I have been living in Geneva for two weeks now. It was very stressful at first, since I had a lot of moving issues to deal with, but things are a bit calmer now. I still have to find housing, but am settled in a temporary place for the moment.
Geneva is a beautiful city; when flying in, you see the Saleve, a mountain range that reminds me of the wall in game of thrones. When I first arrived, I stayed in a pretty horrible hotel that smelled like paint--they were renovating that week, and the paint smell permeated through all of the rooms.
I brought my dog, Maggie with me. She did well on the trip, and was really well behaved in the hotel. I feel so lucky to have such a good dog. Sometimes on the street we pass these aggressive yappy dogs, and I do feel a bit smug that Maggie is so good, even though it's really just her personality. Except with trains. Maggie hates trains and goes nuts when they pass by, and literally will run into traffic to try to attack the train.
Geneva is quiet, and almost everything is closed on Sunday. The public transportation is excellent--trains are clean, and they come regularly and often. There are many beautiful old buildings here, but the most stunning aspect, for me, is the mountains. The lake is a close second.
When my mom came to visit, we took a day trip to Divonne, France, and Nyon, in Canton Vaud of Switzerland. We visited a castle in Nyon, which is built to overlook the beautiful lake--Mont Blanc is visible in the distance. Divonne has a Sunday farmer's market which is very big, and vendors from all across the region come there.
The main downside so far however, is the lack of good Asian food. I had Thai food here that was so bad that it literally made me cry. Since then, I've been on a hunt for Asian restaurants. They are all very expensive, but everything seems to be so in Geneva. So far, Boky is an acceptable Chinese restaurant, and Bap had a decent bibimbap.
