everybody has been to one of "those" neighborhoods, whether its on purpose or on accident. in geneva, this neighborhood is located behind the train station. not going to lie, i was a little bit nervous about it at the beginning.
our french teacher/tour guide natasha said that in geneva, if a place looks like this, that means two things: its good and its cheap. cheap is an unheard of word in geneva. she showed us a cafe where you can get a lunch for 8 francs, instead of the usual prices of around 14 francs. she also showed us a bar, that has no set hours, they're open whenever they feel and you pay whatever you would like. one of the doors along this long wall is a concert venue where bands and individuals randomly show up and start playing. walk around the block and there's a bike shop where all the abandoned bikes in the city end up, they sell them for cheap there. too bad they were sold out when i checked. this city, literally has bikes everywhere!
we also walked through the old town of geneva, which was incredible! so much history and the buildings were all gorgeous. i cant wait to go back and wander through a little slower.
we stopped at the protestant cathedral of geneva. there is a huge tower that you can climb that overlooks the city and the lake, but i'll have to go back because we had to keep moving. not sure how old it is, but its super old.
more interesting photos and stories to come on thursday. it's a bank holiday so everything in geneva is closed. im planning to hike mt. saleve which looks over geneva on one side and the alps on the other. it's a pretty short hike but they say the views are amazing!
love from switzerland! ...and i'm going to keep practicing my french. my most used phrase is : sorry, i speak very little french. then usually the person laughs and starts speaking almost perfect english. its so embarassing.