Well we finally arrived in Geneva after almost 24 hrs of exhausting travel.We met up with our friends -Trudi and Keith,in Abu Dhabi and arrived here at our hotel around 4pm Sat 20/8.We lost a few hours crossing the equator and so arrived to a dull showery afternoon.The hotel was a nice surprise with a guest kitchen and a rooftop terrace with views to the mtns and the lake with the Jet D'Eau spouting up.We showered,collapsed on the bed for 1/2 hr,had a cup tea and then set off for a reconnoitre of the city. The hotel is in the old part of the city so close to tourist highlights. Unfortuately the rain cut short our adventures but not before we had found a Migros store (aldi like store) where we bought pasta,sauce,bread and cheese for our dinner on the rooftop terrace.The only thing missing was the bottle of wine.How could we forget but in the rush of buying goods at the close of shop it didn't enter our heads.Saturday is the last shopping day of the week here with no shops open sunday.We didn't realise this until we stepped out next morning at 9.30am to find the streets completely empty except for the odd tourist.Anyway that didn't daunt us as it was a beautiul sunny day with clear skies - picture perfect. We went down to the lake and promenaded around a part of it ( it is very large),saw the Jet D'Eau up close but not too personal (didn't want to get a shower) and wandered around the old historic centre.Part of these wanderings was with a free walking tour so we could get a local's take on the city and it's history.All in all a lovely down with great weather.With the shops closed we could not repeat the previous nights dinner on the terrace.So in light of Geneva of being very expensive we resorted to the golden arches for a night time meal with the view of partaking generously the next morning of the hotels very nice breakfast buffet - feather light croissants,fresh baked bread,wonderful cheeses,cereals,fruit etc. We certainly fuelled up sunday morning before our walk around.Also free here is the public transport for tourists .What a bonus - free travel to and from airport/bus station and buses,trams and water taxis in the city.We took a water taxi so we could experience a "boat" trip on the lake.As I'm writing this it is monday morning and another beautiful sunny day but alas we are moving on.The bus to Chamonix (in France) awaits us this morning and this is the jump-off point for the start of our walk.So later today another town in a different country.Photos to come later.
