My Travel Adventures

This Sunday, my friend Deeksha and I met for a quick trip to Prangins Castle. We took the train from Cornavin Station to Nyon, where we wandered around a little before continuing to Prangins. Last time I visited Nyon, I had no idea the city had a set of Roman columns, and I neglected to visit them. This time, I fixed my mistake. We then walked to Prangins Castle, which lies about thirty minutes from the centre of Nyon. The Castle houses a museum, but to be honest I barely remember what we saw there, as it was not very interesting. We ate our packed lunches in the castle gardens before heading back to Geneva again.

A friend was celebrating her birthday in Brétigny, and because this village lies only about five or six kilometres from Ferney-Voltaire, I decided to walk. It was the perfect opportunity to finally familiarise myself with the area I have called my home these past two months despite spending most weekends away. 

The second day of my weekend in Emilia-Romagna began with a quick breakfast at Bologna’s main train station. It was my first time eating a sfogliatella and I have to say, I really enjoyed the experience. We arrived in Ravenna a little after nine o’clock. As we soon realised, this was too late. Ravenna is a town where many attractions have a limited capacity and timed entrances. We spent the rest of the day trying to outrun the hordes of senior tour groups that had descended upon the city for the sunny weekend.

Bologna is not within easy reach of Geneva. All flights I could find had layovers, and the next fastest option was a multi-hour series of trains. After much deliberation, I decided that if I ever wanted to make a weekend trip to the city, I would have to take an overnight bus. I had never taken an overnight bus before, and many people dissuaded me from the attempt. However, it was either that or no trip to Bologna, and a nagging masochistic voice within me kept whispering that taking a night bus would be a fun experience.

I woke up hungry and without much hope that I would find a breakfast place open at eight o’clock on a Sunday morning. My pessimism was not warranted. Urban northern Italy is not rural France, and although a city might be quite lifeless on the Lord’s Day, there are hustlers who work even then. After acquiring a croissant and an egg sandwich, which I had bought under the impression that the egg was a generous helping of cheese, I went to the Parco del Valentino one more time. Near its western end is a bizarre 19 th century imitation of a medieval town with towers, tall walls, and even a drawbridge. Unfortunately, much of it was undergoing works, so I continued to my next stop.

The weather forecast predicted rain for the weekend, and although I initially intended to stay at home and catch up on some work, my idle Google searches led me down a rabbit hole that would turn my plans upside down. Looking up the weather forecasts for neighbouring cities, I stumbled upon sunny Turin: With its direct bus connection to Geneva, cheap accommodation, and host of attractions, it was the perfect option. Thus, on Wednesday night, I booked my tickets and an Airbnb, and spent the rest of the week daydreaming about the getaway.

With Sunday coming around, we had to begin our return to Geneva. For breakfast, we ate a few leftover pieces of bread and cheese, along with a few bananas and cashews we bought yesterday. Rather than waiting for the direct train to Bern, we caught a ride to Spiez, where we simply crossed the platform to make our connection.

For breakfast, we stayed at our Airbnb and ate our groceries from yesterday: we bought a pretzel and two discounted quarter pies (the discount owing to slight visual defects). We then walked over to the train station and set off in the direction of Lauterbrunnen. Heaving under the heels of visiting multitudes, this quaint Swiss village owes its popularity to its dramatic setting. Steep cliffs frame the village on all sides, with several waterfalls vaulting nimbly over the western walls and bright meadows filling in the gentler slopes on all sides. Lauterbrunnen is also famous for having inspired Schiller and other romantically minded Germans.

I am allowed to take two days off for every month I work at the delegation, and since it has been more than a month already, I am cashing in on half of my allowance. I decided to go to the Canton of Bern this long weekend, beginning with a Friday on the shores of Lake Thun.

The 1 st of October was another sunny day in a string of pleasant weekends, so I decided to make a day trip to Annecy. To reach this French town from northwestern Geneva, one has to traverse the entire city to Annemasse, which lies just across the French border. I am sure there are other connections as well, but it seemed more pleasant to stay on one single mode of public transport since I could keep myself entertained.