Geneva

Geneva, where there only appear to be four kinds of shops: chocolate (yes, I had some...I had to!); watches of all sorts and price ranges, Swiss Army knives (who knew there were so many variations?), and cheesey souveniers (cuckoo clocks and St. Barnard handbag anyone?). It's also the land where everyone seems to smoke (yes, I gave in and made a pilgrimage to the original Zino Davidoff shop and bought a cigar. A rather excellent one I might add).

Things are tidy, orderly, and "just so". While waiting for a Starbucks to open (yes, I finally found a large cup of coffee) I watched a local woman mopping the sidewalk in front of her store. Not hosing it down, not sweeping it, mopping it!

Before leaving Vienna, I checked the online weather for Geneva. Overcast, cool, possible rain. So, I left my sunglasses in the apartment, brought an umbrella, and also left scarf and gloves behind. The actual weather? Brilliant sun each day, incredible wind (white caps on the lake each day) and biting cold.

The central downtown area is quite tiny, easy walking. It's the land of a thousand international NGO's. UN has a large presence here, and it's the international headquarters for the International Committee of the Red Cross (one of my meetings), who even have their own museum.

Had an amazing dinner one night, at a well known restaurant that is busy every night, yet has only one item on the menu - a lovely entrecote steak served in pan of secret recipe herb butter, over a parafin table burner, with bread and endless fries. Oh, there is a salad starter - a token healthy bit. Amazing steak, but now I've had my butter fix for the rest of the month. Have a look online at http://www.cafe-de-paris.ch/