So I had gone to spend some time with my brother in Geneva, and my sister joined us there. It was wonderful hanging out with them and visiting neighbouring countries. Europe is every bit as wonderful and fascinating as the pictures on Pinterest would make us believe. It’s spectacular in every sense of the word, they have a very organised and efficient transport system, roaming around was quite effortless and fun, not to mention safe too, since most of the time, it was just me and nam, visiting places together. And the earth just seems more bountiful there, brimming with colour and produce. Rolling fields as far as the eyes can see, peaceful cows happily munching away in pristine locations, vineyards laden with clusters of grapes… I think all this and more infuses a spirit of gaiety in everyone there. The air would always ring with cheerful ‘bonjour’s’ and ‘merci beaucoup’s’ and most of the people seemed gracious and polite.
All in all, it was a wonderful trip and the next few posts will be all about that. I gotta warn you though, it will be picture laden, cause everywhere I looked I saw beauty, history and charm interwoven into the tapestry of life, creating an aesthetically superior land.
Starting at the beginning, the transit flight from Abu Dhabi…
Since Etihad is the official sponsor for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, cars like this were lying around….
This is where you buy all the duty free liquor at the Abu Dhabi airport. This mushrooming green and blue structure is a childhood memory, somehow the whole place seemed so massive and imposing when I was a kid, now it seems to have shrunk in size. Anyway, growing up I was always happy to see this, it meant only one thing… that I was home (I grew up in Abu Dhabi).
The food they provide on the Etihad Airways is quite good, this was some creamy pasta dish with salad, and some great dessert on the side.
For snacks, it was a pretty good chicken sandwich… and green tea.
On the way to my brother’s place…
It was a bright sunny day in Geneva when we landed, the sun caresses you here… it doesn’t beat down upon you like a furnace gone berserk. Even though it gets warm, you never feel hot as cool whispers of wind tend to dance around you ever so often, lightly tugging and skimming over your skin playfully.
Okay, I don’t know why I took this picture… probably because this bike has got such a nice and spacious storage space at the back. Almost seemed like Mary Poppin’s bag to me, one guy kept pulling out so many things from this little box, I was amused.
The blue blue skies and trees…
Some swiss guy, who has become one with the road…
A quaint uninhabited house….
The sun just seemed so happy, spilling out her rays…
A junction…
A shadow selfie…
A beautiful apartment…
A dandelion…
This was pretty much my first day, we (me and Antonio) landed in the afternoon and for dinner we were invited to an Indian restaurant in France, by my brother’s colleague. France which borders Geneva, can be reached in ten minutes, and when we walked into the restaurant it was already teeming with so many people, it was a huge party and all the women were gathered at one end of a table and the men were at the opposite end and the children were seated in the middle. I settled down among the children and had a wonderful time, listening to them yapping away in french. A few teenage girls were seated near me, and we started talking and turned out the three teenagers were sisters with roots in Kerala. They were great company that evening… all the food, laughter and engaging conversations marked my first day here.
More pictures in the next post…
Super 🙂 did you get lots of chocolates 🙂 and famous Swiss cheese!
Nice post. I notice that in Europe people tend to take pride in their surroundings so what is beautiful stays beautiful. Hope they do not change
While reading this post, I was yearning to be there. Looking forward to all those foreign posts. Sometimes I just wish I had been born there. Sigh.
Joy always,
Susan
Beautiful pics Karen – keep them coming! You must have had a fairytale time there.
Mahesh, I ate cheese there but couldn't bring the chocolates due to excess luggage…
Clement, I keep hoping India will improve… if we could only be half as clean and organised as them! I mean we don't see faces of the ruling party plastered on every wall in the city, there…
Susan, I know the feeling… I had (still have) a hard time coming back to reality.
Yeah Gibsy, it was a dream come true…