Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Unknown Stranger in Geneva

It was a cold morning as I stepped out in the balcony of the 6th floor of the Hotel Central, located in the midst of the Old City at Geneva. Previous evening we had landed in Geneva from Berne.The distant Alps with snow clad peaks looked beautiful. Our breakfast was delivered in the room sharp at 8.30 AM. Armed with all the information provided by the beautiful girl at the reception we stepped out. The morning rush hour had begun as we arrived at the Bel Air bus stop near the hotel. We waited for a tram to take us to Saleve in the direction of Vernier Covane. Mont Saleve is a tourist attraction in French territory from where one can have a panoramic view of France/ Switzerland and the return trip is about 70 km. I tried to take direction from a man who spoke only German and told us to get in the tram which he also boarded. He got off after a while and told us to follow him. He then brought out a car after the bend and told us to hop in. We were a little concerned with this overtly kind gesture as I enquired if he was a taxi driver. He waved his hand saying no he was not as he started his car. He drove for about 10 minutes before stopping his car near a house. A lady appeared from the house along with this man and spoke in fluent English. She queried as to where we wanted to go and laughed when  her husband explained that we mistook him to be a taxi driver. She then informed us that her husband would take us up to Saleve and will drop us back to the tram station. This was the best help we got!!
I was now convinced that there was some divine force at work in Geneva since I had recovered my lost mobile phone previous day. We thanked them both profusely. The kind gentleman showed us around Saleve. The panoramic view fof Geneva and Lake Geneva was unforgettable from Saleve.  After about an hour and half he dropped us at the tram station in the city. We could enjoy a nice trip which we had contemplated only previous night in company of a total stranger was a sure sweet encounter!



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