Killing Time-Day 130-May 21st, 2018

My flight today wasn’t until 11 AM, which meant not having to wake up absurdly early. Even better, I had someone who could drop me off at the airport. Still, with my flight to Geneva and a later bus to Grenoble, this would be a day full of travel.

I got up at 7:30 and took one last shower and packed up everything. The plan was to leave the house by 8:15. Sam was going to drop me off at Gatwick for my flight, then drop off Andrew for his bus to Manchester.

I ate a quick breakfast to fuel me for the rest of my travel day. Right on schedule, we hopped in the car with Sam and headed out. About 50 minutes later, we arrived at Gatwick and I said goodbye to Andrew and Sam. I will see Andrew in a week and Sam towards the end of the summer.

One last picture from the airport

Going through security was a breeze and I quickly got into the waiting area. I discovered that my flight had also been delayed by a hour. This actually was not too annoying due to the timing of my bus. There were two buses I could take home from Geneva: A bus an hour after my original arrival and one bus four hours after my arrival.

I ended up booking the later bus when I made all the arrangements a few weeks ago. After missing my bus in Paris because of a delayed flight, I didn’t want to take any chances if my flight to Geneva was delayed. I guess my hunch ended up being right.

With that logic, I figured an hour delay just meant less time I would have to kill in Geneva. While waiting for my flight, I typed up a blog post for the previous day. Soon it was time to board and I got on the plane.

I will never understand my body. Despite getting a great night of sleep and a short flight time, I slept through the entire flight. This was without my neck pillow or any of those accessories. Conversely, when I have an overnight flight and use my neck pillow, eye mask, and ear plugs, I can never sleep well. This just doesn’t make any sense to me.

When I arrived in Geneva, I had a little under three hours until my bus. After my incident with Flixbus the other day in Geneva, I have become an expert in killing time in Geneva. I had made the trip from the airport to the bus station enough times to know that it only takes twenty minutes. Rather than wait in the uncomfortable bus station, I decided to stay at the airport as long as possible.

Last time while waiting at the airport bus station, I discovered a great seating area at a tea shop that had an outlet and free wifi. I headed there again to reclaim my old position, plus some tea as well. I proceeded to spend the next two hours watching Netflix. I didn’t feel bad about camping out at the tea store for so long because I bought a pain au chocolat after being there for an hour.

With about forty minutes until my bus, I hopped on the train to the main Geneva train station. This station was a short walk from the bus station. Utilizing the free wifi at the bus station, I used my remaining time to download the movie The Internship. This is the movie I never finished on my flight to London. Soon my bus arrived on time and I started up my movie immediately.

The drive from Geneva to Grenoble is really under two hours, but takes about three hours on the bus due to the couple stops on the way. I ended up listening to a podcast to pass the time after finishing my movie.

The French Alps, always a nice view to return to

Around 8:30, I arrived in Grenoble. Since it was a Sunday, that meant that almost everything was closed in France. This could be problematic as I needed to find dinner.

To my luck, the McDonald’s in the bus station was open. I got myself two tiny burgers and some fries. It is weird how much more expensive French McDonald’s is compared to the ones in different coutries. They did have thick-cut fries, which is one advantage over America’s McDonalds.

Not your typical McDonald’s Fries

After a satisfying meal, I headed back to my house. When I got back, I did not stay for long. I was going to La Nat’ to meet Nick and Harry for a drink. Part of me would have much rather called it a night when I got home, but Harry was leaving tomorrow. This was our last opportunity to get a casual drink at La Natation.

I dropped off my stuff and quickly conversed with Anne Marie. Andrew gave me a Chinese Yuan note to give to AM and she liked it a lot. She hung it up with the Beijing magnet she had on the part of the kitchen wall covered in magnets.

On the way to the bar, I stopped by Nick’s place to pick him up. This is the usual routine since he lives in between my house and the bar. When we got there, Harry was waiting for us with a table. We only stayed for about an hour, but had a nice time. Who knows where I will be able to drink Kanterbrau beers after I leave France.

After the bar, we went to hang out in the park. This was primarily because we wanted to rap with each other, something you can’t really do in the bar. I got Nick and Harry onto freestyling while we were in Venice and I’m glad they’re hooked on it.

Around midnight, I said goodbye to Harry and walked back with Nick. Harry lives in Boston so I’ll probably see him this summer when I make a trip up there at some point. I got home around midnight and immediately went to bed.