Le voyage d'une vie

today i'm gonna upload my stuff on my time in switzerland. switzerland is an absolutely fantastic place, especially if you like nature and peace and quiet. sadly i was there only for a weekend, which is way too short to go places. we wanted to go to jungfrau, which is a very famous snow mountain, but the journey from geneva was long, and it is too expensive to go. costs about 300 swiss francs by train, which makes it about... 400SGD *whew* =) and we wanted to go to luzern, which is also a very nice place, but also cost way too much. about 140 francs by train. so in the end, we stayed in geneva, and had a very nice time there, and went for a day trip to lausanne (which sounds very much like luzern, so be careful and don't mix the 2 up). Lausanne is significant for its being the HQ of the IOC (internation olympic committee) and has a museum on it. really pretty nice trip overall.

hostel wise, we stayed in HI (hostelling international, which has branches in various places). judging from this one we stayed in, i would recommend this to most people. it is the largest hostel we stayed in, price is average, goes by key-card system (including a locker which is secure), includes breakfast (which is comparably good). of course, have to pay for internet access, and they have laundry facilities and so on. more importantly, the staff are helpful and friendly. website for HI is: http://www.hihostels.com/web/index.en.htm in case anyone wants to travel around in future. for switzerland in particular, this website is better than hostelworld (which has pathetically limited offerings for switzerland in particular, for some strange reason): http://youthhostel.ch/home.html?&L=1 or http://www.geneve-tourisme.ch/?rubrique=0000000000&lang=_eng (for geneva only)

one of the highlights of this trip was our flight from switzerland to venice. we were supposed to go by train, but there were some problems with the booking of train, and ended up, the flight was cheaper than train, and by far better! one of the nicest airlines in the world (and it is a SMALL airline). the name is "fly baboo" and the website is http://www.flybaboo.com/ it operates only from switzerland to a number of neighbouring countries (luckily for us to venice), and also back. wanted to get the model plane for daniel, but they didnt have it... sad... it is a very cute plane. not a plane actually... hmmm... well, have a look at the photos below. :)

Day 1 (geneva):

cute flower clock!

street with flags. love flags. =P

isn't he cute??? haha... it was nice and warm. i repeat. WARM. (unlike leeds...)

rather famous fountain on lake geneve (managed to catch it just as the yellow boat passed under it, and the fountain looked kinda like the sail of the boat. haha...)

bought a new pair of shoes cos my cheap 4pound shoes from primarks gave out on me. these caused about 29francs, which is really cheap already. and i saw a similar one later in the day (branded of course, but looking almost the same) and that one cost 100francs. good buy! :D

Day 2 (geneva):

we visited the UN. u just have to. it was great. this chair, outside the UN, does not belong to the UN, but is significant as a piece of art regarding the issue of land mines (notice the broken chair leg) really meaningful

more flags :) anyway they have a guided tour of the UN. u can't enter without going for the tour anyway. security issues. but do go for it. it's really educational and eye-opening.

this is china's tribute to the UN. many countries have given something or other. what's cool about this (which i can't show here) is the slight optical illusion. if u walk from one side of the painting to the next, u'll see that the path follows u; it is always directly in front of u. so no matter where u stand, the path leads to the pagoda. :)

now what does this remind u of? "the interpreter", of course!

cool postcard (couldn't afford to buy it)

wat more fitting than to have the red cross directly opposite the un?

from the red cross, you can see the un building, and to the right of it, in the background is mont blanc! we were very lucky to catch a good view of it. it's not everyday that u can see this peak.

in the evening we came back to the lake. u can see how strong the wind is by the fountain...

isn't this the sweetest thing u ever saw???

location: lake geneva. date: 30 march. time: 1940hrs. 7.40pm!!! (well not so much of a surprise now that the sun only STARTS to set in leeds at 8pm. and may i add that the sun RISES at 6am. be thankful, singaporeans! =P)

Day 3 (lausanne):

not so good weather, raining... visited a number of churches and buildings

got lost! with me holding the map. lol. but found these cute houses along the way. :)

of course, the olympic museum! decorated for 2008's beijing olympics.

singapore's national olympic council :)

countdown to beijing 2008!

the olympic fire

a pretty nice view, also of lake geneva, but from lausanne

the train station, where the sign says: lausanne capital olympic

this is janet. finally u get 2 meet her. haha... we went to this restaurant to eat cheese fondue.

big mistake, cos it contained alcohol, n we both don't drink, don't like to drink, n totally couldn't finish it! but a very good experience, though we almost died trying to eat more... lol

Day 4 (geneva airport):

fly baboo!!! cool rite? this is the boarding area, where u wait ard 2 board e plane. those who have flown b4 would have had their fair share of lounging ard, and u noe how uncomfortable some places can get... and boring...

well, not here! here they had 3 mac computers for free usage!!! ah!!! haha

and just look at those comfy chairs man...

and this is the plane. so cute!!! has propellers, u see? it's a really small airline with small planes. probably seat no more than 50 passengers. so it was really comfy and cosy and fun.

see the propellers? haha...

and i have to mention, the service onboard was fantastic. 2 flight attendants, very professional and friendly. and our flight was barely an hour, but we were served food. not any kind of food, but really delicious food. there was appetizer of biscuit sticks, followed by this small container of i don't really know, but was really good (had ham, and this carrot mash thingy), and sandwich, and dessert. and cos the flight wasn't full, there were leftovers, and we were allowed to take extras!!! muahaha... basically the best flight i've ever been on.

not to mention the view. oh my goodness, i don't know how to begin describing it. couldn't take photos of it. well, the clouds covered the sky below us, and you could see the mountain peaks sticking above the clouds, covered with snow. it was really amazing. beautiful. oh man... so wanna relive it...

switzerland's really a must go place. seriously. go. but make sure u've got the $$ to travel ard. if u're going to a number of places by train, consider getting this half price card for 99 francs. see, if u buy it for 99francs, u can travel to jungfrau for not 300, but 150francs. 150+99 makes it 219, still less than 300. worth it. :)

oh and yeah, for those who don't know (at least those who did social studies at o lvl should...), the swiss speak a number of languages. in geneva and the nearby area it's mainly french. some places speak german, etc... but not much of a problem seeking help in english anyway. so no worries about any language barrier.

Labels: travels