Post by Kim on Sept 2, 2003 11:07:18 GMT -5
Lenin did NOT have it bad!!!
Sunday, 17 August 2003
Hello all! It's been a couple of days since I've written. But I figured there wasn't so much of a point writing early 'cause everyone in Toronto (the friends and my parents who read this) wouldn't have been able to see it anywayz.
Sorry to hear you guys were in the dark. But happy to hear everyone is okay now!
Okay.....so back to my trip:
I've found Geneva to be really very nice. Having said that I don't think it's necessarily for everyone. If you're into night life and a very trendy setting than this is not the place for you. On the other hand if you happen to really enjoy natural sights and a more relaxed pace than Geneva is for you! I happen to be in the latter category so I am quite okay.
It does however seem to be a city of commuters. The sort of place that's bustling during the week and empty on a Friday night. That suited me just fine though! It make for a really calm and quited walk through the city at night.
The area around the lake is lovely. It helps to remind me how under-developed the waterfront is in Toronto. We visited the Jet D'Eau which is the world's largest gyser (man-made) shooting water up in the sky. It was fun and quite refreshing given how hot it's been here. To be honest though the walk out there (it's kind of in the lake) is on a really narrow ledge that's sort of slippery with no railings and lake and rocks on either side. If they had a place like that in North America someone would have fallen off on purpose already and sued the city. Clearly, the society here is not letigious!
We've spent a lot of time walking along the lake and exploring some of the parks that surround them. There are lovely fountains and monuments to be seen. I also unexpectedly bumped in to a friend from school on the shores of the lake. Very unexpected.
Speaking of the lake yesterday we took a "Famous Residences and Castles" tour on the little lake (the portion of Lac Leman that Geneva is on). It lasted about 2.5 hours and was quite relaxing and cool. Let me tell you some of the places we saw were INCREDIBLE!!! Every other place we saw looked like a chateau. These places are (or formerly were) owned by people like the Agha Khan, the Emir of Quatar, the Rothchilds, Empress Josphine, and Lenin. That's right -- the home that Lenin lived in during his exile is located here. Let me tell you, the word exile has connotations of pain and hard times. I do not feel even the tiniest bit of pity for him!!! The home was lovely, right on the lake, and the view is fantastic.
Truly I never in my wildest dreams expected to see such a concentration of wealth on that lake!
During my time here we have also visited the Old City. It's lovely and very hilly (owww my poor feet). We ended up getting lost and fortuitously finding a restaurant called "LE PAPON." If anyone is ever in Geneva I HIGHLY recommend it!
I had an absolutely fantastic meal comprised of a quite large and tasty salad, a beefsteak in a peppercorn sauce with summer veggies and a potato gratin, and a lemon tartelle for dessert. This was accompanied by 5 dcl of a rose de Geneve.
It's definitely not the cheapest meal ever but it was so fabulous I didn't mind paying one bit. I could get used to this!
So as you can see I have been having quite a good time. Tomorrow we leave Geneva for the Swiss Alps (Gimmelwald). We'll spend two nights there and then head to Florence.
It should be good -- thanks to all of you for your good wishes and prayers!
Sunday, 17 August 2003
Hello all! It's been a couple of days since I've written. But I figured there wasn't so much of a point writing early 'cause everyone in Toronto (the friends and my parents who read this) wouldn't have been able to see it anywayz.
Sorry to hear you guys were in the dark. But happy to hear everyone is okay now!
Okay.....so back to my trip:
I've found Geneva to be really very nice. Having said that I don't think it's necessarily for everyone. If you're into night life and a very trendy setting than this is not the place for you. On the other hand if you happen to really enjoy natural sights and a more relaxed pace than Geneva is for you! I happen to be in the latter category so I am quite okay.
It does however seem to be a city of commuters. The sort of place that's bustling during the week and empty on a Friday night. That suited me just fine though! It make for a really calm and quited walk through the city at night.
The area around the lake is lovely. It helps to remind me how under-developed the waterfront is in Toronto. We visited the Jet D'Eau which is the world's largest gyser (man-made) shooting water up in the sky. It was fun and quite refreshing given how hot it's been here. To be honest though the walk out there (it's kind of in the lake) is on a really narrow ledge that's sort of slippery with no railings and lake and rocks on either side. If they had a place like that in North America someone would have fallen off on purpose already and sued the city. Clearly, the society here is not letigious!
We've spent a lot of time walking along the lake and exploring some of the parks that surround them. There are lovely fountains and monuments to be seen. I also unexpectedly bumped in to a friend from school on the shores of the lake. Very unexpected.
Speaking of the lake yesterday we took a "Famous Residences and Castles" tour on the little lake (the portion of Lac Leman that Geneva is on). It lasted about 2.5 hours and was quite relaxing and cool. Let me tell you some of the places we saw were INCREDIBLE!!! Every other place we saw looked like a chateau. These places are (or formerly were) owned by people like the Agha Khan, the Emir of Quatar, the Rothchilds, Empress Josphine, and Lenin. That's right -- the home that Lenin lived in during his exile is located here. Let me tell you, the word exile has connotations of pain and hard times. I do not feel even the tiniest bit of pity for him!!! The home was lovely, right on the lake, and the view is fantastic.
Truly I never in my wildest dreams expected to see such a concentration of wealth on that lake!
During my time here we have also visited the Old City. It's lovely and very hilly (owww my poor feet). We ended up getting lost and fortuitously finding a restaurant called "LE PAPON." If anyone is ever in Geneva I HIGHLY recommend it!
I had an absolutely fantastic meal comprised of a quite large and tasty salad, a beefsteak in a peppercorn sauce with summer veggies and a potato gratin, and a lemon tartelle for dessert. This was accompanied by 5 dcl of a rose de Geneve.
It's definitely not the cheapest meal ever but it was so fabulous I didn't mind paying one bit. I could get used to this!
So as you can see I have been having quite a good time. Tomorrow we leave Geneva for the Swiss Alps (Gimmelwald). We'll spend two nights there and then head to Florence.
It should be good -- thanks to all of you for your good wishes and prayers!