Geneva and Zurich

The journey begins!
see all photos »

After a bleary eyed and early start the taxi (small luxury allowed by the Team Ashbo committee) whizzed us from Chez Derek in Putney to Waterloo for the start of the great adventure. Eurostar whizzed us to Paris in no time and after a quick adventure on the Metro we popped up at Gare de Lyon for the onward journey to Geneva. Whilst Gare de Lyon plays an important communication role it certainly doesn't excel as a place to stay and linger for a while. There are many things that don't go in it's favour but the strong smell of urine everywhere you go and the constant attention from beggers are just two that I experienced whilst there.

This is why we gave up work (taken on first night in Geneva)
see all photos »

Anyway, the train to Geneva was really fast and we seemed to get to the south of France and into the Alps in no time at all. The journey through the mountains to Lake Geneva was a little slower but still very quick.All in all the journey was a wonder when you are used to UK trains... Virgin Trains take note !!

Geneva was lovely.Our hotel was a treat as we had allowed ourselves a luxury of a nice place to stay for the first two nights and Hotel Tiffany definately fitted the bill. It is in a "belle epoque" style and the room was beautiful. It is situated in a quiet part of town but close to the action (Geneva style) We were both so knackered we couldn't face going out to find a place to eat so we ate in the hotel which usually is a recipe for disaster but again the food was superb. So Hotel Tiffany will definately be getting a good review on tripadvisor.

Celebrating being unemployed and homeless (first night in Geneva AFTER a bath)
see all photos »

We spent the day wandering around Geneva which has a lovely old town. It has heaps of lovely churches and cobbled streets to explore and of course there is the lake. Which for some reason has a 36m fountain in it that the locals are very pround of. Trace noted that only a man with a small manhood would build such a big fountain...nuff said!!

The next day we were off to Zurich. Rather than get the fast train which took 3 hours we decided on the slow route which meant five (yes thats 5) trains and 8 hours of travelling through the Alps. The whole journey was beautiful as we passed lakes, glaciers, huge mountains and lovely little vilages all with numerous Heidi's and her goat herd living in them no doubt. A quick lunch was had standing at the train station in Interlaken (which sits between two lakes...get it!) and staring up at hugemountains such as Jungfrau and The Eiger.

Geneva Town Hall
see all photos »

Eventually we did get to Zurich and what a treat. I had no preconceptions about this place but it blew me away. What a wonderful city. So much stunning architecture around a lovely river that runn into the lake. On either side of the there are miles of lovely old cobbled streets and amazing reformation churches with stunningly beautiful steeples. The most famous is Fraumunster which dominates the skyline and has the honour of it's stained glass windows being designed by Chagall and Giocommeti. We spent two days wandering around the town and fell in love with the place. The bridges criss cross the river and around every corner is another beautiful church or building. We even found a "beer-keller" type hall and had plates of sausages and cordon bleu with jugs of frothy beer...sweet! I reckon Zurich would be even better in the snow so if any of you couples are looking for a romantic place for a long weekend then this is it...

View from St Peter's Cathedral over Geneva (please note fountain, they are very proud of it)
see all photos »

Anyway, on the third day it was time to head off to our first major stop. Piedmont innorthern Italy. The land fo the truffle and Barolo..over to Trace...