Back in Geneva...

I've finally arrived in the Australian apartment in St Genis, about 20 minutes out of Geneva, after about 33 hours of traveling, which has included an hour driving, 20 hours flying, 3 hours on a train, and the rest as been waiting, transit and a bit of shopping in Geneva. I think if I didn't have company the whole time, I should be completely out of it.

The second flight wasn't too bad, I got an aisle seat this time and the plane was newer, it was quieter, the seats and toilets were larger, the individual entertainment screens were about twenty centimeters wide and the system was much better, which nicer interfaces, but it was still a little too slow to play the games installed. The service was also better, they offered us toothbrushes and paste, and we could go and get snacks and drinks during the designated sleep time, unlike the first flight, during which we weren't given enough water at all.

Our time in Zurich was nice and brief, all of our luggage made it with us, unlike last year, and we used their special trolleys which can used on escalators, which was very strange. I bought myself a half-price train card and we also had time for iced coffee before a direct train to Geneva. It turns out at my suitcase is a little too big for the train, and we couldn't fit it in between the seats, so had to put it in the aisle for a while, until there was enough space to put it in front of a couple of seats. The trip between Zurich and Geneva is fairly scenic, particularly through Fribourg and Berne, both cities with high rail bridges over rivers and gorges, and also on the other side of Lake Geneva, where you come out of a tunnel to a view over Montreux and the eastern part of the lake.

Arriving in Geneva, one of my colleagues, who come to pick me and my suitcase up, missed each other on the train platform, but luckily we both have mobile planes which we are not afraid to use, despite high roaming costs. And he drove us back to St Genis, in one of the smallest cars I've ever seen, a very basic Peugeot 107, with no radio or air conditioning, or even central locking, or inside covering of the sheet metal on the doors. The apartment hasn't changed much from last year, though the route here from Geneva is more complicated due to movement of construction of a tram line further up the road. It is nice to be with people and in a place that I know, though it is only for one night.