Hi!

Well Sal and I are in Geneva! Its lovely but very cold - about 7 degrees during the day, which isn't really my favourite temperature but my new Zara coat is doing a pretty good job of keeping me warm.

So I arrived yesterday at about 10am, after getting a cab from home at about 3am, coach to the airport for an hour, check-in at 4:30 and flight at 6:30.. so I felt a bit seedy yesterday. Sal didn't arrive til 11:30 ish so I did what any girl would do and took myself off to the hairdressers! I was looking for a salon to maybe get a massage or something but found a nice hairdresser near the hotel. It took a little while to explain in my french to the receptionist that I wanted a wash and blow dry if she had anything available, as it would happen I only had to wait 5 minutes! The woman was really lovely and suggested she curl my hair a little bit to give it some volume - perfect! Anyway that made me feel a whole lot better about only having had about an hour and half sleep.

Met Sal at the hotel and we checked in - lovely place, really close to everything, including the station, and the room is really nice. We just got something quick for lunch at a cafe and then walked up the hill to the UN. Naturally we had to got hrough security, but we also had to get a security ID pass - Sal got one for the 2 of us which meant I didn't have to, but Sal wasn't very impressed with the photo as she mdidn't think it was going to be printed straight onot the card! he he fun times. The tour was good, but I flet really sleepy and the stuffiness and lack of air didn't really help. Also, our tour guide was rather lacking in enthusiam and spoke in a monotone. Sal and I both agreed that if his hair had been longer and his cheap suit not so ill-fitting, he may have been rather dashing.. oh well, you can't expect too much from a UN tour I guess...

In the afternoon we had pastries and coffee then went back to the hotel for some relaxing. We decided to go to an area called Carouge which is a little bit out of central Geneva, as it's supposed to have lots of cool bars and restaurants. Sadly it took us about 45 minutes walking in the freezing air before we found where they were meant to be. And then we only found a couple of places, which were either full with no tables or completely overpriced and not very enticing . So in the end we had a quick glass of wine to prevent chillblains from occurring and got back on the tram to our area! We ended up having dinner at a place we had spotted during the day. Apart from the fact that the tables around us were smoking, the food took about 45 minutes for each course and the 45 year old men next to us thought they were pretty irresistable and kept wanting to talk to us, it was really nice!! For entree, I had fois gras (Sarah, I've got you to thank for getting me on to it) but sadly it wasn't as good as others I've had, not enough flavour... Sal had a chicken salad which looked great. For main, I had chicken with honey and freid peanuts, with rice and unidentifiable vegetables - I think maybe courgettes? and Sal had mushroom risotto which she thought "had been cooked in a vat of cream"!! The best part was the plates, which were sqaure glass ones, a la 1986!

Today we had coffee and croissant for brekkie, a lovely experience as the croissants turned out to be complimentary! Then we walked across the river to the right bank where we discovered all the clothes shops and the old town - the vieille ville. Totally gorgeous, with a big cathedral up on the hill, surrounded by the old city wall, and lots of charming streets and narrow alleyways. Had lunch in a cute restaurant called Chez Ma Cousine, where they serve 1/2 a chicken, with pommes provencale (ie. home baked chips) and a green salad for 13 Francs? Which is about 7 pounds or 13 aussie dollars, bargain! In the afternoon I bought a cute hat from United Colours of Benetton and we also went to the Art Gallery/Museum. Sal and I were equally enthralled with the armour and weapons and the impressionist paintings, and equally dismissive of the icons/byzantinian/greek/roman artifacts and the big religious oil paintings - uggh. Then we meandered back to the hotel for a relaxing cup of tea. We both just about to get ready to go to some bars tonight, we've found one called La Sip which looks nice.

Tomorrow, we think we might do a cruise on the lake then hit the Red Cross Museum if we have time,

Sorry if the details are a little boring...

Lots of love xx