Life after work and the trips of a lifetime

"We are judged by what we finish, not by what we start." - Anonymous

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, your body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming, "Woo hoo! What a ride!..attributed in this form to either Maxine Cartoon or anon

Monday, August 30, 2010

Geneva..a clash of coin. Swiss Francs one side the fence, Euros the other

Since driving over into Switzerland..nearly all autobahn and nearly all in the rain, I've been busy packing up my bike and wheels, retrieving things from where I stayed on arrival and generally getting things sorted.  I finished packing my bike bags by 5pm yesterday and  drove to the airport to put them into the left luggage so they wouldn't have to be squashed into a shuttle bus. And this is when I started to get lucky

Lucky moment No 1
At Geneva airport the Left Luggage office is in the railway station (Swiss side therefore payable in Swiss francs) so when I drove in to park at the airport, I was supremely lucky to get a parking sport only 50m away from where I wanted to be. I also managed to do the deed and drive out all within the minimum parking time...so only 2 Swiss francs for parking.

Lucky moment No. 2
The deal with the car was that I should give it back at 12 o'clock today and then I would be driven to the French side of the airport. After which I would  summon a shuttle bus from the Swiss side of the airport to get to tonight's hotel, which happens to be in France. The truly lucky bit was because there was NO  way I could have got my bike boxes from where I was dropped off to anywhere..the left luggage office or to where my shuttle bus stopped. There were no trolleys and even if you found one, you couldn't take it through to the Swiss side.....

I guess I'll be giving Geneva the flick for leasing a car in future...just too complicated  with bike boxes.Lyons look a likely candidate.

Lucky moment No 3
Since I was at the airport with time to spare, I decided to see if I could check in early, and yes I could but since I didn't have my frequent flyer card to use a machine, I had to do it face to face and that is where I got lucky again. Why?...'cos the number on my electronic ticket was completely wrong. I was in the system ok, but somehow the number got screwed, which explains why I had trouble checking in on line in Melbourne......The lucky bit is 'cos it took AGES to sort out..but I remained totally unstressed since I had 19 hours before my flight! phew!!

and finally Lucky Moment No 4
Eventually it all got sorted and I got my boarding cards. I was just about to grab a bite to eat when the most beautiful music started emanating from the arrivals hall, so I had a look see and this is what I found:



Swiss alpine Horns..just magic..soothing and special.  I hung around for ages, happily listening. Manchester tomorrow for the obligatory time in UK to meet the conditions of my ticket and then over to San Diego.

Turns out Phil is struggling, a very painful knee is preventing him from walking, so it looks like he really DOES need a spell in a Rehab hospital! I suggested he requests an x-ray of his knee too.

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