Ramon's city... Pari!

Day 3,4 and 5 in geneva were dedictaed to the conference i was there to attend. And i could hardly run eloquent in the love the people there any more than i have already done, so after my stint in geneva (which was pleasant and awesome), i headed towards paris, very happily having save 140 francs from my original stash of money.

The wonder began in switzerland itself. On the way, i saw scenery apt to be, in todays language, the perfect screensaver... First came the snow covered bushes, then the christmas trees and then gradually, the hills and the bridges joining them! I was so strongly reminded of harry potter and the journey that the hogwarts train takes that for a moment, it really felt like i was going there. It was picturesque. The snow was glistening, like thousands of women had lost their earrings together here! It was brilliant.

I entered paris, again scared and apprehensive like i was on the first day in geneva, because every time i mentioned how good the people there were, they would say, 'but be careful in paris, it's not the same'. I went straight to the information center in gare de lyon, which is very conveniently located, and asked for directions to my hostel which were promptly provided.

It was time for the ticket now. The machine took coins only. So, i decided to buy something from a Coffee shop. The change i had now got me a ticket, and i boarded a train. A very lovely lady, previously an airhostess and now a therapist, welcomed me to paris with her smile and a chat about india and shri aurobindo. In the end, she even gave me her email id and number, just incase i have any trouble in paris. Such wonderful people.

I reached my hostel, and byt the time i went to sleep, i had made plans with another lone traveller Nicholas, from Colombia to walk to the eiffel tower the next day!

Je t'aime Geneva, Day 2

The day started with butterflies in my stomach. I was in my hostel dorm, tucked into a very comfortable bed after a very relaxing sleep of 12 hours (which, mind you, happened after a half an hour long bath in a hot tub). But i had to live up to the expectations of this trip! I was in Europe! How can i lie heren bed when lying in bed is basically what i do every other ordinary day of my life! But this is not an ordinary trip! I was alone and free to explore the world, and how scary can a people who pass benign smiles as strangers be, or a city that has EVERY road marked and named so properly that I am sure the google map makers had no troubles in finding their ways around.

With that thought i mind i picked up the ipad and typed geneve-tourisme.ch. an awesome place where one can get the best information about the city and places to visit, and realised after fiddling on google maps, that the office of geneva tourism was a two minute walk from my hotel, and that every saturday (which happened to be today) there is a walking tour for tourists for 10 francs. Oh good! I thought, a good way to get a hang of the town and look at a few places! I got up, took a quick shower and was getting ready when the girl on top of my bunk bed invited me to join her group of friends going to visit the Geneva lake! I had already seen the polite, beautiful people of Geneva, but turns out, it brings out the best in everyone. This one, Ma'ka from Georgia had heard that i was alone, and wanted to make me feel better. I thanked her profusely, but told her i should go with the tour as that means i could cover most of the spots before my conference began (did i mention i am here for a conference?). 

I walked out with a skip in my walk and reached the tourism office. There, i was helped by another beautiful woam who told me that the tour had already left, and since they had no policy of taking money from someone new, she couldn't let me venture out on my own, looking for the group as i had suggested, and take the fees for the tour as well! So, instead, she took out a map of the city, circled all the places the tour takes and drew me the route that would get me back to my hostel. I was set for the day!

I came back to the hostel to pick up some extra money as i had realised that 100 francs isnt going to be enough if i got lost and wanted to take a taxi back home. In the hostel, i met another dorm mate, alone and unhappy coz a friend had just backed out of her weekend plan of visiting the city! Voila! I had a partner to walk around with! I invited her to come along, gave her another map feomthe tourism office and we set rolling!

We covered the geneva lake, the beautiful scenery and gardens near it, the pallette clock museum, the national monument, the flower clock, the cathedral of st. Peter, numerous big and small churches on the way and ofcourse the old town. It was beautiful. At the lake, i basked in the winter sun and thought about how water inspires a certain calmness in me, someone one would usually compare with a stormy sea, someone i myself would compare with a stormy sea. The clock museum merely reminded me of the obsession of humans with time, measuring it immaculately, and how so many thing depended on it. Isn't it wonderous that of of all the truths known to mankind there is one absolute one, that time doesn't come back?  The cathedral of st. Peter was magnificent. Beautiful and daunting, i was reminded of the various ways in which religion can be scary. The view from the towers was awesome, ofcourse and i can totally tell why the hunchback of notre dame would love staying here (although he didn't and i hated that movie for its stupid conventional ending). The old town was so charming that i remembered my own village, where people called out to each other from their kitchen windows and where wives would find time to chat with each other amidst their daily work. There were people cooking in front of their houses, and selling cake and coffee to anyone who would buy. The whiffs of fresh out of the oven croissants that i had, simply made my day.

All in all, it's good i missed the tour. I explored on my own and it made me a firm believer that if you really want to see the world, you better do it alone!

Je t'aime Geneva...

I arrived in geneva yesterday, apprehensive and scared about the stay that was going to be one of the firsts in my life... Alone, all by myself. I had decided to take everything one step at a time when i boarded the flight 12 hours ago. Getting to dubai was step one, and then, was getting to geneva. Now, i had to take trains in a city i was never before, to get to a place i had never been to. Thousands of people do it, there are women travelling across the globe everyday... I told myself. Yet, there was this nagging fear that i couldn't let go of. 

I got out of the airport and decided to get hold of a map, something my father had taught me- you can't get lost with a map. I decided not to trust my gps enabled gadgets and go for the traditional map  instead. But before i could find one, i saw a few automatic ticket counters. Why not check them out, i thought, because as my travel loving father and all the years of visiting places in the country and abroad had taught me, it never hurts to ask someone. I asked a couple how i could get a ticket, and the first surprise in geneva awaited me. 

They were so nice! They described to me how to get there, which train i was supposed to take and even in their broken english, offered to pay for my ticket! I was dumbfounded! After my not so pleasant experience with people in Seoul, i was cautious about people outside my country, and specially, where any language other than english was spoken. But these two immediately made me feel welcome, and, well, for the want of a better word - un-alone.

I took the ticket, and walked towards a train standing on a platform. I aksed a uniformed guy if this train went to geneva central and he replied with a smile in his eyes, 'well i should hope so, otherwise i would be driving the wrong train!' Another human being, sigh! I was happy... I boarded the train and sat down with a nice looking lady. I had only one stop to go, and thinking that train culture here would be the same as the one in metros in delhi, where people don't talk to each other, i decided to look outside of the window, when this nice lady looked at me and said, you are a brave girl travelling alone!' And just like that, she started a conversation and before i got off, i had her card and an invitation to visit her studio as she was a photographer here. Are these people for real?

I got down at the geneva central station, and similarly, at least 5 people smiled at me, and helped me to locate my hostel where i had my reservations. Not once was i looked at in annoyance or even, with fear in their eyes (like in seoul) for i was a foreigner. The experience continued today everywhere i went. Every place, starting from the supermarket to the churches has people for whom the word amazing was invented, or maybe i am from a city so rude that these common courtesies seem like luxuries. Whatever it might be, geneva...je t'aime.