Geneva.  Wow.

Really..I'm glad I saw other parts of Switzerland before
coming here.  This city is packed full of people, and
although it seems you can get by spending a minimal
amount of money (indeed for some reason the exchange
rates make it not as expensive as I would have thought),
why would you want to get by on a minimal amount of
money?

It seems like the best of the best is available here,
and is fully taken advantage of.  People are dressed
very, very well, and drive beautiful cars (any number
of Aston Martins, Porsche Turbos, as well as a
Carrera GT going down the street)

There is no lack of upscale shopping, and after I
located a sushi restaurant where the food looked
(indeed was) very appetizing, nearby there was a
grocery market where only the best food was found..

I escaped lightly by only purchasing strawberries
(amazingly good), chocolate (Michel Cluizel anyone?
We're talking some of the best), and a package of
Amaretti al limone, which I seriously cannot
believe how fresh and good they are.. any assortment
of fresh French baking, fish, meat, etc, is also
available, and their stockist appears to seek out
the top quality; I am quite certain my strawberries
were individually selected by hand.  Of course, this
basket of 5 items cost more than the hostel room.

The weather doesn't hurt either..it was cold and at
times damp in Germany, but here the sun is shining,
the air is clear, giving a nice view of the mountains
and Lake Geneva, and it's simply gorgeous out.

The women are taking full advantage of this in
their dress, which is as close to "runway" style fashion
that I've seen on the street, while the men are more
conservative in suits.

I'm only here for the night, I'm not expecting to see
much of how elegant nightlife can be here, because, well,
I'm sure the establishments simply wouldn't let me in
the door.  At least I'll have some time to do laundry.

I arrived here after taking the "Golden Pass" train from
Luzern to Montreux, then changing to get to Geneva.
If you have a chance to take the Golden Pass train,
I recommend it, it's very scenic, running on narrow gauge
track through small towns and around mountains..  There's a
resort area partway into the trip with a very dramatic
setting, it looked like a good place to find hiking
trails..  and then the drop down out of the mountains
into Montreux and Lake Geneva is spectacular.

I wrote down the number of a few towns along the way
which looked like good hiking opportunities, I would
like to spend more time in Switzerland once I have a car,
passing through on the train was something of a tease..

That's all for now,

James Sanford
May 24 2005