We've officially been in Geneva for 3.5 weeks. In these past few weeks we have quickly picked up on our favorite spots for food, drinks, and general entertainment.
During the first week we quickly learned that a lot of the restaurants here all serve a similar menu, so we strive to find the more ethnic or unique places. On our first Friday night, we ventured to Paquis and found a nice Indian Restaurant called Indian Plaza. Granted the name is not too exciting, but the food was delicious. We are not connoisseurs of Indian food, but we can definitely judge a good chicken makhanwala and garlic naan, and this place hit it spot on. To top if off, the ambiance was fun as there were several neighboring restaurants that kept the entire area lively.
After an indian dinner, what else is better than stopping into a pub for a couple of cold beers. Travers found this one expat pub called The Clubhouse that was celebrating Cinco de Mayo with live music and coronas. It was crowded, but we quickly got a seat at the bar and were able to view the band, and people watch. There were lots of expats there and we could hear english being spoken all around us. It's definitely a great place to go when you're missing home, to get a beer and burger, and to hear some good old american music.
Another favorite place we enjoy going to is Place du Bourg-de-Four at the center of Old Town. It is one of the best plazas in the area and most days we can get lots of good sun sitting at an outdoor table. We happened to go here last Wednesday for a quick post-work beer and stumbled upon an orchestra playing right next to the cafes! We grabbed a flyer and discovered that it was the first of many free musical concerts throughout Geneva for the next couple of weeks! Whether there is a concert going on in the plaza or just some great summer sun, Place du Bourg-de-Four is always a good place to go.
This past Friday, we discovered a bar called Bar Cotton Pub. This is a hot spot for after work drinks. It has a great decor that's sophisticated but welcoming. There are several outdoor tables and high-tops, but they fill up fast with the after-work crowd. This will definitely be a favorite meeting place for me and Travers after work.
fter a drink at Bar Cotton Pub, Travers and I had dinner at Demi Lune Cafe. They serve things like tandoori chicken, hamburgers, skewers of mozzarella and tomato, meatballs, burritos, and more. The ambiance is lively and casual. There is indoor and outdoor seating, and couches for just relaxing while you listen to the background music. This is definitely a place we'll go back to often and take visitors to.
Lastly, another favorite is the Riverside Cafe that is on the side of the Rhone river just south of the lake and a few short blocks from our apartment. It has great wine and beer prices and is always crowded with locals and tourists during these sunny days. We can always get a good seat either right by the river, or on one of their comfy lounge couches that is great for people watching and staring out at the water too.
There are tons of other places, and I'm sure we'll discover many more as we're here, but these are our favorites so far. And if you're lucky, maybe we'll take you to one of them when you visit.
Cheers!
Megan
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Favorite Past Times of the Genevans
Over the past two weeks, I have been taking note of some of the favorite past times of the local Genevans. I'm sure there are plenty more than this, but here are the top 4 that I have seen so far:
The first and most popular one is smoking. People smoke everywhere they go, while doing everything they do. It's amazing how many cigarette butts are on the streets (although they have people to clean them practically every day). Unfortunately for us, we don't smoke, and every evening like clockwork the smell of cigarettes comes through our living room window. Ugh.
The 2nd most popular one is sitting at a cafe talking to one another. (This can also be combined with the first one of course). It doesn't matter what time of day it is or what day of the week, Genevans will be sitting in a cafe having a beverage of some sort chatting away with their companion. We live above and next to two very popular cafes/restaurants, and there are constantly people at these places. Business meetings over breakfast, coffee before the school day, mid-morning coffee breaks, long lunches, late lunches, happy hours, dinners, after-dinner drinks, you name it and a Genevan is doing it. Granted, this past time is much more attractive to us than the first, so when in Rome...(or Geneva).
Another favorite past time I've seen is the feeding of the ducks and swans in the lake. When I take a run along the lake, I will often see someone feeding the local swans and ducks that live in Lake Geneva (also known as Lac Léman). Sometimes its a mother and child, sometimes its an older man or woman, and sometimes whole families. I've never understood the attraction to feeding birds, but it seems to be a popular thing to do here, and the swans really are beautiful so maybe I'll give it a try some day.
Lastly, what we have recently discovered to be a favorite past time of the locals is urinating in public. Surprise! That's what we got when we rounded the corner out of our apartment the other night to find 3 men dressed in suits, all positioned in separate corners of the plaza urinating against the walls. Who would have thought? We definitely didn't. You're probably thinking "Isn't Geneva supposed to be a clean place?" It is and it isn't. Its clean in that there is very little trash (minus the cigarette butts), and very little pollution, but we now walk at least a foot or two away from all the walls when leaving our apartment :-)
There you have it. c'est la vie à Genève.
The first and most popular one is smoking. People smoke everywhere they go, while doing everything they do. It's amazing how many cigarette butts are on the streets (although they have people to clean them practically every day). Unfortunately for us, we don't smoke, and every evening like clockwork the smell of cigarettes comes through our living room window. Ugh.
The 2nd most popular one is sitting at a cafe talking to one another. (This can also be combined with the first one of course). It doesn't matter what time of day it is or what day of the week, Genevans will be sitting in a cafe having a beverage of some sort chatting away with their companion. We live above and next to two very popular cafes/restaurants, and there are constantly people at these places. Business meetings over breakfast, coffee before the school day, mid-morning coffee breaks, long lunches, late lunches, happy hours, dinners, after-dinner drinks, you name it and a Genevan is doing it. Granted, this past time is much more attractive to us than the first, so when in Rome...(or Geneva).
Another favorite past time I've seen is the feeding of the ducks and swans in the lake. When I take a run along the lake, I will often see someone feeding the local swans and ducks that live in Lake Geneva (also known as Lac Léman). Sometimes its a mother and child, sometimes its an older man or woman, and sometimes whole families. I've never understood the attraction to feeding birds, but it seems to be a popular thing to do here, and the swans really are beautiful so maybe I'll give it a try some day.
Lastly, what we have recently discovered to be a favorite past time of the locals is urinating in public. Surprise! That's what we got when we rounded the corner out of our apartment the other night to find 3 men dressed in suits, all positioned in separate corners of the plaza urinating against the walls. Who would have thought? We definitely didn't. You're probably thinking "Isn't Geneva supposed to be a clean place?" It is and it isn't. Its clean in that there is very little trash (minus the cigarette butts), and very little pollution, but we now walk at least a foot or two away from all the walls when leaving our apartment :-)
There you have it. c'est la vie à Genève.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Success!
Just a quick note to boast about my french language skills! Thanks to Google Translator, I was able to talk to the apartment building manager this morning in French and have her explain to me where we take our trash out! It was such an exhiliarting experience speaking another language and actually having someone understand me.
I would highly recommend using Google Translator while in a foreign country. Its amazing! You just type in the phrase or sentence you want to say and Voila! It provides you with exactly what to say. I also used it to interpret the washing and drying machines so that I could do our laundry.
Now we have clean clothes and no garbage. Life is good.
I would highly recommend using Google Translator while in a foreign country. Its amazing! You just type in the phrase or sentence you want to say and Voila! It provides you with exactly what to say. I also used it to interpret the washing and drying machines so that I could do our laundry.
Now we have clean clothes and no garbage. Life is good.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Ma Premiere Semaine A Geneve
While it was hard to leave my family and friends behind, as well as a rare sunny San Francisco, my husband and I could not be more pleased with our trip to Geneva. A few key pieces of advice when travelling to visit us:
- Be nice to your check-in agent, he has the power to upgrade you to Business Class for free!
- Don't overpack the 2 suitcases you get to check for free (you can go up to 50.9 pounds, but not over).
- Sleep on the plane no matter if you're sitting First, Business, or Economy. Jetlag sucks.
We arrived around noon on Saturday, which I would say is the better of the few options you have for flying to Geneva. Our first trip here we left around 7am and got here around 8am the next day. We were extremely lucky to be able to check into our hotel early that trip. This time, we left around noon and arrived around noon. Chances of checking in were much higher. And trust me, you will want to check in right away and take a several hour nap. We sure did.
The first few days here were spent wandering the neighborhood of Paquis, which is located on the Rive Gauche (right bank) of Lake Geneva, where our hotel was located. We discovered a pub called Mr. Pickwick's. Its a little reminiscent of The Bus Stop and Kell's in San Francisco. It has the dark wood tables, the smell of beer, and a man to woman ratio of 10 to 1. Of course the only sport that was being shown was soccer, but we are in Europe, so c'est la vie! Good thing we got the Slingbox.
We also happened to discover the finish line of a bike race called Tour de Romandie! The race went through the Paquis area, down the Pont du Mont-Blanc, and into Eaux-Vives, where the finish line was a few blocks past Travers' office. We stood and watched and waited. They had cars coming down the road with banners and flags, and crazy decorations on their roofs. Then a huge black helicopter came flying over, and within seconds, hundreds of bike racers came flying past us to the finish line. It lasted about 10 seconds at best, but it was amazing to see those racers peddaling so fast and flying by. What an amazing event to stumble upon.
The rest of this week Travers has been settling in at work, while I get to explore the city and settle us in at our new home. I would say the toughest part of being here is the language barrier. It is intimidating walking into a store or boutique and the first thing you hear is a language that you don't know. I struggle for the right phrase in French to say "I don't speak french", and instead it comes out in a mumbled "Sorry". Lucky for me, a lot of people speak english. So I'll need to get over my fears and just start speaking english and hope they understand. I start my french lessons next Wednesday, so hopefully it will come back to me quickly.
And just to make all of you back home a little jealous, yesterday afternoon, Travers and I sat at a Cafe called La Clemence in Place du Bourg-De-Four, in Old Town. It was a sunny afternoon, and all the tables were packed with people drinking coffee or beer, enjoying the sun and casual conversation. There were two men playing music, one on an accordian, and one on a keyboard. It was definitely your picturesque european cafe experience.
Jusqu'à la prochaine fois (Until next time)
xoxo Megan
- Be nice to your check-in agent, he has the power to upgrade you to Business Class for free!
- Don't overpack the 2 suitcases you get to check for free (you can go up to 50.9 pounds, but not over).
- Sleep on the plane no matter if you're sitting First, Business, or Economy. Jetlag sucks.
We arrived around noon on Saturday, which I would say is the better of the few options you have for flying to Geneva. Our first trip here we left around 7am and got here around 8am the next day. We were extremely lucky to be able to check into our hotel early that trip. This time, we left around noon and arrived around noon. Chances of checking in were much higher. And trust me, you will want to check in right away and take a several hour nap. We sure did.
The first few days here were spent wandering the neighborhood of Paquis, which is located on the Rive Gauche (right bank) of Lake Geneva, where our hotel was located. We discovered a pub called Mr. Pickwick's. Its a little reminiscent of The Bus Stop and Kell's in San Francisco. It has the dark wood tables, the smell of beer, and a man to woman ratio of 10 to 1. Of course the only sport that was being shown was soccer, but we are in Europe, so c'est la vie! Good thing we got the Slingbox.
We also happened to discover the finish line of a bike race called Tour de Romandie! The race went through the Paquis area, down the Pont du Mont-Blanc, and into Eaux-Vives, where the finish line was a few blocks past Travers' office. We stood and watched and waited. They had cars coming down the road with banners and flags, and crazy decorations on their roofs. Then a huge black helicopter came flying over, and within seconds, hundreds of bike racers came flying past us to the finish line. It lasted about 10 seconds at best, but it was amazing to see those racers peddaling so fast and flying by. What an amazing event to stumble upon.
The rest of this week Travers has been settling in at work, while I get to explore the city and settle us in at our new home. I would say the toughest part of being here is the language barrier. It is intimidating walking into a store or boutique and the first thing you hear is a language that you don't know. I struggle for the right phrase in French to say "I don't speak french", and instead it comes out in a mumbled "Sorry". Lucky for me, a lot of people speak english. So I'll need to get over my fears and just start speaking english and hope they understand. I start my french lessons next Wednesday, so hopefully it will come back to me quickly.
And just to make all of you back home a little jealous, yesterday afternoon, Travers and I sat at a Cafe called La Clemence in Place du Bourg-De-Four, in Old Town. It was a sunny afternoon, and all the tables were packed with people drinking coffee or beer, enjoying the sun and casual conversation. There were two men playing music, one on an accordian, and one on a keyboard. It was definitely your picturesque european cafe experience.
Jusqu'à la prochaine fois (Until next time)
xoxo Megan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)