I got hungry around 8am, so I decided to go to a bakery that was a block away and surprise Hunter with breakfast! I got a croissant, a flaky pastry, and a ham and cheese sandwich. When I got back, Hunter was still sleeping, so I let him continue. He must've needed it. Eventually, around 9am, he awoke and we got ready for the day. He was very happy I got us breakfast! He also thought it was cute he had a text message explaining where I had gone in case he had woken up while I wasn't there.
Today I had planned mostly a walk around the city, with nothing specific to do. We started by walking to their big train station in the city because there was an open grocery store there and we wanted some drinks and snacks for the day. The streets were almost abandoned on the way there but the station itself had the normal hustle and bustle of a European train station. We continued walking and arrived at a tea room called La Vouivre. It has a very old fashioned theme and was highly recommended online. We ordered two hot chocolates and a pastry to share. The hot chocolate was definitley homemade and very much more chocolate focused than sugar like in the US and Canada. We both enjoyed it and the quirky decor. After our drinks, we continued walking, this time to the waterfront to see the jet d'eau and a monument called Brunswick. There was some event happening for children so there were a lot of people around. We never figured out quite what it was but there was face painting and all sorts of activities going on. After passing by the children's event, we stopped at a picnic table and enjoyed the sun and views for awhile. We had packed for what we thought would be a bit chilly as you might expect for Switzerland in October, however, the weather was really lovely our whole visit, sunny and in the 60s and 70s most of the time.
A map in the train station
Leaving the train station
Waiting for our hot chocolate
Hunter getting a silly picture of me
The waterfront
Brunswick Monument
After soaking up some sun we then headed to Tour de l'Île, a small island in the river with a tower on it. There was also a bridge that doubled as a multi-use transit station. There were tons of little birds hopping around and although they were curious I couldn't quite convince one to hop up in my hand. We also walked past the Ritz and Four Seasons where a variety of Rolls Royces, Bugattis, and other exotic sports cars were out front. One even had Abu Dhabi plates. Hunter explained to me that some of the very rich Middle Easterners actually pay to have their sports cars flown around with them when traveling. After walking over the bridge we kept walking and came across a very pretty fountain and a building that is where the Red Cross was established. We sat down on a bench by the fountain and saw a group of British tourists with a guide explaining the Red Cross building. We then reached Cathédrale Saint-Pierre Genève. It was beautiful but a bit simpler than the extravagant churches of Rome and Barcelona we saw in Europe earlier this summer. The cathedral was famous as being the adoptive home of John Calvin the controversial protestant reformer. At the Cathedrale, we paid 5CHF each to climb up the towers and see am amazing panoramic of the city. It was a lot of stairs, but the views were worth it. We saw the old church bells, as well as an observation post that had been used by the Swiss during the Second World War to keep an eye on the Nazis in occupied France. It wasn't far to watch, as the airport we flew into was partially in France!
The cool cars outfront of the hotels
Enjoying the weather on a bench and playing with the birds
Tour de l'Île. In the 13th century, a fortified castle was built here and only the tower now remains.
A pretty wall
The pretty fountain
Hunter taking funny pics again
The Red Cross building
The sign that says this is where the Red Cross was born
Almost to the church
Inside the church
Beautiful stain glass
Intricate roof
The entrance to the tower
climbing up the stairs
looking down
There were windows at different points in the stairwell. Some were very small, just big enough to stick a gun out of.
We had to climb through the roof of the church to get to the other side where the best views are
There were some random artifacts stored in the roof
We finally reached the viewing point
Very picturesque
A beautiful panorama of Geneva
Someone wrote a funny quote on the stairwell
Once we were done at the tower, we headed towards L'horloge fleurie or the flower clock. Here we enjoyed the beautiful weather in the park near a fountain. There were lots of locals out enjoying their weekend in the park. I might have also taken a small nap on Hunter while sitting here.
Leaving the church
The old city has lots of interesting alleys
We passed a very expensive chocolate shop and I think Hunter was glad it was closed so I was not tempted to buy anything!
Flowe clock! Yes, it really does work
The fountain
After a while, we decided it was time for lunch/dinner. Hunter found this really cool burger place called BlackTap that was nearby. It looked extremely delicious from pictures online, so we decided to walk there. Hunter had a burger called the Texan which was a classic barbeque burger while I had one called the Old Fashioned which was more like what we might traditionally call a swiss burger. It was a delicious meal and while we originally thought we would want one of their crazy shakes, by the time we were done eating we decided not to get one because we were full.
After eating we went to another park called Promenade des Bastions it had beautiful trees that seemed much more inclined to believe it was fall that a lot of the rest of the greenery in the city. There were a bunch of giant chess and checkers boards in the park. We watched a game of chess for a little while and Hunter tried to explain the strategies each player was using to me before I ended up getting bored and continuing our walk. There were gorgeous big trees everywhere shedding their leaves and even larger stumps from trees that must have been cut down for some reason. Off to one side, there was even a birthday party where they were using one of the massive stumps as a table. The park also bordered the campus of the University of Geneva which meant I had wifi through eduroam. Its pretty cool to have wifi at campuses all over the globe through my school! Hunter took advantage of the wifi to check on flight loads for the next day. Eventually, we settled down with a nice view of the park's centerpiece the Mur des Réformateurs, or Reformation Wall. This wall was a monument to the reformers of the Catholic church who were persecuted during the time of the Inquisition. We stayed in the park for quite a while and enjoyed the beautiful weather. I again had a little nap against Hunter. Eventually, we got up and went through a hole in the wall up the stairs to a bus stop for the ride back to the central train station and then to the hotel for the night.
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