Switzerland is as Expensive as They Say

Another weekend another adventure. I am still behind in the blog but with this post I will be nearly caught up. This chapter of our story takes us to Geneva, Switzerland. Finally a new country! When Bill and I originally booked travel for this weekend we got on the skyscanner website and explored what city was inexpensive to go to this particular weekend. Geneva was the top of the list for wait for it…. €37 euros per person. Round trip. I can barely go to work in den Hague and back for that cost! So as thrifty travelers we said what the heck next stop Geneva!

This was an interesting trip for Bill and I because we actually did minimal planning. If you know us this is extremely shocking. The couple with google spreadsheets for each of their trips winging it? Never! Well believe it! The only things we had booked were the tickets, Airbnb and a dinner reservation. I guess that’s not entirely winging it but for us, this is as close to winging it as it gets. When we were both clicking around online we found lots of options of things to do and it didn’t really seem like anything needed to be booked in advance so we just kept a few ideas in mind and decided to make the call when we were in Geneva based on what we felt like doing at that moment.

We left on Friday evening and the truth is this trip almost didn’t happen. I originally was supposed to have filed my 9/30 job that day but for several reasons that didn’t happen and I felt like I had a mountain of things I needed to do. Ultimately I decided that I would just bring my laptop and work on the plane and if I really needed to I could find a coffee shop in Geneva. Even though I’m living in the Netherlands I am still having trouble letting go of my American workaholic tendencies. Laptop in hand we headed to Schiphol. I had this feeling I was forgetting something though. While in the duty free shop searching for peachie-o’s it hit me – phone charger. Thankfully they had some there and while I was looking at the various charger options I saw out of the corner of my eye a converter for Switzerland. Yes. Switzerland can’t even have the same outlets as anyone else. They have to have some annoying third plug. Apparently Italy is the same. It was actually a good thing I left my charger so I could have an appropriate converter for Switzerland as well. The flight itself went well. My canvas tasks even saved appropriately so I managed to get some work done. Help ease my mind leading into a Saturday of touring.

Saturday we woke up and decided to do a free walking tour on TripAdvisor also recommended by some friends who went to Geneva the weekend before. Before embarking we went to breakfast at a local coffee shop called Boreal. Most expensive coffee, sandwich and muffin we’ve ever had. Our first taste of Swiss prices. The muffin was by far the highlight. White chocolate and raspberry. Yummmm.

A short walk from the coffee shop was the meeting point of our tour. To be honest, I didn’t retain quite as much knowledge as I should have because the tickets for the Spice Girls reunion tour went on sale about 30 minutes after the tour began. So while we were walking I was guled to Ticketmaster.com attempting to relive the amazement of the 90’s girl power phenomenon. Despite my commitment, however, we were not able to get tickets within the first hour so I gave up to try and do a better job focusing on our guide. While I can’t say I absorbed much, I did take some nice pictures for you to enjoy.

Once the tour ended we decided we would make our way up to the United Nations building. We thought there were tours running butttttttt turns out in November there are no weekend tours. I did manage to take a picture of the broken chair monument however which serves to commemorate the victims of land mines.

We looked through TripAdvisor and we didn’t really see any other tourist attractions that peaked our interest. It was also starting to rain so we decided the most appealing option was fondue and wine. After some quick searching for “inexpensive fondue” we settled on a restaurant on the lake. It’s where the swimming happens in the summer and I was extremely skeptical when we walked up because it looked like the seating was outside. They did actually have some heated indoor seating however and all was well. We ordered the “inexpensive” fondue which was actually in no way inexpensive (I would hate to see what expensive fondue rings in at) and found some spots in the warmth. When the fondue arrived we made a rookie mistake and didn’t stir the fondue – note to other people that visit stir the fondue because all the garlicky goodness is at the bottom. Despite our improper technique we very much enjoyed our Swiss version of queso. Still waiting for Christmas in the States when I can swim in pools of torchys queso. I miss you queso. Anyway, in addition to photos of our fondue experience, I also included a funny picture of a swam upside down trying to get himself (or herself) a snack.

placeholder://

Filled with cheese and wine we briefly debated taking a train up a mountain just outside the city for some views but given the weather was pretty cloudy and our general state of food coma, a nap sounded pretty darn appealing. So that’s what we did! After a fabulous nap, I woke up to a message that one of the members of our group that was attempting to get Spice Girls tickets had been successful! BLESSED! SPICE GIRLS HERE WE COME! Back to Geneva though – post nap it was dinner time. Finding a non $$$$ highly rated TripAdvisor restaurant in Geneva was a bit of a task. I managed to find one, however, literally around the corner from us called Milan. It was an Italian restaurant which I felt pretty good about given how close Geneva is to Italy. The host (maybe owner?) was very nice. When we first arrived and ordered wine he came back to inform us our selection was currently out but he would basically give us the next level up for the same price. What a gem. Once wine arrive, we ordered our main courses and were delighted with the pasta presented to us. I got a plate of fresh noodles with tomatoes and arugula or rockets. Also side note how is arugula called rockets? Like I understand when things don’t translate directly all the time but this is way off. Also, even English speaking foreign countries they call arugula rockets. How? I do not understand. Ok back to the actual story. For dessert we ordered what we thought was chocolate fondue but was actually chocolate fondant or a flourless chocolate cake. Thankfully, this was equally delicious. The nice host I mentioned earlier also told us we simply could not eat that dessert without the dessert wine that matched (which we didn’t order) so he provided that to us complimentary as well! Overall dinner was a great success and considering all the food and wine we had it was actually reasonably priced. A rarity for Switzerland.

Before heading to bed we drafted a plan for our Sunday. We decided we had seen basically what we wanted to in Geneva so we decided to take the train and venture to the other side of Lake Geneva. We could store our luggage at the station, head out of the day, then circle back, collect our bags and take a new train to the airport. Easy. Traveling around in Europe is so convenient. Take notes USA. So Saturday we woke up and headed to Montreux. The train ride itself was pretty awesome. At the beginning we passed vineyard after vineyard with pretty chateaus on the land. As we got closer to Montreux, the train goes right along the lake and is pretty breathtaking. Especially with the morning glow as the sun rose.

We arrived in Montreux and our first stop was Chateau de Chillon. It’s advertised as a castle but really it’s more like a large estate with defensive mechanisms. The Chateau is located basically on a rock right on the shore of Lake Geneva so it’s surrounded by the water on all sides. It had dungeons and ball rooms, and a defense tower. All the makings of a mini castle. The best part of the castle was definitely the views though. So gorgeous. Feast your eyes.

After exploring the castle, we opted to walk back to Montreux along the backs of the river. This was probably my favorite part of our whole trip. It was so peaceful and sunny and just overall spectacular. I’ll let the photos speak from themselves.

After our walk we found a nice spot for a bite to eat before our train back through Geneva. To be honest, I can’t remember the name of the restaurant but the burger with cheese from Switzerland was the best over $20 burger I’ve had (potentially the only burger I’ve ever had that cost that much). So that’s where I will leave you for the week. With a photo of my expensive burger. Oh and an Aperol Spritz because who doesn’t like a good Aperol Spritz. Next entry we will be headed somewhere I did not expect to go during my stint in Amsterdam or really ever for that matter – Colombia. Arriba arriba!