt, Herb salt and chocolate bar...