Elle About Town, Geneva Runcation (May 2014)

So what exactly does a ‘runcation’ entail outside of the actual running?! This is (a version) of the answer.

Our flight to Geneva from London was pretty early on the Friday morning. We got the ‘regular’ train to the airport which took just 30 minutes. A flight of just over an hour, for which I slept, and we were 500 miles (is that right?!) away ready to start our weekend.

We were lucky enough to have someone in Geneva already who helped to inform us of various bits and bobs. This started with the fact that in the baggage collection area of the airport you can grab a free ticket to travel into the city!

I wasn’t as organised as I know I can be before leaving for Geneva so I had no idea how to get to the hotel. That’s one great thing about travelling in a group…someone is bound to have worked it all out!

I followed everyone else and ran for a train which by the time we found a seat in, we had to get off! A 5 minute walk from the station and we were at our hotel bright and early. We checked in and headed to find some lunch while our rooms were prepared. I’m a bit skeptical about eating in places I don’t know so we found a place filled with people and a menu we could decipher! First meal in Geneva?! Pasta with vegetables! We were carb loading right?!

The hotel was lovely. Clean and modern. A ten minute walk to the race village. We headed up there that evening to pick up Alicia’s 10km race pack which she needed for the next day. An early night was on the cards too after such an early wake up call and the travelling.

our room, post weekend 🙂

Sightseeing didn’t really happen on this trip but we were a) staying by the lake b) running 10km / half marathon around the city and c) in need of some rest and recuperation now that we were away from london, work and all the stresses it brings with it!

flag on the lake

flower clock in Jardin Anglais

cakes and sweets

On the Saturday, we hit up the supermarket to buy supplies for breakfast, pre race on Sunday morning as all the shops close early (for us Londoners) on a Saturday evening and don’t open on Sundays. I bought some pastries, flavoured soya milk and bananas as my race morning fuel. I had my bottles of SQUASH’D handy in the room to jazz up our tap water (you can drink their amazingly tasty tap water in Switzerland!) and to keep me hydrated while out and about in town! We got given some handy water bottles in our race packs which served me well for the weekend! The Robinson’s SQUASH’D comes in a handy 66ml bottle which is even flight friendly (no liquids over 100ml allowed, remember?!). You then only need a little squeeze to make your drink!

SQUASH’D

We also found the most amazing food court to eat in, which we dined in for a ma-husive lunch one day and then breakfast on our final morning. We treated ourselves to ice cream by the lake as we sat in the sunshine and people watched. Oh and cheese…we had plenty of cheese on the evening we arrived when Ashley hosted us for a cheese and wine party! Everyone pitched in CHF5 (swiss francs) and Ashley and her hubby collected all we needed for the evening from the supermarket! I think that evening was the only time we were all together in one place.

cheese

the view from Ashley’s apartment

sorbet for me

final day breakfast

by the lake…people and flower watching

the lake

in the sunshine

What clothes did I take?! Well, you had the down low on my race outfit in my Geneva Marathon Weekend Rundown post last week. The rest of the time was spent still in stretchy clothes and trainers! All packed into the most epic lululemon weekend bag which you couldn’t miss from a mile off!

my bag for the weekend

posing in the hotel corridor

travelling outfit

So that is our runcation rounded up short and sweet! Geneva was an amazing city and wonderful race weekend host! The weekend even inspired me to learn to speak French again! I would definitely go back to see some of the sights that I missed such as the UN building and the chocolate factory!

Have you been to Geneva before?! …what’s your favourite city to run / vacation / runcation in?! 

Elle 🙂 x