The Pit Stops: Geneva and Lyon

So the last half of our trip needs a bit explaining, as it doesn't make that much sense that we went to two different cities but only spent one night there.

We had intended for Rome to be the end of our trip, however the train we needed to take was full for pass holders (Oh France, you always make things so much fun) and it was either pay the full amount for train tickets or book a hotel for the night in Geneva—this was actually the cheaper option so that's what we went for. Next, I discovered we could go to Lyon without having to pay for seat reservations, this worked well because Colton wanted to visit a church there. Then I discovered that Lyon was only four hours from Barcelona—somewhere I had nearly given up hope on visiting during our time here.

So, we took two trains out of Italy to Geneva, then a train from Geneva to Lyon, then a train down to Barcelona.

Because of this schedule, we did not spend much time in Geneva or Lyon, but we still have some enjoyable experiences there in our small amount of time.

We arrived in Geneva on a Sunday afternoon with little time left before the sun would set. This, and the slow check-in at the hotel, dashed my plans for us to visit some sites in the city. Rather than attempt to run around town in the dark after spending six or so hours on a train, we ordered dominos and watched the Doctor Who Christmas special.

The next day, we decided to make an early start before catching our mid-morning train and see some bits of Geneva. One advantage we had was free use of the public transport system (a tourism policy for the hotels, not too shabby). My favorite part of Geneva had to be coffee at the Boreal Coffee shop, we later discovered that they had a location much closer to the train station but the one we visited was more like your typical American coffee shop with plenty of space to relax.

I got the latte de Noel—a huge glass with coffee, cream, crumbled gingerbread, and chocolate! Sweet? Yes. Expensive? Made Starbucks look cheap. Delicious? Yes. Colton enjoyed his simple vanilla latte, and we both agreed that the muffins were amazing—super moist and full of berry goodness.

We regretfully left Boreal (we both would have been happy to stay there for most of the day) and visited the Reformation wall and popped by the lake to catch a glimpse of the fountain before dragging ourselves to the train station.

In Lyon, we did see a bit more of the city, namely a couple of cathedrals.

We left our hotel to find the Church Colton wanted to see because of its connection with Ireneaus, however we arrived too late and weren't able to go outside. 

So we hiked over and up the hill to this beautiful place.

Then we were off to Barcelona.