There’s this story in my family about how my dad for whatever reason turned down a posting to Geneva.
The next post he accepted was to Freetown, to which my mom said, “It’s not Geneva, but it will doâ€
For my mom and to some extent us, Geneva in hindsight, became ‘the place that got away’, a place where our happier lives could have played out – an alternate world where we would have lived happily-ever-after, a family.
The year we moved here, Vancouver tied with Geneva for the most livable city in Mercer’s Quality of Living Survey, and I was certain it meant something; that perhaps this was my ‘Geneva’ after all.
These were the things I thought about on the train ride to my first visit to Geneva; thankfully, those thoughts were fleeting and I was able to take in Geneva for the uniquely multinational city it is.
Geneva reminded me a little of Vancouver; picturesque, clean, surrounded by water and snow-capped mountains, cosmopolitan and laid back.
Geneva is home to the UN, the Red Cross and numerous international organizations, and a major global financial hub.
So what do you do in Geneva for a day?
It’s a compact city; still a day isn’t nearly enough, but sufficient to explore and get a sense of this charming elegant city.
Our day started off with breakfast in the cobble-stoned Old Town Geneva, then a stroll along the lake, Jardin Anglais, the flowery lakeside garden and a break at the flower clock at the Promenade du Lac.
After another break to admire the Jet d’eau, we continued along the banks of Lake Léman (Lake Geneva) for as far as our travel-weary feet could take us.
We hopped on a bus for the grand tour of the international part of the city, and tried to capture as many shots as we could as we whizzed past the various UN agencies and other international health, peace, religious, human-rights etc. organizations.
We had lunch at Parc Bastions by the Reformation Wall, and a brief stopover at MAMCO (Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain) or as I like to call it Geneva MoMA.
Our day ended with drinks at the chic Glow bar at the Hotel President Wilson with some new friends, and a mad dash to catch our train at Gare de Cornavin.
More Pictures…
Other European Day Trips
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