Mandarin Oriental du Rhone, Geneva

... Society requiring volunteer hours, and colleges expecting applicants to have developed a program that gave 200 children in Mozambique access to clean water, and parents wanting children to get into college, volunteering is not so much an act of goodwill as much an act of necessity. I am not saying that it is entirely a bad thing that kids are forced to broaden their horizons and give back to a world that has given them so much, but it is unfortunate that ...

... next to her at dinner tonight and had her laughing uncontrollably a few times. I think she doesn't know what to think of me. She wants to like me, she's just having a *************vincing herself that it's OK. She'll come around- they all do eventually.

Here's something I find ironic in Switzerland: This is basically the land of chocolate. I mean there's so much chocolate over here, I ...

... mean like back in elementary school. You know, the ones that came in those special little cups? I've given why it is that you never see soft-boiled eggs some introspection while here and I have come to the conclusion it is because we are in too much of a hurry for such things in America. I mean the proper preparation and maintenance of a soft-boiled egg takes time. First you have to take the time to cook it just right. Too much and it is hard ...

... Would you believe the woman who had dropped me off from the train station? Yes, indeed it was. Evidently I have bad train karma but excellent cab karma. I got her to recognize me and pointed to the hotel address. Then, in detailed French, she described how to get there to me. I didn't understand a damn word she said. However she pointed in the direction I'd been walking, along with a lot of other directional gestures that followed, and I acted like I ...

... well traveled, which makes for interesting conversation (and it will probably get more interesting once the jetlag has passed). There are 40 kids in my program from schools across the country, and mostly from small, liberal arts colleges. Nearly everyone is an international relations major in some form or another. The city of Geneva is very beautiful, with old European architecture set on a perfectly blue lake and below ...

... has become a large part of their identity. Geneva is fantastic because there it is possible to find travelers at all these levels. All of them have their positives in a conversation. The patriots teach everyone a lot about their home. The natives are great at explaining the cultural intricacies of their adopted land to people who don't understand it. And the mishmashes have interesting stories about places you never knew existed. I think you all know which ...

... at the massive stream of water and then countinued our walk. I was very happy to be with some friends. Nothing is worth while traveling is touring a boring city by yourself. An exciting city, No Prob, Boring can lead to a very long day. We walked Manny to the train station about 7:00pm and said our good byes. I had traveled with the guy for about 13 days now and I was going to miss the little bugger. He was on his way to San Sebastian, one ...

... was something for everyone (books, records, furniture, used clothing, dishes etc). But we didn't buy anything - we knew everything would be cheaper in Turkey. We then walked to the Saint Pierre Cathedral, belonging to the Swiss Reformed Church. It was begun in the 12th century, and includes an eclectic mix of styles. It is best known as the adopted home church of John Calvin, one of the ...

... Grandma is the worst (they must be partially deaf). We have had this problem on the last visit to Zermatt- the family of very rude Brits made the travel very painful for all of those within ear shod. We have to change to a special train at Visp up to Zermatt. By this time it ...

Geneva is a beautiful city with cobble stone streets and old homes, really old churches and statues. I loved it here even though i was here only for a short time. i will go back one day.
oh yeh and I was so nicely surprised that there are so many classy looking chicks in France and Switzerland!!! get there.