Geneva, Switzerland: Why I spent $10 on a Hot Chocolate at Starbucks

The last three entries wont be too long because they were all a day each.

Once I finally woke up, I went to the Swiss market, Migros, and bought 15 bars of chocolate for various people back home. Switzerland is insanely expensive, but the Migros brand of chocolate, which is much-loved by Swiss people, is extremely cheap – 15 bars set me back all of 35$ US!

After finding out that the Palais de Nations was closed until January, my plan was to visit Saint Peter’s Cathedral, and go up the towers for a few of the lake, then go to the Patek Phillippe watch museum. I found the cathedral, and in fact went up in both towers, and had a fantastic view of the lake!

But it was sooooooooooo cold. Even colder than usual, it felt, which I later realized was wind chill - everywhere else on the trip had very little wind! I decided to buy the three-in-one ticket to see the archeological site underneath the church (!), as well as the Reformation museum.

Ther archeological site was totally cool. They literally have a whole area underneath the cathedral where’ they’ve unearthed earlier incarnations of the church, all the way back to Roman times, including a 2 millenia old skeleton that perhaps inspired the building of the very first Roman church on the site(!) 

I spent way too much time here, and went through the reformation museum very quickly. To be honest, I didn’t really want another museum, and I’d more wanted to do the other two stops.

Then I hiked down out of the old town to find the watch museum. I had little time to spare, since everything in Geneva closes early, and of course I made a wrong turn. I never did get back on track, and frustrated, I walked around in random directions trying to find the place. I eventually realized I was getting unhealthily cold, and made the ridiculous decision to go to Starbucks, because I knew it’d have free WiFi. And yes, my venti caramel hot chocolate cost 10$ US. FML. It was an experience, though.

I got in touch with Felix via the free WiFi, and he recommended the Manor department store for a place to warm up nearby the train station, where we’d be meeting to go for FONDUE! It was a nice, albeit body-freezing walk through the city across the river, but I got to see the city lit up, and it was pretty. It had been a clear day, so there was no fog in the evening either, which made all the sites appear crystal clear.

Looking across the water: 

I hung out at the department store for a bit, fawned over 800$ bottles of wine and cured meats, then met up with Felix at the train station.

Fondue was my favorite meal of the trip. No doubt about it. This meal was everything I’d dreamed of since I was a little kid eating at Fondue Fred’s in Berkeley, and vowing I’d one day eat fondue in Switzerland. The food + drink:

Swiss white wine (very dry):

Cured beef (that's a medium size!!!):

FONDUE(!!!!!!!!!!!!!):

Kirsch:

Meringues with cream:

In fact, this is the traditional way to have a fondue dinner. This was a top 20 meal of my life, and not to be boastful, but I eat so many good meals, so this is pretty high praise.

Despite the temperature, we opted to walk home and burn a few calories. Felix had to wake up to teach the next morning, and I had my training-day ahead, so sleep was much needed. Besides, everything in Geneva closes early anyway.