Switzerland

Switzerland

The Good
Christmas for us have always been warm, sunny affairs. There is the great weather, often a swim, sometimes at the beach, and a barbeque in the evening. And then we find ourselves in the middle of Europe with temperatures hovering around -5º. I'm pretty sure that sort of temperature isn't healthy. Anyway, to try to make the best of a non-ideal situation, we got into an EasyJet plane, ending up in Geneva, Switzerland. Switzerland has the Swiss Alps. The Swiss Alps have snow. I'm dreaming of a white Christmas. Just like the ones I ...... saw on TV.
This was also a great chance to catch up with Floriane, an old flatmate from Bletsoe Ave. Crazy flat!

But I'll stop saying stuff, and let you look at some snaps....

Sharon and Fred (both still feeling a little bit sick) up the valley a bit from Zinal, where we were staying. Note the snow :)		Fribourg, the small city in Switzerland where Floriane studies. It used to be quite a fortified place, with sections of the old wall and gates still standing. The other cool thing about this place is the fact that the cliff merges to the houses, to the point where you can't tell where one stops and the other begins.

Turns out that there are all sorts of cool old towns in Switzerland (probably all over Europe actually), and Murten is another one. The centre has cobbled streets, a completely restored wall and gates, and a large orange box in the lake.		As we landed in Geneva, I was begining to feel a bit sick. This got worse through the day, culminating in a discussion with Ralph that evening. Not much fun. But dispite this, that evening will be one that I remember for a long, long time. Floriane's family opened their home to us, inviting us to join them for their traditional Christmas dinner. Apparently it was pretty fantastic. From memory I got halfway through the first course.....

Well, I guess that is almost all of Switzerland covered. Well, not really. There is so much more to say about that crazy country squeezed in the middle of Europe. Things like the langauge really surprised me. Not trying to be rude to the Swiss, but Switzerland really seems to be the border. In the SW, they talk Swiss-French. Definitely different from French, but not by heaps. As you go NW, it turns into Swiss-German. There are two other langauges in Switzerland that we didn't hear. It all sounds pretty crazy! But then you discover that the cultures are just as different to the langauges.

The Bad
Geneva. What can I say about that dump? All my preconceived ideas of Geneva (mostly somehow related to the Geneva Convention) were shattered in our brief stay. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm sure Geneva can be a fantastic place to stay, but be warned!!!! It can shut on you!!! We found an ok (albeit impersonal) hostel near the centre. A walk through the city made one thing evident: every third shop sells watches. This seems to be the case anywhere that tourists set foot in Switzerland.The visitors centre was shut for the next week. The fountain wouldn't be turned on for another few months. I guess all the pamphlets proclaiming the fountain in the harbour as a must-see weren't thinking people would be there for New Year's.

So we were walking through Geneva. We saw a mini supermarket, and, seeing the closing time, decided to go for a walk, and get some food for the next few days on the way back to the hostel. We got back an hour later, to find that it shut 5 minutes earlier. Looking at all the people coming and going showed us that we weren't the only ones that trusted the "opening hours" on the front door. So I went in search of food. It was only dinner and breakfast I had to find; couldn't be that hard. Could it?? Two closed supermarkets later, and I found an speciality italian-food importer. So we had a meal of fresh pasta, tomato, onion and pesto. Quite nice. Didn't find any breakfast stuff though.

Back to the hostel, and during dinner we talked with an Australian couple over from England. We agreed that we'd meet up before we went out in search of a pub for the new year. Others also joined in on this pact, and when we all meet in the lobby at 9pm, there was a group of about 12 of us, including another NZ couple, some irish girls and a few poms.

Meeting in the lobby was easily the most exciting and memorable part of that night. Finding a pub? It was nigh on freezing, and most of them were shut. We ended up in an Irish pub, a dingey sort of place, where they charged NZ$24 for a rum and coke. But the craziest thing was that midnight wasn't good enough for them. Oh no; we're an irish pub, so we'll celebrate the New Year using Britain time. We were a couple of Kiwis in Switzerland, celebrating the British new year.

And the last part of my story (yes, I know it's dragging on, and that you are getting bored with it, and wondering if it even has a point. I'll answer that part now: no,it doesn't; none of my stories have a point.). We hadn't bought any food for breakfast, so we thought we would go to a cafe for coffee and a muffin. After one and a half hours of wandering, we gave up trying to find a cafe (or even people to ask directions), and took a seat on the footpath and waited. I hate to admit it, but we (and a pair of hungary americans) were waiting for MacDonalds to open.

Geneva wasn't all bad though. If you're in the area, we definitely recommend the Red Cross Museum. Definitely a lot of interesting and scary stuff; more then enough stuff to make a pacifist of everyone. Well, maybe not GW Bush, but it wouldn't hurt. I'm sure that Geneva could have a lot to offer, but we definitely didn't see any of it. If we ever go back, it will be summer, but seriously, I doubt think it will ever get around to it.

The Ugly
What comes under this catagory? One thing really stands out. Bearpits. Yes, you read that right. One of the must-see attractions in Bern (according to all the pamphlets) is the bearpits. Big round holes in the ground where half a dozen bears are kept, so that people can throw food at them. I guess it just isn't part of the world I've lived in all my life, and I can't say it is something I liked.

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