EuroTrip - Day 76

Everything Swiss

4:30 am is still night for all practical purposes. It's just insane to imagine getting up at that hour and running to the station to catch a train on a chilly winter morning. If one could do this after having slept only at 1:30am, he should be awarded atleast a symbolic kNighthood. To make it easy for you let me directly state it - "you can call me Sir from now on". 'Coz I have done it.

Alas, PooCh could not do it due to his never ending kutto vali khansi. He decided to stay back and do some recovery before hitting the road. I can imagine how hard this decisions was. But when gharwalo and gharwali put pressure, one does not have much choice. :D

So HotTiii and Boondiii it was. For the first time. It was going to be an interesting trip - Hyper enthusiast meets Seriousness personified. He wanted to go to CERN while I wanted to sit on the lake front. And so we did. Geneva is a cosmopolitan city. It has done well to develop its modernistic face - the world class shopping street, business district with head quarters of some of the world renowned banks and the head offices of some of the most prestigious institutions like UN and Red Cross - while preserving the charming old town.

People never fail to amaze you. I would have almost missed the heritage of this city, if one old lady had not approached us asking "do you need any help?" We really needed it. A map does not tell you anything. It's the people who talk. One just need to start of a conversation. Conversation with real strangers. I really feel ashamed to admit that I am not very good at it. Still, I have seen some improvements in last couple of trips and I know I am going to do well on this aspect. She gave us a brief history of town and guided our way through the most important sight. We just needed a small boost, she gave us a power doze. A quick round to cover the usual one cathedral, one garden and one public building tour of the city. Hidden amongst the usual European city attractions was a beautiful Russian church. It's stands apart from everything else I have seen so far because its uniquely shaped golden domes. It is also one of the fewer places of worship where we have actually seen people doing prayers. For the first time I saw peace prevailing in a church. It's such a precious thing in this tourist friendly world.

A walk around the lake and you will see the world famous flower clock. Finally, a clock in the city of watches. The who's who of world known watch brands origin in Swiss, most of them in Geneve. You can see most of them in the streets close the lake. It's a shoppers paradise out there. Brands and brands. Deals everywhere. It's Xmas time.. yuhooo...

There is an themed display of work by some artists on abstract things around the lake which is interesting too. I wonder why there are so many working on random abstract things in this part of the world. Why are they always in search for deeper more complex meanings and interpretation of life and things.

A little rain here and there made day even more interesting. A walk along the lake front and then some silent moments sitting next to the lighthouse watching the tiny waves making splash in the sand. Sounds like a sea shore right? It was not my dream. It's lake Geneve in its real beauty. You need to give it some time to unravel itself. I am happy that I gave it that time.

A lot of window shopping then the train to St Gallen. Yash is an enthu host I must say. Pav bhaji is one of my favorite and he made it almost perfectly. Some long conversations and then a peaceful sleep.

Switzerland is famous for its chocolates, knives, watches and cowbells. People come here to enjoy its snowy mountains. I have not yet scene any of it. But I guess I am going to love this country. It has been a great start for the trip.

ps:
Theory of Relativity
Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.
- Albert Einstein
(Read it in a restaurant)

1: The flower clock in Geneva is just like the one in Baroda. Unfortunately Gujrat is not famous for Guj Watches.
2. The day is also dedicated to those kids that boarded our train. The school going kids seemed so carefree and happy with their life. Ignore that they were a little high on the red vine.
3. McDonalds in Switzerland serve a vegetarian burger. They are the only one to do that in the whole of Europe I guess.