Switzerland Trip Day 1

I was in Switzerland from the 23rd to 28th. Technically only from the 24th because I didn't get there till the morning of the 24th. It's been a while since I went anywhere for fun. It seems like the only places I go are Japan and Las Vegas.

So why Switzerland? My friend was going to run in the Lausanne Marathon and she asked me to go with her in case something happened to her. Lausanne turned out to be the same town that my father goes to on business quite often and he was there until a couple of weeks before we got there. Sounds like a lot happens in Lausanne, right? Not really. I'll tell you in a little bit.

Our flight to Geneva was around 7 AM so I slept over at my friend's house. I got there around 9 PM and we went over our itinerary. We had already started drinking wine and playing pool (she has a table!) and didn't get to bed till 4:30. I guess I didn't have enough sleep because I was kind of disoriented at the security check and almost left my suitcase there.

The flight to Washington DC went fine. At Dulles airport, we chilled at the lounge while we waited for our next flight. We got to Geneva early Saturday morning. The first thing we had to do was to get the Half Fare Card that lets us ride most trains for 50% off. It was a hassle finding the ticket office because everything is in freaking French! Most signs had pictures on them but it still took some time.

From Geneva we took the train to Lausanne. There was nobody else in the train! We weren't sure if we got the 1st class or 2nd class tickets so we just sat down and waited till someone told us to move. Oh the things tourists can get away with...sure enough we were in the wrong section.

My friend kept telling me the restroom was locked, so I didn't even try. It turned out that she was pulling the door when she's supposed to push! This happened so many times while we were there. In most buildings, we pull doors to get in and push to get out. If only we could read French...

We arrived at Lausanne...I forget when but it's only about an hour away from Geneva. From Lausanne station we took the subway? (Metro) to Delices station and right next to it was our hotel. I forget how much we paid for the Metro, but there was no one there to check our ticket or a machine to let us through. we could use the subway without paying and no one would really know. Apparently sometimes there are workers in regular clothing that check on people and there is a fine for not purchasing tickets. Didn't see this happening at all.

The hotel gave us a free pass to use the Metro for the days we were there so we used it quite a bit. We left our luggage at the hotel (it was too early to check in) and and went to Ouchy (not ouchy as in painful but pronounced Wooshee) to check in for her marathon. I don't know about other marathon but she got a welcome package? with snack bar, T-shirt, and A BOTTLE OF WINE!!!! It was a bottle of white wine from a local winery. We tried it that night. It had an interesting aftertaste to it but it wasn't bad.

There was a list of runners posted on the wall but I didn't see anyone from the US except my friend representing Lomita-USA! I know there were a few but I didn't see any. Instead I saw a group of Japanese runners. According to my friend there are marathon tours that bring runners from Japan to other countries. This particular group we ran into was old!!! I'd say the average age was around 60. No kidding.

It was still too early to go back so we went for a walk around Lake Leman then went to the Olympic Museum. This museum was actually kind of disappointing. Could have been so much better. It's really small, for one thing, and they could have really focused more on different sports, history, etc. The only cool thing I remember is the different torches they displayed. Maybe I was too tired to notice anything.

If I remember correctly, we stopped at Lausanne station to grab a bite to eat. The restaurants in Ouchy were a bit pricey. We went into a hotel cafe across the street from the station and split a grilled ham & cheese sandwich. I know, I can get that here. but it was actually very tasty. The ham was very good, and cheese I believe was some kind of Swiss cheese and mustard. The waitress didn't speak a lick of English (and we don't speak any French) so it was quite an interesting conversation.

She brought us the check, left, and came back with a giant wallet. We paid in cash, and she gave us the change at the table. It almost looked as if she brought her own wallet. Later we found out that many restaurants in Switzerland do this. So weird.
We took a quick nap and went back to Ouchy for the pasta party. She normally doesn't go to pasta parties but this one was on a boat!!! It sounds fancy but it was really nothing amazing. The pasta wasn't bad but it was like something you'd get at a mall food court. It was nice inside the boat but it felt like we were eating in a cafeteria. Couldn't see much outside because it was dark. Oh well.

On the way back, we tried to look for Migros, a supermarket chain in Switzerland so we could buy snacks and breakfast for the next day. We finally found one after a while, but it was closed. IT WAS ONLY 7:30 PM. We looked everywhere, but most stores were closed already. How do locals survive!? I don't expect every city to be like LA but 7 PM is a bit too early. People in Lausanne might pass out if they ever go to Las Vegas.

We finally found a store open at the Lausanne station and bought some pastries etc. We ate while we waited for the train and it was really good!!! She got some kind of cheese quishe looking thing and I had curry stuffed pastry type thingy (remember, we can't read the signs). Mmm!

Forgot to write about the hotel. My friend booked a 4 star hotel in Delices which was in the middle of the start and finish line. It was the tiniest hotel room I had ever seen. I should have known, because the front desk only had one person (and she was sitting down - kind of weird now that I think about it). We walk in and there's the bed. The beds (for 2 people) in the hotels we stayed all looked like this...it was like a miniature California king size bed, if that makes any sense. The room was clean.

Continued to Day 2...