A Stop in Geneva
September 3rd, 2022 (G)
We arrived in Geneva late in the day, we stepped from the airport lobby to clean well-lit streets and caught a bus to our hostel. This hostel was located on the outskirts of the downtown section of Geneva, but still close enough to make it easily accessible via public transit. The building itself stood tall and modern along a broad street. We entered and checked in with the front desk. We quickly found our room which was very clean and well kept. Once we had dropped out packs and freshened up some we set out in search of dinner. If you recall from our previous blog entry we had not eaten in the Montenegro airport and now our tummies were voicing their displeasure.
T developed a near-constant craving for Colombian empanadas after our visit there in early 2019. No ordinary empanadas will do. T has tried others and consistently prefers Colombian. Fortunately, Geneva is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world. So it was with great delight that T found a Colombian restaurant that was still open. Neatly tucked away in the central portion of a small shopping mall, we were met with the familiar and fond smells of Colombian cuisine.
The restaurant was filled with Colombians who seemed surprised to find two random, clearly not Colombian, people, but warmly welcomed us just the same. The ambiance was perfect. Everything from the hammock bearing the colors of the Colombian flag to the music and white-washed walls oozed Colombian spirit. We ordered and marveled at this small slice of Colombia that had been transplanted into the mountains of Switzerland. The food soon came and the empanadas did not disappoint, nor did the arepas. After enjoying a fantastic meal, we called it a night and returned to our hostel for the remainder of the evening.
September 4th, 2022
We slept late. Since we had no concrete plans for Geneva, we decided to wander toward the old section of the city and just meander. As we walked T and I talked about what things we had begun to miss. The start of September and the cooler climate of Switzerland had reminded T of autumn and naturally enjoying good cider that comes along with the season. Visiting the Colombian restaurant reminded me of tacos. Dear, sweet, lovely, messy Mexican tacos. Then the thought occurred to us. If we could find an authentic Colombian restaurant here, we could probably find cider and tacos. While we could have simply googled where to find these things, sometimes there’s a joy in just seeking things out the old fashion way first and enjoying the journey until you arrive.
So, as we wandered we kept an eye out. Eventually, we found a nice hill with a small cafe that seemed to implore us to pause our search. We stopped and enjoyed coffee together in a little outdoor seating area in front.
As we sat sipping coffee, T noticed that the shop next to our cafe boasted a craft cider. We saved the spot mentally for later in the day and after finishing our coffee set off once more. We walked the rest of the way up the hill and began down the other side until we spotted a somewhat mysterious looking set of stairs. We followed these stairs up and as we emerged from them found ourselves on the rear side of St Pierre Cathedral. This particular Cathedral began its existence as a Roman Catholic cathedral. However, during the Reformation, it became the Protestant Church of Geneva which it remains to this day.
We spent some time wandering inside the church then took a side road back down the hill where we were pleased to find a beautiful lookout point from which we could spot the Jet d'Eau which is a large water fountain in lake Geneva and is one of the city's most famous landmarks.
We followed the hill down in the direction of the fountain. As we closed in on the park that was situated in front of the fountain, we began hearing the rhythmic pounding of drums. It seems by fortune we had stumbled upon a food truck festival at the park! Food trucks with every type of food were present and after a brief search, I spotted a banner bearing the much sought-after food, tacos. We quickly purchased and devoured these excellent food truck tacos while sitting in the shade of the park tree. After tacos, time had now come to return up the hill to enjoy crisp cider.
We decided to take a slightly different route back to explore a bit more of the city and stumbled upon a few interesting buildings and old-school cannons guarding beautiful mosaics. We found an alternative viewpoint looking away from the lake and more towards the mountains and city. Soon after this, we arrived at the small cafe we had mentally marked earlier in the day. We sat and enjoyed cider served from small almost mug-like cups and enjoyed the cool air and bright sunlight. Knowing that this weather and cider were likely the closest things to real autumn that we would experience for a while, we savored it all the more.
After a while, we began our return to the hostel. Upon returning we had grown peckish once more and decided to grab a couple of sandwiches from the bar for our dinner. We spent part of the evening chatting with a fairly odd fellow from New Jersey. Perhaps it was his clearly very mathematically inclined logical reasoning applied to situations where it wasn’t totally warranted or that he was several beers deep and clearly intoxicated that struck us as odd.
In our experience, it is fairly atypical for people to get hammered completely alone at a hostel bar. Sure it happens, but usually, hostel bars are more socially focused, and more time is spent talking with fellow travelers than drinking. To each, their own. Though odd, he was friendly enough and harmless. When we were tired of chatting, we excused ourselves and returned to our room to prepare our things for leaving the following day.