Wake up call - 4:30am! Spent most of the day in Vancouver. Took rapid transit downtown and walked along the waterfront. A walk down memory lane. We had our wedding reception at the Bayshore 42 years ago and lived in the are for a while in the '70's.
At the airport we were entertained by a diver cleaning out the aquarium. We had way too much time there.
Flew off to Amsterdam where we checked out the wooden shoe (plastic) & chocolate (probably also plastic) displays before settling for a long, very confusing, journey to C10...our gate for the last leg to Geneva.
Geneva was a pleasant surprise! We hopped on the free train to town where we hauled our luggage past Chinese, East Indian, Iranian and Ethiopian restaurants before we arrived at the Kipling Hotel. Very nice hotel just a block from the red light district. Now the adventure really begins.
Geneva isn't a huge city. With free transportation included in the (exorbitant) room fee it's easy to hop on a train, tram, boat or bus and find your way to all the major sights.
By the end of our stay we saw the Palace of Nations, walked through many parks, passed fountains (some working others planted) including the huge one that's impossible to miss on the waterfront. The only museum we wandered through was the Maison Tevel built
In 1303. We'll preserved and artfully displayed... Especially the 3D story board on the history of the city. However the most memorable part of this experience was a most talkative employee who cornered us while explaining how government works (or doesn't) in Switzerland. The fact that his pension will add up to 7000 Swiss Francs per month explains, in part, why it costs around 30CHF (40 Dollars) for a basic meal here.
By the end of our stay we had accomplished just what we had set out to. Our jet lag was in control, we'd wandered the cobblestone streets of the old city, we'd been lost and found, sipped wine, seen the sights in day and night and even spent time watching chess players in a park below the ramparts.
Now we fly off to Croatia ready to take it on.