The Europe Trip: Geneva

Geneva was... an expectation mismatched. Prior to the visit, my first and only impression of big cities in Europe was London and Paris. Since it was famous for Geneva Conventions and known as the home of the United Nations office, I imagined that Geneva would be on par with the two cities I saw back in 2016. But no, Geneva was, as it turned out, a small town.

We landed in Geneva quite early in the morning. The airport was small, slightly old-fashioned but cozy. After figuring out how to buy the bus tickets to the city (I wasn't charged even though I tapped my debit card to purchase them, so I'd reckon the ride was free), I had my first glance at Geneva. From the airport to Meininger Hotel, the view was kind of suburban.

The ride from airport to hotel.

I booked a room for a family of four. The check-in time was 3pm, so we stored our luggage and began our holiday in Geneva. Since the distance between hotel and Palais des Nations was only about 2.5 KM, I decided that we should walk.

I expected to see a city with grand and high-rise buildings, but it was nothing like that. The road to the United Nations was considerably quiet. We were supposed to have breakfast, but we saw none that was attractive enough for us to stop by. Lots of McDonald's ads, but the fast food restaurant itself was not found. We saw quite a fair bit of pizzerias instead. We hadn't eaten anything by the time we reached the Broken Chair and Palais des Nations.

Audrey and the Broken Chair behind the fountain.

From there, I thought we should walk to Java Nations, an Indonesian restaurant. A bit hard to find, as it was apparently nestled inside the apartment complex. When we got there, the owner told us that she only opened at 12pm. The owner was from Pangandaran, so we chatted a bit before continuing our journey. On our way out, I saw the menu on the blackboard. Indeed things are expensive in Switzerland! A plate of fried rice was CHF 23!

As we couldn't find any suitable eateries, we headed to the Old Town. This area looked more like those pictures I saw on Google. We had McDonald's there, the first of many throughout the trip. At CHF 29.70 for the whole family, it was not cheap for fast food. But as our first meal, even my daughter Linda made a comment that the food was surprisingly fresh in Switzerland.

Family picture in front of Jet d'Eau.

After lunch, we walked a bit to see Jet d'Eau, the famous water fountain in Geneva. That's when I noticed how clean the water is in Geneva. I could see the bottom of the lake! 

We went back to hotel after that. We didn't have a proper sleep in the plane and the timezone difference only made it worse, so we just had to rest a bit. My wife Yani asked me to buy some stuff at the supermarket nearby because we were told that in Switzerland, we should cook to save cost. We lazed around in the room and what was supposed to be a short nap turned out to be quite a long sleep. We woke up at around 11pm! Only managed to get some sleep again much later on.

Breakfast time in the kitchen.

The next day, Yani made breakfast for us (and I had a banana for the first time in a very long time). We took the bus to this place called Quartier des Grottes, which turned out to be just another neighborhood, since I couldn't really appreciate the building architecture. A bit about taking the public transport, it makes more sense to buy a 24-hour ticket as it's more economical. It's also interesting to note that nobody seemed to be asking or checking the tickets in Switzerland.

Not very far from Quartier des Grottes is the train station. We went there as I'd like to understand better how to buy tickets and depart from the station to Lyon. We also walked around and it was good to see Pret again! I loved it since the first time I tried it in London! 

Pret a Manger.

From the train station, we walked to Monument Brunswick, then continued to Ile Rousseau, a small island where we could sit for a while to see ducks and swans swimming. Just a stone's throw away was the Old Town. Again! I was like, "oh my, this town was so small that on the second day, I had gone back to the same place."

My wife dragged us to Caran d'Ache again. It's a shop that sells coloring pencils. She was there yesterday and she came back for more. The kids and I waited for so long that we ended up eating at the restaurant next door: Chez ma Cousine. The poulet looked tempting and was indeed delicious! On top of that, it was very much affordable!

Audrey at Chez ma Cousine.

After lunch, we walked to Muséum d'Histoire naturelle. The museum was decent, but the kids weren't interested. Linda preferred to go back and play Zelda instead, but her mom wasn't done yet. She insisted that we should not skip the boat ride while in Geneva, so we went to Port Noir, missed the boat right in front of us, waited for another 30 minutes, then eventually made it. 

Once the wish came true, we walk back to where we came from: the train station. We bought KFC and brought it back to our hotel room. Then, on the floor, we had our dinner together. Simple but yet a memorable ending for our second day in Geneva.

The boat ride. 

When the rest of us retired to our bed, Yani still did some grocery shopping at Centre Commercial Planète Charmilles, a tiny shopping mall within the walking distance from our hotel. Being a great mom and wife that she is, she was determined to ensure that we had something for breakfast before our trip to Lyon early in the next morning!

Liburan Ke Eropa: Jenewa

Ada perasaan tidak sesuai harapan kalau saya berbicara tentang Jenewa. London dan Paris adalah kesan pertama dan satu-satunya yang saya miliki tentang kota-kota besar di Eropa. Sebagai kota yang terkenal dengan Konvensi Jenewa dan kantor PBB, saya awalnya membayangkan bahwa Jenewa akan mirip seperti dua kota yang saya kunjungi di tahun 2016. Tapi tidak, Jenewa sungguh berbeda jauh dan ternyata hanya sebuah kota kecil. 

Kita mendarat di Jenewa di pagi hari. Lapangan terbangnya kecil, tidak terlihat modern, tapi cukup elegan. Setelah memahami cara membeli tiket bis ke kota (saya tidak membayar sepeser pun walau saya menggunakan kartu debit, jadi sepertinya memang gratis), saya pun melihat Jenewa. Dari bandara ke kota, pemandangannya seperti daerah pelosok. 

Perjalanan dari bandara ke hotel.

Saya memesan kamar keluarga untuk empat orang di Hotel Meininger. Jam masuk adalah pukul tiga sore, jadi kita lantas menitipkan koper dan mulai menjelajah kota. Karena jarak dari hotel ke gedung PBB hanya sekitar 2.5 KM, saya putuskan untuk berjalan kaki.

Saya membayangkan kota dengan gedung-gedung pencakar langit yang menakjubkan, tapi Jenewa tidak terlihat seperti itu. Jalan ke kantor PBB pun tergolong sepi. Kita ingin bersantap pagi, tapi tidak ada yang terlihat menarik. Ada banyak iklan McDonald's di jalan, tapi entah di mana restorannya. Yang terlihat justru tempat-tempat makan yang menjual pizza. Bahkan saat kita sampai di Broken Chair dan Palais des Nations pun kita masih tidak menemukan restoran yang mengundang selera.

Audrey and the Broken Chair behind the fountain.

Kita lantas berjalan ke Java Nations, restoran Indonesia yang tidak jauh lokasinya dari gedung PBB. Agak susah ditemukan karena lokasinya yang menjorok ke dalam kawasan apartemen. Setibanya kita di sana, ternyata restoran baru buka jam 12 siang. Pemiliknya berasal dari Pangandaran. Sewaktu kita berjalan keluar, saya melihat harga yang tertera di papan tulis. Sungguh benar bahwa semuanya serba mahal di Swiss! Sepiring nasi goreng harganya CHF 23 alias 380 ribu rupiah! 

Karena tidak menemukan tempat makan yang cocok, kita pun mengunjungi Kota Tua. Kawasan ini lebih mirip dengan apa yang kadang saya lihat di Google. Kita akhirnya menyantap McDonald's di sana, McD pertama dari sekian banyak yang kita santap dalam dua minggu ke depan. Fast food seharga 494 ribu rupiah terasa melubangi kantong, tapi makanannya terasa segar. Bahkan putri saya pun bisa merasakannya dan berkomentar tentang hal yang sama. 

Foto keluarga dengan latar Jet d'Eau.

Setelah makan siang, kita berjalan ke arah danau untuk melihat Jet d'Eau, air mancur terkenal di Jenewa. Air danaunya begitu jernih. Sungguh mencengangkan. Saya bahkan bisa melihat sampai dasar danau!

Dari situ kita kembali ke hotel. Susah bagi kita untuk tidur selama di pesawat dan perbedaan zona waktu membuat jam tidur semakin kacau, jadi kita pun cape dan mengantuk. Yani meminta saya untuk membeli bahan makanan di supermarket terdekat karena sangat dianjurkan untuk masak sendiri di Swiss supaya menghemat biaya. Kita bersantai di kamar dan ketiduran sampai jam 11 malam! Butuh waktu lama untuk bisa tertidur lagi setelah terbangun. 

Sarapan pagi di dapur hotel.

Keesokan harinya, Yani menyiapkan sarapan untuk kita (dan saya makan pisang untuk pertama kalinya setelah sekian lama). Lalu kita naik bis ke Quartier des Grottes yang merupakan kawasan pemukiman dengan arsitektur yang cukup unik. Oh ya, tentang sarana transportasi umum, lebih praktis dan ekonomis bila kita membeli karcis 24 jam. Menarik untuk dicatat pula bahwa tidak ada mengecek apakah kita sebenarnya memiliki karcis atau tidak. 

Stasiun kereta terletak tidak jauh dari Quartier des Grottes. Kita pun mampir ke sana karena saya ingin tahu cara membeli tiket dan berangkat ke Lyon. Kita juga melihat-lihat stasiun dan akhirnya menemukan Pret lagi! Saya suka tempat makan ini sejak pertama kali saya coba di London! 

Pret a Manger.

Dari stasiun kereta, kita mampir ke Monument Brunswick, kemudian lanjut ke Ile Rousseau, sebuah pulau kecil di mana kita bisa bersantai menyaksikan bebek dan angsa yang berenang ke sana kemari. Lokasinya tak jauh dari Kota Tua. Saya jadi merasakan betapa kecilnya Jenewa karena di hari kedua, kita sudah kembali ke tempat yang sama. 

Yani singgah lagi ke Caran d'Ache, toko pensil warna yang dikunjunginya kemarin. Anak-anak dan saya menanti lama di depan toko, sampai-sampai kita akhirnya makan di restoran sebelah yang bernama Chez ma Cousine. Ayamnya terlihat menggiurkan dan ternyata memang enak! Harganya pun terjangkau!

Audrey di Chez ma Cousine.

Setelah makan, kita berjalan ke Muséum d'Histoire naturelle. Museum ini lumayan, tapi anak-anak tidak tertarik. Linda lebih memilih untuk pulang dan main Zelda, tapi Yani masih ada satu tujuan lagi. Mumpung sudah di Jenewa, kita wajib menaiki kapal di danau. Kita pun berangkat ke Port Noir. Setelah ketinggalan kapal dan menunggu lagi selama setengah jam, kita akhirnya menyeberangi danau. 

Setelah keinginan Yani terpenuhi, kita pun berjalan kembali ke stasiun kereta. Kita membeli KFC untuk disantap di hotel. Saat tiba di kamar, kita makan malam ala lesehan di lantai. Momen sederhana tapi berkesan itu mengakhiri hari kedua di Jenewa. 

Naik kapal menyeberangi danau. 

Selanjutnya kita bersantai di kamar. Yani sendiri lanjut ke Centre Commercial Planète Charmilles, pusat perbelanjaan kecil di depan hotel, untuk membeli bahan makanan lagi. Sebagai istri dan ibu yang baik, dia memastikan agar sarapan pagi siap sedia di meja besok pagi, sebelum kita memulai perjalanan ke kota berikutnya: Lyon!