Eurowings has a program called Blind Booking, where you can book a super cheap roundtrip plane ticket, but you don’t know where you’re going until after you purchase it. When I booked my first one, it told me I’m going to Geneva! Never would I have been able to spend so little on a plane ticket to one of the most expensive cities in the world, and I’ve never been to Switzerland, so I was pleased to spend my past 2 days there 🙂
I don’t know if large umbrellas are allowed as part of carry-on luggage on an airplane. I planned to bring my small umbrella which can fit in my purse, but since there was 100% chance of rain and snow for my entire stay in Geneva, I convinced myself that of course my larger umbrella would be allowed on the plane. I don’t think I look like a ninja who can kill someone with an umbrella. So, off I went to my bus stop to head to the airport.
I can’t remember the last time I broke something. Like really broke something to the point it couldn’t be used at all. Well, when I got to my bus stop 2 blocks from my apartment, I completely broke my umbrella. It was kaputt (this truly is the German word for broken!). The handle, including the button that makes the umbrella expand, was in one hand, and the rest was in the other. How did this happen? It was pouring outside, and when I got to my stop under a roof I closed the umbrella and shook some of the rain off. That’s when it happened. RIP
It was better this happened now than when I was in Geneva, because I would hate to buy a super expensive umbrella there. So I decided I’d buy a new one in one of the many pointless shopping stores in the airport that I always wonder who would shop in.
Of course, none of these stores sold an umbrella. I’ll buy a stupidly expensive one in Geneva.
Once I got my train from the airport to the heart of Geneva, there were stores and bakeries all around. This was just in the train station – before setting foot into the pouring rain. I found umbrellas for 29-49 Swiss Francs (26-45 Euros). Omg. I had bought my broken one for like 2 Euros in Dusseldorf (ok fine maybe the cheapest one isn’t good quality). Magically I came across one that was 9 francs. It was striped, and another was polka dotted. You know how normally patterned things are more expensive than plain colors? This was the opposite. Anyway, after too much thought about stripes versus polka dots, I chose polka dots.
Before I left the station, I also stopped at a bakery. It was around 5pm. I was starving, and I just got a baguette (which would in fact become my dinner since I’d rather not spend 40 francs on one meal at a restaurant). For now, I was satisfied and ready to go out into Geneva’s rain.
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I walked around for about 3 hours. My new umbrella had a hard time in the wind, but it survived. Eventually it even stopped raining!
Normally in Germany, my ears perk up when I hear a stranger speaking English. It’s that uncommon to randomly come across people using English over German. It makes me curious about them, wondering what they’re doing in Germany. It’s the same way that I’d be curious about someone in America who is speaking a foreign language. In Geneva, I heard numerous random people speaking in English, which certainly stood out against the French (I later learned that less than half of people living in the state of Geneva are Swiss). I actually missed hearing German, since I’m always trying to translate anything I can when I hear Germans speaking to each other out and about!
At around 8 I went to check in at my hostel. I rested for maybe 30 minutes and then decided to go find some place for Swiss hot chocolate. I read of some places online, found them on Google Maps, and headed out. The closing times for some of the places were not posted online, but I figured something would be open……..
I passed by one of the recommended places for hot chocolate. It was this super fancy expensive restaurant. Next. The cute Chocolatiers that I was hoping for were all long closed since 6. I started to feel desperate. It was freezing, my feet/legs were so tired from all the walking, and my chocolate addiction had to be satisfied. I kept walking and walking, went into some restaurant and asked if they have hot chocolate (nope), went into some other restaurant (yes they had hot chocolate but they were closing in 30 minutes and therefore would not serve me :'(…). I hate myself for this, but I even walked over to where I remembered seeing a Starbucks. I think it is so silly to go to American chain places when in a different country, so I was judging myself for even thinking about Starbucks. Even they were closed by 9. Sad Mallory gave up and started the over-a-mile walk back to the hostel. This is even worse than Starbucks – I got a cheap hot chocolate from a machine in the hostel. But man, did it taste good.
The next morning, I had the *free* breakfast at the hostel. Maybe everyone already knew this but this was news to me – a typical European breakfast (at least in Germany, Poland, and apparently Switzerland) is cold cuts and cheese on bread. So I had salami and cheese on break for breakfast, with cereal.
My free walking tour would start at 11. It was snowing and raining already at 9-10, and with all the walking I did the day before, I saw what I wanted to see (Lake Geneva, some parks, and the University) and didn’t mind staying in until the tour. Still though, I don’t like wasting time when I only have a short time in a new place. My time certainly wasn’t wasted though – I met a German girl around my age, and we ended up talking all morning until I had to leave for my tour! We talked about politics, mental health, Humans of New York, languages, and more. She had a cold and was only in Geneva for a stopover before a skiing trip in France, so we both enjoyed having someone to talk to as the morning passed. This is something I always love about hostels – traveling solo is not uncommon and it’s so easy to meet people.
A different girl staying in the hostel (from China) joined me on the tour. Our group consisted of us and a group of American girls who were studying abroad in Maastricht, Netherlands (where I took my first little trip from Dusseldorf!).
After the tour, my new friend and I got lunch. Since everything is so expensive, I got a sandwich from a fast food kebab place, and she got McDonald’s haha.
That concluded my first overnight trip since I’ve moved to Germany…I can’t wait to do another Blind Booking adventure!!
Teaching and Learning in the Journey of Life 