The final-ish entry
Trip Start
Apr 18, 2006
1
28
Trip End
Jun 02, 2006
Ann Arbor, United States
Friday, June 9, 2006
Last day in Geneva: I did walk around a bit. I got a map of the city and sights from my hostel, but to be honest, there aren't really a whole lot of them. I saw the UN building, but sadly no Kofi Annan. Walking down around Lac Leman was pretty cool. Literally as well. Switzerland is pretty chilly. The lake looked pristine, exactly what I would picture it to be. Back around in the distance was Mont Blanc, which really just reminds you how small these countries are. I've been in two countries so far that you can literally see the next country over. I suppose it helps that the landmarks were mountains though. From there I walked around the old town, did a bit of shopping, and went to a suggested Indian restaurant.
Lunch was my first-hand experience with Switzerland's "supposedly" outrageous prices. First of all the Indian restaurant was a buffet. Before I went in, I had looked at the menu outside and saw that it wasn't really that badly priced, so I went in and ordered a glass of sparkling water. When I asked for a menu the lady said it was buffet only, 20 Swiss francs. Not exactly what I had in mind, but I said ok. I go up to the buffet and it's obviously been sitting there forever, half of the stuff is gone and/or dried up. I get the impression really quickly that it's the end of lunch and they have no plans to replenish the buffet on my account. So I had the only thing available: two types of similar-tasting curry, some dried up naan, and crap jasmine rice all for the bargain price of $25. In the evening I figured I would go to a movie just to do something normal. With the conversion, it was about $17 to go see X-Men 3. And I heard it wasn't even that good. I didn't want to really spend a lot of money that night, and I was thinking I would break my pact of not going to McDonalds, until I figured out that an "extra-value" meal was $9. I got a small french fry nearly choking at how much that cost me. That's Geneva in a nutshell.
In the morning I had my train to Lyon, then a train to Paris, then a flight to London. I had a bit of trouble in Paris finding the right airline as they had absolutely no sign telling you what airlines were in what terminal, but I had left myself a whole lot of time, so it worked out well.
I got to London and into central city by about 3 or 4. It was amazing, like a giant breath of fresh air. I was in a place that I knew already, had my bearings, and could call on people if I needed help. I grabbed a quick lunch and met Dom at his studio. It was so nice not having to ask for directions. He had to work till about 8, so I helped him out by running an errand. We went to dinner at Wagamama so I could have my glorious Yaki Udon one more time. After noodles, wine, and the fact that I went from Geneva to London via 3 legs of transportation, I was pretty shot. We looked at my pictures and hung out with his flatmates for the rest of the night. I had my plane to Detroit the next day at 12:30.
Sadness doesn't really begin to describe it. My feelings on leaving were more than that. There was a mixture of sadness, guilt, anticipation, terror, and emptiness all rolled in to one. I think I had mentioned before that I didn't want to come home, just some regularity. I got that in London for one day. With that need for regularity met, I really had no want to come back to a place where I see all the same people I see everyday and do all the same things I did before I left. I did want to see my family and friends, don't get me wrong, but I really could have stayed in London forever.
The flight sucked. I couldn't sleep, but was exhausted. We were delayed at Heathrow for over an hour, which I took as a sign from the city giving me one last chance to get off the plane. I got in to Detroit around 5:30 and my mom and I went to Dalaat for dinner, despite me not really wanting to eat out. I was so sick of restaurants. I got to do some grocery shopping when I came back, which was heartily welcomed.
All in all, fantastic trip. There's so much more than what's here, and that, for one, is why I'm glad I got my journal back. I'm sure I'll pepper my conversations with relevant stories as the days go on. I was told before I left to enjoy everything I can reach. I believe that I succeeded.
