Hello Geneva!

An on-time departure from ADB … a smooth flight with no one sharing the exit row seats with us (not only more legroom, but more elbow room as it turns out) … views of the Alps (and perhaps even Matterhorn) … an on-time landing at GVA.

What more could we ask for from a travel day?

Well, it would have been nice if passport control at GVA had lived up to the efficiency for which the Swiss are known. It took us 1.5 hours to get from our arrival gate to the baggage carousel … and all but 10 minutes of that time was spent inching along the immigration queue, waiting for our turn to have our passports stamped by one of only four immigration agents on duty!!! With so many flights arriving at the same time, no idea why more of the 14 or so kiosks weren’t staffed this afternoon.

The good news? Everything went smoothly once the formalities were completed. Our bags were waiting on the carousel when we arrived to collect them; we had no trouble finding the train platforms for the one-stop ride from the airport to the Geneva city center … no tickets needed thanks to the transport passes provided by our hotel … and no wait to get on a train either.

A short walk from the train station put us at Hotel Suisse, where we will be staying for three nights … its convenient location being one of the reasons why we opted for this hotel. Check-in was quick and soon we were settling into our room on the second floor … a quiet one as requested. Then, off to Coop for groceries … just steps away from the hotel … this convenience being another reason why we opted for this hotel. Our room has a kitchenette that will come in handy for breakfast … maybe even light dinners since we plan to make lunch our main meal of the day on this trip.

Now to get some rest. Tomorrow we’ll explore Geneva a bit … and also meet a friend for lunch.Lue lisää