Geneva to Vienna: December 28 2023.. Au Revoir Geneva; Hallo Vienna

December 28
Greetings from Vienna

On our last day in Geneva, we walked back to Bistrot de Halles Rive to meet most of the clan for lunch. Mike is still a bit under the weather so he’s now an official taster for bouillon at multiple restaurants. The rest of us had oysters and pates and various dishes. I had the local perch.

Then we headed, uneventfully, to the Geneva Airport—entering on the Swiss side this time. The Geneva Airport is officially in both Switzerland and France and it is possible to enter (and depart) from either country. The French side seems smaller, and we often use that because lines seem to move faster. Anyway, we boarded our flight to Vienna and arrived about 90 minutes later. Our hotel is located in what appears to be a hip neighborhood; we are not downtown. More on that tonight after we explore.

Anyway, the hotel is fairly funky with an art deco flair. It’s sort of turn-of-the-century Paris chic: parquet floors, brass, chintz fabrics in pinks and greens and huge chandeliers. There’s a huge red statue /sculpture in the lobby. And among the various free bath items you find in the bathroom (all very branded) is a little box of condoms.

This will either be a favorite hotel or one we hate. The verdict is out until we see more, and in daylight. Our room doesn’t have a desk making it difficult to do this travelogue. We are trying to change rooms, but the place (and the whole city) is totally booked.

I’m off to get dressed and head out to explore Vienna, We haven’t been here in decades.

One funny thing to tell.
The lighting throughout the hotel is very dim… atmosphere, I suppose. The charming elevator which is very art deco and lots of brass. The hotel doesn’t seem to have any bellmen (are there any bell-women?) which is fine. So we got on the elevator and went to floor six. When we got out of the elevator the rooms only went to 613, but we spied an unmarked door (signage here is non-existent) so we went through that door and it took us to a metal grated outdoor walkway. We took that walkway which led to another door and then a small vestibule and another door, and finally there were rooms including 617, our room. We thought it was a very odd way to reach our room…. But oh well. Later I went down to the lobby to ask a question (no room phones, as they just expect everyone will be on their cell phones – very hip), I realized that when I walked out of our room I went directly to a little (actually a rather large) foyer, and there was the elevator. I hadn’t taken that circuitous route on the outdoor walkway.

Turns out it’s one of those elevators that has two 6th floors,. And you need to know which you want (actually its just that the doors open on two sides, but not at the same time.) So now at least we know how to get to our room. Again, no signage.

We had dinner in the restaurant which was packed and again, hip… with lots of people dressed to the nines… and others very sporty. Mike had his bouillon.. I had escargots and steak tartare.

That’s it. Off to see Vienna.
We shall see if they can change our room.

Fern