December 30th – Geneva Day 1
We began the day with an early train to Geneva. Weather decided to resist us. Forty minutes outside of Geneva branches had fallen on the wires the train uses. We were stuck. Four to five hours later the technicians and crew men had cleared the wire and another train was brought along to help us get to Geneva. We had lost half a day but weren’t too upset. We hadn’t planned what to see in Geneva. None of us really knew anything about the city.
When we arrived my friend, a resident of Geneva that goes to school with me in St Andrews, picked us up and took us to her house. We illegally took both tram and bus, but discovered that public transportation in Geneva isn’t anything to brag about. A tram and bus traffic jam occurred outside a main shopping center. Geneva had just redone their system. I think it needs redoing again.
We spent the rest of the day relaxing, making mince pies and eating. Come evening, my brother’s friend and I joined my friend for a local’s party. There we enjoyed a night of beer, live music (violin, piano, guitar, and more) and conversation. English was a commonly spoken language, though few there spoke it very well. To my surprise, I ended up speaking Hebrew with a number of people. A lot of present people were Jewish, and one had just spent three months in Israel.
The live music continued for hours until the players put down their instruments and a computer with speakers were set up. People started dancing and jumping round.
An hour or two later I was back at my friend’s. I was tired.
31st December – Geneva Day 2
I slept wonderfully!
I didn’t wake up for quite some time, but my brother woke me. When he did I hopped into the shower, the first time in a couple of days. It felt great and relaxing.
My friend and my brother’s did not wake up yet. When they did, we all came together in the kitchen and had breakfast very, very slowly. Finally, my friend decided it was time to go and we headed into town.
Walking there we stopped by a few of Geneva’s historical and monumental places. We saw its fountain that sat just beyond the docks, visible from all over Geneva. We picked up my friend’s friend and he joined us for the day. We continued around town. We then ate lunch at a cool buffet style place. They made the basics like pizza and pasta, but mainly you were allowed to make your own and choose your toppings. The food was fresh and delicious. We continued yet again with our tour and saw a cathedral along with Geneva’s oldest building.
After a few hours we returned to my friend’s and relaxed until dinner. We toasted to health over sparkling white wine and had an Ethiopian style meal, prepared by my friend’s mother. We gathered again, and went to my friend’s sister’s flat. We met more locals and began New Year’s celebrations. We played a version of Pictionary which started out easy. Each team member picking a film title and having the other team draw it. But we decided to get more difficult and went to historic events. It became interesting as we watched each person attempt to draw a concept differently. Everyone found different things important.
We celebrated for a while until the early hours of the morning.
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A Happy New Year’s
I hope everyone has had a great start to the new year as well and that y'all enjoyed celebrations. May you make resolutions that you will keep and be healthy.
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