As it turns out I didn’t blog after I left Geneva as the place I was staying in Grimentz didn’t have internet access. That was pretty much the only mark against the place though as the skiing was fantastic, new years celebrations were remarkable, and the views were breathtaking. The view here is from the balcony of the place we were staying. It was quite the view to wake up to each day.

My mind is on hyper-drive when I wander around a town for the first time. The only problem is that I’m not usually thinking of anything very useful or deep, just ruminating on my observations. The first of thought that grabbed my mind in Geneva was how quiet it was. But here are a couple of other thoughts that hopefully give you a glimpse inside my head.

eeewwwww

I hate overhead wires. While Matthew Yglesias argues that overhead wires are just fine in the historic towns of Europe, I see them as a sign that these towns have become complacent in their ongoing development. I love public transport, but it needs to evolve. Overhead wires strike me as a fairly old technology which should be swapped out for a system of rail cars with on-board clean engines, in ground wiring, or a cable car system (I’m sure the tech must have improved since San Fran put their system in the 19th century). While European cities are likely the last places that need to invest in infrastructure overhauls, I think it would be a very positive development.

I swear, every one is different

All the urinals are different. Hang with me here, I know you’re thinking that the urinal on the left looks like any other out there. Truth is it was slightly different, and unlike any other urinal in other restrooms in Geneva. Admittedly, I’ve only been to 4 or so urinals in Switzerland, but no two have been alike. That’s what’s throwing me off. I might be totally off here, but I feel that generally in a certain area it is common to find most of the urinals, especially in public toilets like museums, train stations, and restaurants, to be largely the same. For example, in Munich public toilets they are the little ones with the fly printed on the them (giving you something to aim at). I have to wonder if there is just a proliferation of urinal manufacturers in Switzerland, or if Geneva’s location at the center of Europe means that they have a plethora of choices for sourcing bathroom hardware.

Of course there are other things on my mind, but these are recurring thoughts that seem to come back every time I turn a corner or duck into the loo. Now if only I could get my mind working to understand quantum logic.

I can’t find anything about it in the news, but apparently Geneva was hit by the plague earlier this week, and only about 40 tourists (myself included) didn’t get the memo. Seriously though, I guess it’s just that it’s a Sunday during winter holidays, but there is no one around and it’s eerie. When it came time for lunch it took me a good 20 minutes to find an open restaurant, though when I did with was worth the wait for the fondue and mulled wine.

Even without people, it is a pretty city. Well laid out around the water. And the people who are here are very nice, people riding past on their bikes say “bonjour” and people speak French back to me when I speak French to them, which I really appreciate as I desperately need the practice. I think I’ll have to give the city another chance sometime in the summer when there are people around to give it a bit more life.

Update: Couple of other pictures from Geneva (including the large versions of the ones above) in this Flickr set.

I’m officially on holiday, which means travel. And unlike Alan, my trip is on like Donkey Kong.

Tomorrow I’m taking a 16 hour bus ride to Le Plagne 1800 high up in the French alps. I got a sweet deal on the trip through the Imperial University Malaysian Club. Yes, I fully expect it to be completely hilarious. I’m there until the Dec. 27.

I’m then taking the train up to Geneva, where I’ll spend a couple of nights before taking train and boat over to Montreux. My friend Aaron, of penguin kiss fame, and his buddy Evan will be picking me up at the casino in Montreux and we’ll head to Grimentz for another week of skiing. We’ll then road trip it to the Netherlands on Jan. 3. I’m flying back to London on Sunday, then right back to the desk the next day.

The toughest choices about this trip have been in packing. I’m taking my laptop. I want to blog this trip so I’ll need the laptop. Also, I know it will be nice to be able to skype with my family during the holidays I would normally be spending with them. Also, I’m taking my SLR, but no surprise there. With all my ski gear this is a fair bit of kit, but I’ve managed to get it into my 44 liter day bag and my camera bag, so I’ll be rockin the 2 backpack look.

Updated: with map!

A week from tomorrow I’m headed off for a week of skiing at La Plagne 1800. But as you can see from the snow report above, there might not be much skiing to be done there. Looks like they have a bit of a base building, and they are getting more snow today. Crossing my fingers on this one.

Thankfully, after France, I’m headed up to Swtizerland, where the snow report is a bit cheerier and places like Saas Fee at least have some lifts going.

Update: Apparently I got needlessly worried this morning. The image here is from the La Plagne webcam, and it looks like there is tons of snow on the slopes and I should have some great conditions. They note that it was closed threw me off, but thankfully I was wrong.