The "Mechanical" Garden

Yesterday,  I went with Barbara to work in Geneva knowing that there was supposed to be a little bit of rain, but hoping that it wouldn't prevent me from visiting and taking photos. The weatherman, however, was very wrong with his report. Heavy rain all day, until about 4 o'clock. I didn't let it stop me though.

    I got up very early, had a small breakfast, then headed to Geneva with Barbara. I read for a little while and had some tea in her office, til I no longer considered it to be ridiculously early but just early enough. I said goodbye, then began my walk around a city I know absolutely nothing about. The Botanical Gardens, or as Barbara says the "Mechanical" Gardens, are about a mile walk from the ICRC office. Luckily, this was prior to the heavy rain. A light drizzle began around the time I reached the park, and 10 minutes later it was raining cats and dogs. With some resourcefulness on my part, I was able to keep my camera dry and get a lot of great shots of the park. The colors of the leaves are just starting to change and it looked incredible. After that I put my camera away because, as many of you know, I'm not a fan of big cities. Taking a picture of an office building with modern, boring architecture doesn't really appeal to me. Around 11, I began my trek back to ICRC to have lunch with Barbara and when I arrived I looked like I had taken a shower with my clothes on. I literally had to wring out my hair so it would stop dripping on the furniture. All I have to say is, thank goodness I had a rain coat on.

    After a nice lunch with Barbara and some other very interesting people, I decided to head downtown to try to find a suitable purse (one with a zipper, clasp, and flap) for London. Finding my way to downtown was a challenge. I took the bus, managed to purchase the wrong ticket which wasn't much of a problem, wandering around the train station until I saw exit signs, and promptly followed them. Eventually, I came to one of my favorite chocolate shops, so I had to buy some chocolate (framboise et chocolat blanc/white chocolate with raspberries). I found a purchase at Manor (a department store kinda) and it was reasonably priced, which is hard to come by in Suisse. After my errands, I got a chai latte at a Starbucks (I knowww I was excited too) and sat down for an hour and a half to read, eavesdrop, and listen to music.

   Around 5 Barbara let me know she was all done with her meetings, so whenever I found my way back we could head home. I made my way to the bus stop, with some help and a bit of French I bought my ticket, and made it back to the ICRC without incident.

    More things happened, but it's too much to type at the moment. Hope everyone has a good Thursday, I will post again when I return from London! :)