Geneva Arrival

Well, it has finally happened! I am now in Geneva - definitively. No longer the prospect of going home after a few days. No more the luxury of the Franciscan friary or the Mon Repos Hotel. I am now ensconced in 19 avenue de Maine, in the Plainpalais district. Did I mention that the apartment is called the Circus Apartment? No, well, that is what it is called. Number 19 is in between the hairdressers and the key-cutting shop in the Plainpalais district. And, right on cue, the Circus has arrived in town right opposite my apartment. It is the KNIE circus. With luck I hope to avoid it. Although I do see some of the animals parading around the enclosure.

Mike Hasenmueller met me at the airport. We got a taxi into town. It cost 50 CHF, about 34 EUR. Steep, but, hey, this is Geneva. And that included the tip. We had some difficulty getting in to the apartment because Mike did not know the code. He had to call on the phone. After he left I surveyed my surroundings. It is pretty basic. Not one single comfortable chair for napping in. There is a set of plastic garden chairs like the ones you see all over Africa, India and Latin America. This is the Justice apartment after all.

Not for long. I went out to make my first purchases: one expresso coffee machine, two cushions in red imitation velour, some gruyere cheese, organge juice, a piece of steak, potatoes and some muesli. These items have begun to fill up the empty space in the food larder. Yes, I also got some milke, the UHT type. My local "tabac" did not have the real thing.

The apartment has Internet and it is quite fast. So Skype should work just fine. If anyone feels inclined to Skype me.

I cooked my steak this evening, halving it so that I have a piece for tomorrow. The spuds took an age. And were still not "done". The Swiss don't eat potatoes. They prefer chocolate, cheese and fondues. Heidi food!

I did listen to Radio Suisse Romande, a lecture on the nature of happiness according to Spinoza and Kant. I need to listen to a lot of this high-brow French if I am to get by. I strayed into a bookstore earlier in the evening and was eyed up and down by a suspicious bookseller. It was my canary yellow Hermanos Cristianos polo shirt that did not fit. It looks out of place here. The Swiss prefer drab.

So this is how the new EUP community begins! A preference for drab.