Geneva - Where Materialism is Master

Our final morning in Zermatt began just like every day since we arrived in Switzerland just over a week ago. Although everyone had been warning us that the fine weather was about to come to an abrupt end, when I looked out of my hotel window all I could see was unbroken blue sky.

Although Zermatt is built around the tourism industry, there is no denying the fact that it is in a beautiful location and we certainly had grown fond of the place in the short time we had spent here. However, after six weeks of constant travel, we both felt that it was time to head home.

We checked out of our hotel and walked the short distance to the Zermatt Bahnhoff. We didn't have to wait long for the next train to Tasch. From there we transferred to a waiting bus to take us to Visp. During the hour or so we were on the bus, we descended continuously. Often there were tight switchbacks in the road that required the bus to slow right down.It was only when we reached the large station at Visp that disaster almost struck.

We had both loaded our main luggage into the boot of the bus and put our back packs in the overhead rack. When we got off the bus Allan forgot his backpack and went straight to retrieve his large case. Fortunately I noticed it in time and he was able to get it before the bus drove away.

The final stage was a two hour train trip to Geneva. I had briefly driven through this city a couple of years ago and remember that it did not make a favourable impression on me then. As the train approached the main station and we saw mile after mile of ugly graffiti, it did nothing to improve my impression of the city.

After a short taxi ride to our hotel, we decided to explore the so called "old city" and the lakeside. It seems that the main claim to fame of the city is the huge water spout that projects water 140 metres vertically in the air. Although it was somewhat impressive, I dodn't think that I would come here just to see it.

Since we were both hungry, we both looked for a place where we could get something for lunch without having to sell our houses first. Once again it was painfully obvious that money is king in Geneva. If you want anything, you have to be prepared to pay an exorbitant amount of money for it.

We finally settled for a pizza place on the basis that, since it didn't have table cloths, it would probably be cheaper. It wasn't. My average pizza cost about $32 AUD. When the waiter asked what we would like to drink, we both replied "Tap water", knowing that restaurants are required to provide it free of charge. He wasn't impressed and clearly made his disgust obvious.

Some time later our lunches arrived and he made a half hearted apology that he had "forgotten" our water. I knew he was lying and told Allan that we will never get that drink. And we didn't. He just completely ignored us. I am normally an honest person, but I have to admit that I was very, very tempted to "forget" to pay our bill. It was a very disappointing introduction to the city.

We then went is search of coffee. When we saw a Starbucks, we thought our problem was solved. That was until we discovered that a Starbucks Cappucino was going to cost over $10. We finally found a McCafe where the same coffee only cost about $7.

The so called old town was rather underwhelming, although the central Saint Peter's Cathedral was refreshing in its lack of internal adornment. The cathedral is not catholic, but Calvinist and this made for a stark contrast to the elaborate cathedrals we had seen all the way along the Camino walk. It is also worth noting that 2017 marked the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.The rest of the buildings in this area just looked dirty and drab, rather than interesting. Perhaps too many years of constant tobacco smoking by the entire population has deposited a thick layer of black tar on every fixed object. Or perhaps I am just getting too cynical.

In our final evening in Switzerland we walked down to the lakeside to watch the water spout under floodlights. A mass of high intensity LED spotlights illuminated the spout so that it could be soon from a long distance away. We managed to walk almost to the base of the spout and somehow miraculously managed to stay dry.

Tomorrow we pack our bags for the final time, before catching the FREE bus to the airport. It really must be the only thing in Geneva that doesn't cost a fortune. When I arrived back at the hotel and checked the weather in Zermatt, Apparently it is now pouring with rain there, and snow is expected for every day for at least the next week. How about that ?Read more