That said however, one thing is for certain, if you don't step out from your house { or in my case my hostel } then you can be very sure of what will happen ... absolutely nothing. Unless a super freak accident occurs like the place catching fire one day is very much like any other and the chances of anything even half exciting happening are about as close to zero as makes no difference.
Now, possibly stolen from LaTourEx, I chose today to try out my next proper experimental, to wit the 'Mystery Journey Tour'. Part of the package, and the attraction to staying in a Geneva hostel is that they will furnish you with a free all day all zones bus, rail and tram ticket that will enable you to hop on and off any and every kind of public your heart desires and stay on it for as long as you remain in the city limits. Considering that each ticket would cost you about CF $19 per day, this is a very powerful incentive and I was determined to make the most of it.
However the thing still remained that the weather was grey and cloudy and I had no real idea of where I wanted to visit next in the city, so I thought that this was the best time to try the experimental travel method of the Mystery Tour. Armed with a map that I would only use in dire emergencies { and to finally get back again if it gets too late } I walked to the end of the road and then hopped on the first tram that came my way and off I went.
It was a good start, taking me away from the city centre and everything I had seen before, right up until it started heading due north and I remembered that if you go that way too far you actually cross over into France. Sure enough, after about only two pauses I had to hop off as I had not brought my passport with me and I didn't want to risk it once the only destination left on the screen and the tram stop posts were France!
So I got off, took a few photos, walked for a bit then crossed over the road and then waited for the first one back southward again. This time it was better as it took me right into the centre of town, and as it was seeming to stop and I had already been there a few times walking, I wasted no time before hopping on another. Over the roads and bridges we went till we got to somewhere near a large motorway and also something green on the map and not wanting to exit the city limits I jumped off and went exploring.
As it turned out, the green bits on the map was a sort of mini public zoo, mainly for birds and I got to take a few great photos of some swans, peacocks, some pigs and even a deer. I even managed to find a quaint old fashioned cafe with customers and everything. However I wasn't quite able to find the owner / barkeep and so after returning the can of Ice Tea back into the fridge { although I could very easily have just walked away with it and half the store as the guard dog was more interested in playing ball than in guarding anything } and left.
It also occurred to me that the Swiss must be very trusting, as I had been hoping on and off trams for a few days now and so far not a single inspector was on any of them, and I feel confident that I could probably have got away without having a ticket, though why I would want to run the risk of getting into trouble over such a silly amount of pocket change is why I never would!
Anyways, after I got back to civilisation I once again climbed onboard and found myself going north once more, only with a slightly different spin on things and ended up at the Botanical Gardens, which mum would have just loved. They had every kind of rockery and flowers from all over the world and what made it extra special was that they were kind enough to leave the labels in the ground, so you could identify what was what and check it all out later.
There were so many different and beautiful flowers to chose from that I could have no one favourite, though seeing a bonsai tree fully grown and not the miniature size versions { it is only the constant clipping and attention that keeps them small } was pretty funky if you ask me.
Right outside the Botanical Gardens was the headquarters of the United Nations. At last, I thought, I have got a chance to put my complains right to the source and so up I strolled and tried talking to the guard on the gate. Sadly however his English was not perfect and he confused my polite rant with the fact that I had missed the last guided tour of the day and suggested that I come back in the morning. Oh well, I guess it will have to be a well written letter that carried the day on that issue.
Mind you, the population of Switzerland is only 7 million and of that over 1.5 million are immigrants which is a huge percentage if you think about it, so it's no wonder they don't really care if the UK also has over 1 million as we have an overall population of over 60 million.
My time spend in Zurich, Bern and Geneva has made me realise fully that not all of Switzerland is cold, mountainous or snow topped. I guess if I had booked a trip right through the heart of the country I might have seen a snowy mountain cabin, which is my imaginary perfect place to have a honeymoon, but then again on my own it would have been a very isolated and boring place to stay so all in all I am happy with my lot.
After the UN I hopped on yet another and ended up going almost off the map again, this time with nothing really to show for it, so I looked at the map and headed back to town, where I took a final stroll back to the Hostel and for a bite to eat.
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