The flight from Dallas to London is about 8 hours. Then, its time to walk halfway across the country to the other end of the airport to go through security yet another time, although not even leaving the secured areas. Four hours later, another plane and an hour and a half of flight time.
Boba at London Heathrow - YES.
Finally, after an almost sleepless night- Geneva. Off the plane and onto"customs" which is a pretty big joke. "Where are you from?" The man asks. I have an American passport and it says TEXAS. Where do you think. Suspiciously, he looked back, "Ebace?" "Yes", "Go". And that was it. How did he know?! There aren't many 23 year olds attending business aviation shows. And that is it. No declaration form, no questions, no sniffer dogs, nothing.
The weather here has been wonderful. This isn't usual during EBACE time. Cool in the morning, warm during the day, and cool again at night. You can see almost no snow on the mountain peaks. Lake Geneva is crystal clear and houses many interesting birds.
Lake Geneva and the famous fountain
Fishing birds
Business and travel isn't always fun. Especially when you have little to no time to enjoy a wonderful place. It's really neat to see even a glimpse of some places, but it is very exhausting and instead of talking to this very important customer, you just want to sleep. Thankfully, we arrived on Sunday. Unfortunately, all the stores are closed Sundays. A real disappointment considering the antique shops here look amazing, nothing like what we have back home at all. Those in the states are cool too and a few here and there are spectacular, but these are on another level. Not just one, all of them. I'm sure there's a pretty amazing price tag that goes with the items too. Geneva is pretty outrageous in that sense. Another reason business travel is great experience- you don't have to pay the bills.
Since the show goes on from 10-6, 9-6, and 9-4, you see nothing. You're jet lagged, so tired you forget where you put your business cards and end up handwriting them until accidentally finding them a day later. Standing all day takes it's toll and by dinner time, you want to pass out. Service in Europe takes forever. Eating out is no hour long experience. Double or triple that. So, by the time you drag yourself back to the hotel, its time to fall on the floor, wake up, and do it all over again. This is the first trip that goes into the weekend, making it possible for us to relax and explore a little before returning home. But, that will be in Alsace, not Geneva.
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