Geneva, Switzerland, Sun 9 - Tues 11 Nov 2008

Through a stroke of luck I was put forward to help out with a pitch that landed me in Geneva, Switzerland (my workmate who'd been working on the account had to be in Japan for karate champs). To be perfectly honest I didn't really know anything about Switzerland and didn't have time to do much research so I didn't know what to expect.

I was up at 5am Sunday morning to get to the airport on the other side of London and spent a fair chunk of the night doing preparation work with our partner (the jobs not always glamorous). However Reema (my workmate) and I did manage to head into town to have a walk around the lake front. Geneva was completely dead on Sunday,they seem to strictly adhere to Sunday rest day here, absolutely nothing was open and barely anyone was around. I have to admit, it was rather pleasant.

First impressions of Geneva, weren't the greatest, there didn't seem to be a lot there and it wasn't the prettiest of towns, even though it was on the side of a (very large) lake. That was until we found the old town, beautiful cobble street area with a small village feel. Much better and where Reema and I ended up spending most of our time (especially to eat with it's gorgeous cafes). Geneva is very French. It is right on the border with France so everyone speaks French, all the cafes sell French food (croissants, pastries and beef tartare!) and of course the attitude is very French too (and I don't mean that in a bad way, I kinda like the French attitude).

There was a beautiful church in the old town, an impressive town hall and lots of gorgeous buildings. Monday we were working all day so we headed into the old town at night for dinner. It was even more beautiful at night, with lots of pretty lighting and a quiet laid back feel. We had dinner at a restaurant specialising in meat (mostly raw, I didn't know you could have raw beef in so many ways) and I had a beautiful duck dish. Geneva had beautiful food, we didn't have one bad meal.

On our last day we weren't flying out till the afternoon so we took the opportunity to see Geneva in all it's day bustling glory. Finally the crowds were out, the shops open and the whole city was alive. Funnily enough I preferred it when it was eerily quiet :) We stopped in at a chocolate shop and I've got to say the smells were incredible. I bought some bars to take back home with me (and for the office) and then bought some single handmade ones just for me. They were delicious. Geneva has some of the best chocolate I've ever tasted!

We headed down to the lake front where we marvelled at the large fountain - a 200km/hr water shoot that reaches 140m in the air! It is stationed in the water at the end of a pier so you can walk down and depending on the wind direction get wet. Of course I headed down, it was like being a kid again running through the sprinklers. So much fun.

The rest of the time we simply spent wondering the streets and admiring Geneva. I was so lucky to have a chance to see this city but I've got to say the food (and mostly the chocolate) was my favourite part ;)