Lyon Pics

Geneva Pics

Euro Trip: Leg 2 - Geneva and Lyon

So while I have my mind blown that “Don’t Turn Around” was not an Ace of Base original, I am starting to realize that I either have to update my blog, or forever forget what has happened in Switzerland, or at least in the painstaking detail that I customarily include in “I’m in Europe, Yo.” Right.

Anyways, first a life update. A lot has happened since my last post! At least, a lot that I find interesting.

1. First things first, the Packers made it into the Super Bowl, and I watched them do it! (Thanks Hill, Slingbox is awesome).

2. Hill and I booked our flights and everything to the south of Spain and the north of Italy. We fly to Malaga, go to Granada and the Sierra Nevada (yay for trineo ruso or apparently Russian bobsledding!), Cordoba and then fly from Sevilla to Venice and head to Bologna and Milan.

3. Caitlyn and I planned a surprise party for Hill’s 21^st. Sadly, as 21 isn’t as big of a deal here and it is now finals, we had a very relaxed get together with the Spanish kids from our class. (Don’t worry, we did shoot shots of vodka and coke into people’s mouths, or faces, from the water gun Hill was given as a gift.)

4. We have taken 3 of 4 finals. The last one is to be completed on Monday. Something to look forward to, right?

5. My flights for my family spring break were booked! The fam now needs not worry about getting to Berlin or home from Vienna, only about fitting two week’s worth of stuff into a backpack. I can do it, but my mom takes a full duffle on weekend trips and two suitcases on week long ones. Good luck to her.

So it continues.

Switzerland

Ryanair takes us from Barcelona to Geneva without a hitch. I have to confess, although many people complain, Ryanair is great, if you know what you are getting into. It is cheap. It is efficient. It is always on time. If you expect to get good service and great perks, look elsewhere, but Ryanair gets you from point A to point B just as well as any other airline (if not better than many) and does it so for a tenth of the price, just leave the large suitcase at home. It is easier to travel with just a backpack anyways.

So we touch down in Geneva on time, which is where our good fortune of the day ends. As described in an earlier post, the apartment I happened to choose was very reasonable for the quality, but came with a price. Not only was it a 35 euro cab ride, it was miles away from civilization. Had we rented a car, it would have been great. Yet, we were stuck walking on foot to both Prevessin, this cute little French town with a view of the alps, and Geneva (or at least the nearest Swiss town with a tram connection, Meyrin).

Geneva, for what it is worth, is probably not the best place for a student tourist. We had no money. We were essentially wearing all the clothes we had with us. It was cold. It was expensive. There wasn’t too much to see. But it was still pretty great. When we could see the Alps, it was pretty breathtaking. The cathedral had a beautiful view. The fountain, probably the main draw of the city, show over 400 feet in the air! The place was clean. There were cuckoo clocks and delicious chocolate shops (although my allegiance is to the Belgian chocolates as of now). It was exactly what I expected from Switzerland – an efficient and expensive city which seemed perfectly ordered and completely neutral.

Lyon, France

As we waited in the Geneva train station, Mack asked me, “So why are we going to Lyon?” At that point in the trip, I couldn’t remember. After all the places I had researched for this trip and for past and future trips, Lyon just did not stick out. From what I could remember at that point, it had no memorable monuments, no incredible geological formations.

“I think it was just on the way and I thought it would be nice to see another French town.” I ventured as an answer.

Yet, upon arrival, we both were quite pleased with our Lyonese excursion. Immediately, we felt like we were in France. I don’t know why exactly, but maybe it was the combination of the pastel colors of the sky, the obviously French architecture (which for some would be a dead giveaway), or the crepe stands lining the street, but we were both pretty taken with Lyon. We happened upon some pretty amazing Roman ruins quite unexpectedly. The main cathedral made my jaw drop upon entering, and it had a view to match. Even the walk along either river was refreshing but distinctly French.

That being said, I can’t really say we needed more than a day in Lyon. It was great, and we enjoyed our short stint in the city, but from what I could tell, we had exhausted most of the attractions.

But we did notice there were a lot of blind people around, which we found pretty peculiar. Turns out, upon further investigation, there is a blind community located in Lyon. Who knew?

I do regret one thing about Lyon though. My friend Liz knows a girl, Celia, from Lyon and put us in contact with each other. I had asked Celia if she could meet us and show us around, which she graciously agreed to do. Though, when we were in Switzerland, I let Mack use my cell phone and a minute of talking to her family at home spent all 10 euro I had put on it. I couldn’t contact Celia, and in the end we couldn’t set up a meeting. Oh well, next time.