Summer in Geneva, Switzerland

Two weeks ago, I had a 25-hour layover in Geneva, Switzerland.

It was my first time there that’s why I was so excited to see the place. We arrived at the Grand Hotel Kempinski Geneve past 3 PM.

Since it’s still early, I wanted to explore the city with my two fellow flight attendants. The hotel staff told us that since it was a Sunday, most of the shops were closed or were closing earlier than the usual. We immediately changed clothes and had our money changed at the reception desk. Upon check in, we were also given a free transport card to use for the boat and the train.

We all wanted to ride the boat so we boarded the one going to the old town.

It was a 10-minute ride. When we docked, we were welcomed by beautiful swans and ducks.

We just walked around without a map. We didn’t set an itinerary, so we were very excited on what we were going to see at every turn. Here are my photos:

When we began to feel tired, we walked back to the direction of our hotel. We passed by Starbucks where I got a city mug for my collection and a Venti Macha Green Tea Frappe to quench my thirst.

We passed by a food stall and I got a ham and cheese sandwich. Next, we passed by a souvenir shop. The items were a bit expensive. I decided to just go back the next day to buy souvenirs since I didn’t have any extra money with me.

As we continued walking, we saw a street act. He was pretending to be a statue.

After a while, my companions felt hungry and asked if we could already have dinner. They were both Muslims. There was no halal food along the bay area, so we went to a Turkish restaurant located just at the back of our hotel. We were so happy because the food turned out to be really awesome! I had lamb kebab and fries in a box.

The waiters offered us soda but we told them we just have enough money for the food. They said we can have it for free and they even gave us sweets for dessert. Later, we learned that they own the place. It was a 30-year old family business they inherited from their father.

After having our tummies filled, we called it a night and went back to our hotel rooms to rest.

The following day we had breakfast at the hotel.

I went back to the souvenir shop and bought a fridge magnet.

And before going back to the hotel, I took a photo of the famous fountain of Geneva.