Forgotten Jackets: Beginning in Geneva

“Remember one thing. Your biggest supporters will be strangers! It will be people who don’t even know you that will root for you, work for you, buy from you, and genuinely wish you success.” – Unknown

***This is a long one. Click “view more” at the bottom to read the entire post.***

Greetings from Geneva, Switzerland!🇨🇭

I’ve been to Switzerland only one other time in 2002. I was in Zurich and went camping in the alps so I’m excited to be back and explore a new city.

I’ve already made my first mistake of the trip. I don’t know what I was thinking by not bringing my jacket and only a sweatshirt to donate at the top of the mountain. The nights here are chilly! Well, I know what I was thinking, “I don’t want to carry it.” So as soon as I landed and dropped off my bag at the hostel, I headed to Decathlon for some trekking poles and a jacket…I already own the same one but in a different color – old one is Navy, new one is Burgundy. A woman I worked with at Suburban had a dream that I was missing something from my backpack on this trip…so let’s hope it was the jacket and I don’t lose or forget anything going forward. Honestly, it was something I debated for a day or two and I made the wrong choice. C’est La vie.

Also, before I dive into all things Switzerland, I’m going to mention how I have noticed a deep decline in the value of the US dollar. Holy smokes.

When I was in Europe in January/February, the conversion was €0.92 to $1.00, when I got cash out of the ATM it was €0.82 to $1.00 (or $1.18 for €1). It seems small when looking at one dollar but it adds up. I withdrew 50 Swiss Francs and €300 at the same time and lost $65 to the conversion rate. That does not include ATM transaction fees.

America, we have a problem.

I hate to even mention that when I lived in Prague, CZ in 2002 (the Euro was established 1/1/2002) that the USD was stronger than the Euro. $1.00 to €1.06.

As of publishing this post on July, 28, 2025, the conversion rate (from the app Currency) is this…

My first day in Geneva, I hit the ground running. After my shopping spree at Decathlon, I joined a Guru Walking Tour. Our guide was Ibrahim from Istanbul. Not what I expected but he was great! Better than expected. He was a tour guide in Istanbul and his now wife went on one of his tours, they hit it off, he moved to Geneva, they got hitched, and now they have a four month old son named Oliver. We even got to meet his wife and Oliver because we crossed paths with them in the park during the tour. His tour company is named after his son, Oli.

Here are the highlights and interesting facts he told us, or at least I thought they were interesting.

Before 1815 Geneva was an independent Republic and on May 19, 1815 it joined the Swiss Confederation as the 22nd Canton (similar to a state or province). Napoleon’s fall in 1814 had a lot to do with it – you can do your own research if you’re interested in more info.
Geneva is known as the Capital of Peace and the United Nations second largest headquarters is here.
Minimum wage in Geneva is 25 Francs/hr. – allowing everyday workers to have a nice affordable life. Many people commute from Italy and France to work in Geneva because of this.
80% of the housing in Geneva is owned by the banks. Only 20% is private residences owned by the extremely wealthy. Most everyone rents.
Voting ballots are sent to everyone’s home and are returned by mail. It takes approximately two hours to complete a ballot. Every question is accompanied by an explanation of the proposed question, including if it will affect the constitution. They want their citizens to be well informed and educated when they vote.
The Red Cross was founded here on Feb. 17, 1863 by this guy, Henry Durant. He was on his way to meet with Napoleon and crossed a battlefield and noticed how nobody was helping the injured and dying soldiers. The building in the photo below was the first office and is now an art museum.
Switzerland is (mostly) known for two things – chocolate and watches/clocks. And of course, banks. What makes the chocolate exceptional is the milk – so buy milk chocolate if you get any. And a watch while you’re at it.
The water is some of the cleanest in the world so no need to buy bottled water. Just fill it up from the tap or the fountain. Ibrahim filled mine up for me.
If you’re going to try one pastry, Ibrahim said this is the famous one – Carac. It is the one with the chocolate and pistachio topping.

My own observation: The money is pretty and colorful. It even has different textures, I’m guessing that is to assist those with eyesight difficulties. Euros are different sizes for that reason. Up to 5 Francs is in coins – one of these coins in the photo is from 1983. Smart to save the government some money in production costs.

On my second day in town I had a special visitor come all the way from Zurich to meet me!

A year ago when I was in Paris for the Olympics, I received the kindest email from a reader named Ursula. She said she started reading my blog when I walked the VF from Siena to Rome. It is on her bucket list…and she just kept reading and following along on my journey around the world. She mentioned that she liked my writing and it “infects her with the travel bug.” She said since I was in Paris she wanted to reach out and offer an open invitation to stay at her home should I ever find myself near Zurich. We became pen pals and about a month before my visit to Geneva I told her of my plans and said if she happened to be in the area while I was here that I’d love to meet her. I did not expect her to take a six-hour round trip train ride to meet me, but she did just that.

Guys, meet Ursula from Zurich!

She was bouncing off the train when I met her at the platform. She has more energy than I do! She is 73 and has a zest for life! First, we went to a cafe to chat and get to know each other. She told me all about her life. She speaks multiple languages. She and her husband used to be competitive dancers, dancing their way around the world. They have two daughters and three grandchildren. They sound like a lovely family. She loves hiking and has walked the Camino and dreams of hiking the VF.

She texted me a few photos, that I’m allowed to share with you, of her and Kurt at the dance competitions. She even made her dresses! She has recently gotten into cake decorating as well. Isn’t this a cute cake.

Like I mentioned, Ursula is a fellow pilgrim from the Camino de Santiago. She has walked it twice, 2015 and 2019. On our stroll around the city, we discovered signage for the Camino route. That would be a long walk to Santiago from Geneva.

She said she had only visited Geneva twice in her life and the last time was about 15 years ago. So I gave her a tour. Ha! She said she would have never guessed she would get a tour of Geneva from an American. I said, “I wouldn’t have guessed I would have had a tour of Geneva from a Turkish man, but here we are.” That’s the great thing about travel – it brings everyone together.

We walked and talked for hours and at midday stopped to have one of the beers that I learned about on my tour. John Calvin (founder of Calvinism lived in Geneva) and in defiance of his strict rules, someone founded a beer in his name, Calvinus. I chose the blonde blend, of course – it was a joke and the waiter laughed.

Fondue and my new coat! Another thing Switzerland is known for is fondue. Typically, it’s eaten in winter but Ursula was a good sport and we had some at Buvette des Bains a restaurant linked to a public bathhouse (swimming area) on the water of Lake Geneva.

There seems to be a theme with jackets on this trip. While we were ordering the fondue, Ursula realized she left her jacket at the restaurant where we had the Calvinus beer. Unfortunately, it started POURING RAIN and we couldn’t get an Uber and the buses weren’t running because of road closures for an international festival…so we did what pilgrims do, we walked the hour round trip to get the jacket. We got soaked…but laughed in the rain. We are pilgrims for goodness sakes! We can do anything!

After a fun, full day of sightseeing, eating, and chatting, I said goodbye to my new friend and pen pal. It was so kind of her to make the journey. I asked her if her family thought she was crazy for meeting up with a complete stranger and she said they are used to her doing stuff like this. It’s how she makes life, magic!

Thank you, Ursula!

Geneva in a 16 second nutshell.

I had to buy some “lightweight” souvenirs. You never know when you will need a fondue stick on the trail or a couple of bells to call in the cows. You know, secretly, I’m hoping I get to use both!

Good Things List

Pen pals who you get to meet in person.
Warm coats and ponchos!
Visiting another new city!

Much love & gratitude. Namaste 🙏

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This poor guy had to wear the cone of shame at the train station.

A great tip to save your hiking backpack from damage at the airport (a lesson Walter and I learned the hard way – that big rip on the top covered with red tape is from and airline in Italy and the straps have almost been tugged off from the conveyor belts), throw it in an IKEA zip bag. It’s lightweight and can be used as rain gear later on.