Refuge in Geneva?

Switzerland is my escape from the Schengen Visa’s 90day limitation which I’ve probably already gone over. I use my last train pass on the last day of validity from Paris Gare de Nord to Geneva Switzerland. There at 11pm I am to meet my friend Anh and Hyunh who I met back in Granada. Anh and her family have just returned from a trip to the south of France and Morocco and have agreed to host Hyunh and me. As I walk past the custom agents, the double doors open and Anh and her family are already there waiting for me. We walk a little ways down and Hyunh has just arrived as well.



Anh actually lives on the France side of Geneva, which is pretty ironic since the main reason I came to Switzerland is to avoid overstaying in Schengen countries, including France. Luckily the border crossing is loosely regulated and that night there were no passport checks. We all managed to fit all my backpack, Hyunh’s backpack, and the luggage of Anh, her mom and her little sister. It was quit full and probably overloaded.




The next day we all go grocery shopping. Fruits vegetables and meat are cheaper on the France side, while everything else is cheaper on the Switzerland side. Anh cooks us a traditional Switzerland dish that consists of potatoes and cheese. The cheese is melted on the potato and is usually the typical meal while skiing or doing activities in the mountains. Thus Anh introduces Hyunh and me to traditional Swiss food while Hyunh and I introduce her to American sized appetite and portioning.
After brunch Anh takes Hyunh and me on a guided tour of Geneva. The most interesting part of the tour is that amount of fancy cars driving around. The river area is nice and open with a giant water feature that looks like a constant geyser. There really isn’t a whole lot to Geneva. We sampled the typical Swiss commodities such as chocolate. The interesting thing is that back home in the states there is usually a small section of an isle dedicated to sweets and chocolate. Here in Switzerland typical grocery stores have an entire isle or wall for chocolate bars. Hyunh and I also buy Swiss army knives.



We ended up going out and realized it was one of Anh's friend's birthdays. We all met at the train station and then headed out to the bars. The drinks in Switzerland are pretty expensive. The bar we went to was outside with a umbrellas which was perfect, because it started to rain. Regardless of the weather the pub was still full of people even outside in the patio area.