22 June, 2010
The day didn't start that well. Firstly I had a bad night's sleep so was groggy for most part of the day. Especially at work, in spite of the fact that it was my first time in the Geneva office, I couldn't wait until the meetings got over to go back to the hotel and just sleep. The meetings were way too many and the work was a ton so much so that I could grab lunch only at 3:30 pm. So in short, it wasn't looking all that great until afternoon, when things started to look up.
a) As I was about to finish all that I had to at office, I started on a chat with a friend in Singapore. She is actually my partner in crime in a lot of things. We are 100% similar when it comes to cribbing about things, both of our own doing as well as those out of our control. Today it was my turn to crib and hers to listen. I cribbed about how boring Geneva is if you were to work or stay here for good, because it's almost like a small ghost town. Except for that pretty lake, I told her that I don't really see anything else that amuses me here. She, being quite the writer, somehow came up with a horror story inspired by my Geneva-based cribbings. The story was spooky to say the least and it led to the talk of spirits and lovers and TOEFL, not necessarily in that order. To cut a long story short, I started to feel better and less sleepy and I knew the evening's gonna look up.
b) As soon as I got to the hotel and deposited my super heavy laptop in my room, I set out again to walk around Geneva. Rather, to walk to a Starbucks I had seen about a couple of kilometres down the road, on my way back from office. I thought this way, I can get a good drink as well as see some sights. And I had an absolutely amazingly wonderful walk! Aaaaaaah. I walked along the beautiful lake. Like yesterday, today too the wind was strong. I happened to come across a tiny strip of land that went half way into the lake. I walked down it and stood at the tip for a long time, listening to my favourite music on my iPod, enjoying the strong breeze and gorgeous lake with the majestic backdrop of the Swiss hills.
c) I didn't feel Geneva was a ghost town any longer. There was actually a lot of activity around the lake. People swimming (?!) in that awfully cold water, rollerblading, cycling, couples crooning away, several ice cream joints (again in that cold weather!), groups of friends, families etc. hanging around, etc. I believe I didn't see as much activity yesterday because of the World Cup - Switzerland played (and lost) yesterday, so people were glued to the TV and not the lake. Anyway the point being, I quite liked whatever I saw!
d) After a lot of detours, I finally managed to reach Starbucks. And to my delight, I realized they have Chai Tea Latte here too! Things couldn't get better! I got my usual tall Chai Tea Latte and sat at a lone table outside, surrounded by sparrows and pigeons who had utter lack of fear for humans and loved flapping their wings inches away from my face, reading my book - 'Six Suspects' by Vikas Swarup. Great book, great drink, great birds, great view.
e) Later I walked around again to find just the right restaurant for dinner. After much contemplation, I zeroed in on a brasserie and ordered pizza. I was bit taken aback by the pizza that was served. It had more cheese and bacon on it than I've eaten in my entire life. But I settled down again with my book and inched my way through the humungous task in front of me.
f) I finished about 40% of the pizza and felt appreciative of my work, because I had no hope of eating beyond 25% of that. However, the super old granny (she must be at least 95) who served me the pizza wasn't that appreciative. She pointed to the 40%-eaten pizza and raised her eyebrow at me. I shrugged and gestured "am done". And to my amusement and surprise, she did a "am gonna slap you now" gesture at me - the kind that moms do to their kids when they are naughty!! I gave her my sweetest smile as a reply.
g) I walked back to the hotel, once again taking in the lovely sight of the lake and its surroundings. It was 10pm but there was still enough daylight, which is something I struggle to get used to. When I got back to the hotel, I realized they have put yet another chocolate for me to snack on and have turned on the TV playing lounge music on it. How nice!
So yeah, the day started as a strictly average one but then ended up as strictly Awesome! Loved it! :)
783 more to go.
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