We go diving in the lake!!! With the glocals diving club!!!

What about snow shoes - great trips to be made in the Jura - easy reachable by train. St. Cerque is lovely!!!

There are some nice exebitions around town as well

Sounds perfect to me! 

Thank you :)

I don't ski, and rarely take my car anywhere interesting apart from occasional trips to Italy for work. I used to enjoy shopping (for music, movies and books), but now I prefer to do so online because it's more convenient and saves me money. I like food and drink but don't go to restaurants often because I enjoy cooking myself.

But I'm rarely bored. 

There is lots of stuff you can do for which you don't need to leave the house. Had a look at this website: No Excuse List. Want to learn a language, chess, or music theory? Want to start building robots? Want to learn how to cook molecular cuisine? All you need is an internet connection and some time. 

Personally I like writing. I started doing it recently as part of my PhD studies (mainly academic papers), and I'm really enjoying it. I have some ideas for a book, and may start working on that soon. 

snow shoeing is a great excersise.... and great fun to get out with nature... 

you can go into the woods and BBQ some meat and drink ready chilled vodka... or fondue in a mountain hut.

Sledding? can be fun in a group..

The mountains arent just about Skiing.... its about fresh air, excersise and having a good night out afterwards.

Quite a few groups go snow shoeing up near lausanne way, and Im sure you can hitch a lift etc.

Or if you really really hate the mountains and snow....get on a train and via cheap hotels dot com see paris, or rome or florence.... etc

It doesnt have to cost a fortune, just some momentum to do it...

Damn right: either the beach or the bleach!

Indulge yourself with some beauty treatments...

Hya

Well if you do like winter sports you can join a ski club and all the transport arrangements will be taken care of or even better join the C.A.S (Club Alpin Suisse) and they will have lots of outings, snow shoes, ski, etc...

Winter really can suck but once you are up there and the sun will revitalise your Vitamines D you will feel better ;-)

Every season has it's ups and downs but you will prevail, your bleach thing got me really worried, hope you are only joking ...

A few more tips, make fondue, drink a good bottle of wine, stock up on some good books and movies, revisit your cd collection, revisit old friends, and if your are the gregarious type I am sure there are plenty of glocally relatd stuff out there... 

Some great ideas(except Montreux Xmas market isn't for the whole winter!)And some people cheated on the drinking thing...not naming any names.

Ha ha - WOJA M the bleach will remain untouched (British black humour!!)

Likewise Rachel - joke ,joke!!!

I forget....I'm in Switzerland!

Hi, 

I'm exactly in your situation,what I try to do is leaving from here at least 1 week end a month,usually I go to Milan (where life is a real life)...lots of people,great food, bar, tea rooms,
wonderful original fashion shops(many of them affordable) street markets,

all that, the whole day, sunday included till 8,00 p.m. and some days longer than 8,00 p.m.
that's my suggestion

Hi all,

Here are some ideas:

laser game

salsa

clubs, restos, bars...

have dinner parties with friends

movie nights with friends again

skating

and the rest was advised already - go out for window shopping and the Christmas feel :)

There are some indoor swimming pools, I do that now and then and it feels good.

As I advised my partymates last Saturday, there are some cool things to do in the winter...

Cressy is a rehab center for motor skills - they are open to the public from 17h00 to 21h00 in the week, different times over the week-end and holidays. It's great, it's got a pool with all sorts of waterspouts, hammam, sauna... Here's the link:http://bainsdecressy.hug-ge.ch/ accessible by bus no. 20, CRESSY last stop.

The Bains des Pâquis also has similar facilities (minus the pool) PLUS a delightful cafeteria that sells very reasonably priced food and wine!

You can go by train+ferry to Aquaparc in Montreux. Good fun and worth a one-night stayover at the hotel facing it.

I'm a snow-hater so I can't advise you on the winter sports...

On Saturday morning and Sunday morning there is a lovely food/artifacts market respectively in Ferney and Divonne. The F bus takes you to Ferney - must check for Divonne. Until twelve.

There is an indoor pool in Varembé next to the Place des Nations and in Vernets you can ice-skate.

On Saturday (all day) in Plaine de Plainpalais there is a flea market. Great to pick up cheap books (also avaialble in English) and everything else you find at a flea market. The Wednesday one is not worth the trouble.

On Sunday there is a food and small miscellaneous items market, same place.

Public libraries cater for anglophones - there is a brilliant one at the foot of the Old Town behind Confédération Centre.

If you're bored you can take the number 8 bus to its final stop and spend some time walking around Veyrier, at the foot of the Salève mountain.

Go to the Tourism office to check out all the possible trips/excursions by bus tour. One you mustn't miss is Annecy, especially on  a week-end. Worth spending the night in a cheap hotel too, so you can enjoy both markets that sell the best cheese and ham in Savoie, tasty & affordable seafood in the Brasseries and a tour of the lovely Old Town.

I think this list should keep you busy for a while :-) - buzz me when you run out!

Cheers!

Sophie aka Wisdom

You could always to get a job at Devere Group and just randomly phone people reading from a script. That should while away the winter evenings...

I think this list should keep you busy for a while.....???? 

already done what you said....Annecy is very cute but once you go 3/4 times it's enough,also Lyon is nice..(isn't funny?are both in France.....what we have in Switzerland apart the mountains.....

The Bains des Pâquis......delightful cafeteria....o.k. ...mmmmm.....

we are not at all on the same wavelength....I prefer to go once a month to

Milan and have a dinner to some friend's home the other 3 week-ends of the month

You must be kidding...

Don't worry - I was!

Oh my, Bluette... SOMEONE'S difficult to please... I'm suggesting activities which I enjoy - I'm not FORCING ANYONE and least of all expected this rant and rave of yours. NO we are definitely NOT on the same wavelength...

I'm thrilled to see at least ONE city does it for you. Milan... Hmm... Didn't like it, sorry. Not a big fan of Italian food, either... Once you've eaten it "3/4 times it's enough." But I RESPECT THE FACT THAT YOU DO and sort of expected the same courtesy.  Wrong time of the month?

I've been living in Geneva since 1983 and no, I do not find the above activities boring or tedious. I'm not an OAP either... LOL.

Yes, I've also been to Lyon and Annecy SEVERAL TIMES and I still find them interesting. I doubt you're had the time to visit all there is to see - especially Lyon - as in spite of the NUMEROUS times I've been there God Knows there is still plenty for me to see yet.

No I am NOT surprised they are both in France. If you look at a MAP, you will actually see that the Léman bay is a "finger" poking in the side of France which is a bigger and therefore a more "socially and culturally active" country than Switzerland, so I do not see the SURPRISE in the fact that the interesting places to see which are at a nice distance to travel to by public transport should be in France... I've even pushed out as far as Dijon, Saint Etienne and Strasbourg which are the next interesting cities at a comfortable distance from Geneva.

Of course we mustn't forget to see the beautiful SWISS cities such as Bern, Fribourg, Gruyère, Luzern, Montreux, Aigle, Vevey...

Anyways, I'm sure the author of this thread will be very much enriched by your input, at least as much as I have.  Now she knows she can go to Milan once a month for dinner and this should certainly have answered her question... And keep her busy for the rest of the winter, as opposed to the various suggestions I have made (which were not exhaustive, but YOU don't want to know...).

To anyone else in the same situation as Buzzcocks, who don't ski etc, you could check out Ticketcorner: http://www.ticketcorner.ch/tickets.html?language=en 

which will show you what events are on all over Switzerland. There should be something for everyone's taste.

ah..ah ... I shouldn't have talk about italian food (the best in the world)  to a french.....i'm so sorry.....

ah"....by the way everybody knows that anytime  you go to Milan there's always something different to admire art,fashion,design and plenty of other things....

all that in a magnificent alive atmosphere

but I can't explain that  to you,and I RESPECT THAT TOO DON'T WORRY   

HI Bluette,

I grew up in England so I'm keeping well out of the 'who's food is best' discussion!  

Thanks for giving Milan as a suggestion of somewhere to go this winter with loads of different things to do. Good choice as it's only a three hours away by direct train.

However, you'll have to forgive my ignorance of this city but last time I went I was only aware of visiting the Duomo, La Scala, spinning on bull's nuts in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele and seeing The Last Supper - all of which we were able to do in well under a day.

I had a quick look on a website of top 10 things to do in Milan and apart from checking out the canals in Navigli and seeing Parco Sempione (both of which might be a bit cold during the next few months) eating a panzerotto from Luini and drinking, I couldn't see anything else. Could you let me know what else there is there, I'm guessing, off the tourist trap?

Many thanks,

Rich

Why are you making this into such a big deal? Why are you so agressive?

BACK ON TRACK TO THE SUBJECT... I'm only saying that the poor soul can't BASE her whole winter on ONE city and one activity....

Do you have any other suggestions which might be useful? I'd love to read them too so perhaps I could also like what YOU like...

PS -  I'm part Italian... And I'm neither proud or ashamed of my origins, that's just the way I was born.

Peace.

"Please,what are your tips for surviving the cold,grey months (remember -no car right?) And let's eliminate drinking straight away(that's too easy)"

Make babies, what else? Or at least try until you are out of breath or Spring arrives, whichever comes first.

Notice I said "whichever", not whomever comes first.  

Reply to forum threads until you get more Thank Poster's than Posts.

Well well well. Catfight catfight catfight... :-)

An other thing what you could do is pick up some courses with Ecole Migros. Painting, cooking or whatever you fancy. Learn to play an instrument?

Create a group to learn to play the flute. Could be good fun and would keep you busy for while?

There's a conservatoire in Lausanne

Some people are cheating on here - no car can indicate low budget(i should have mentioned that!)so some things mentioned get struck off the list straight away.

making babies - well,no thanks- but sex yes(but that still involves staying indoors!!)

I suppose it's hard to feel great about winter - like all the skiers do - because it just means doing lots of things you could do  any other time of the year......but with the inconvenience/annoyance of being much more uncomfortable(COLDER) getting there physically(and sometimes not being able to get there at all)

Okay - so here's a bit of "out of the box" thinking.....

Get the train to Geneva airport (a small expense, but not outrageous).  

Stand in the Arrivals Hall and just OBSERVE.....

Watch the faces of impatient men, anxious women and fidgety kids of all races, creeds & colour, transform into rapturous faces of sheer delight, love and happiness as their friends and family walk through the doors.

It's the only place on the planet where you're guaranteed flamboyant displays of totally, unconditional love.  It makes you feel very connected with your fellow homosapiens and it's VERY humbling.

Don't knock it till you've tried it.

(Maybe Widsom and Bluette should give it a go! )

Tea, Lyon is 100% on the public transport line ;-) it's little more than an hour by train, there's one about every hour leaving Cornavin. For an overnight stay.I personally recommend the Grand Hôtel des Terreaux as it is the only one in the city that has an indoor swimming pool - great after a day of walking around and is ideally located in the center of town. Not the cheapest but definitely the best value...

Ok firstly you can write on glocals thread, the responses are sometimes vevy funny.If you dont have friends it can be lonely place,I dont know as we are in same boat ,when I have figured it out i shall post,ok how about group barbeque in woods ?

A tad bit creepy but sounds like fun!!

Please stand corrected that I never said anything negative about Geneva. I only gave suggestions to Buzzcocks about how to occupy herself in the winter which were then violently and abusively criticised by a member of Glocals (I have never even met) and who then proceeded to insult me, my tastes and my nationality in a completely immature and irrational manner.

I would very much appreciate it if people could stop making this into a CATFIGHT. I don't DO fighting if you observe correctly - just DEFENSE. Your comments in that line are offensive.

It's also a good opportunity to hone your skills on "making an observation without making a judgement" (also serving as a note to some posters above).

It's only a "tad bit creepy" if you don't have any other excuse to go to the airport - but the station Migros being open on a Sunday justifies it!

Great. I'm all on for self improvement. I'll bring along my newpaper with two eye sized peep holes so I won't stick out!!!!!

Very funny Eric S.

Now,now.Let's stop all this.....

I only asked for some tips!!!

Okay. So we're slowly whilttling the list down to hibernation.

hahahah ok now in Lyon there's more than in Milan......

As i said Lyon is nice ...but is not Huge and is not at all comparable with everything new you can find in Milan everytime you go there

and the atmosphere of life... but I guess some of you don't know of what I'm talking about.... 

  if you think that the only thing to do in Milan is to step on the bull nuts  (too turistic and rather stupid....) You were there alone or with other turists

Anyway you should talk with the thousand of people that every week-end go to Milan to get a life......

but probably for some of you it's enough to be in company of Heidi

iiiii aaaaa lllaaa uuu uuu!

(WITH ALLTHE RESPECT)

Bluette. When I wrote my post I was complimentary about Milan as an option for somewhere to go and genuinely wanted to know what were the 'many other things to do' there to which you were referring.

However, according to you I'm some sort of f--king stronzo tourist who visits the only things in Milan we know about. Apparently, according to you there's loads of things to do there. Care to share what they are or are you too busying insulting people on this thread?

Rich, you hit the nail on the head..... you are a stronzo tourist.... ;-)

Even in Nyon they close the fisherman's pub as soon as you hit town ;-)

Personally I'm not a fan of Milan. I've only been there once, for a day, but I found it less charming than several other Italian cities. It's definitely great for shopping, and it may have other nice features, but I wouldn't call it a tourist destination. Since we're comparing with Lyon - I think this is a nice city (and clearly underrated) with a great (but small) old town. I'd love to spend some more time exploring it. 

I want to mention Torino, because it's closer and just as charming. I really liked the cinema museum there. A bit further away are Venice, Florence and Verona; all amazing cities and well worth a weekend visit. You have to be a bit lucky with the weather in winter, but it will be better than Geneva. I'm not sure about train connections, but public transportation in Italy is decent.

Actually, they gave you the last tip... Trolling other people's posts could be a nice activity ;-) 

I think you're better off flying easyjet to the mentioned cities... Cheaper, and at least you are sure you get there.... I wouldn't trust Italian trains and the system. 

Easyjet makes sense yet. I hadn't considered it because I normally go there by car. 

I've traveled on Italian trains a few times; they're fine.

Hahaha, you must have been lucky, because all the times I've used them it was a disaster.... (also was Easyjet but at least that's cheap)

Come ON everyone.Be nice - dammit!!!

Ooops-getting angry there.....sorry.

Yes,if you're a snowboarder/skier OF COURSE "winter rocks" - that's the whole point of the original question.

What else is so great about winter?(Hibernation sounds like a good bet to me)

.....especially when people are starting to throw stuff at eachother....virtually 

Calm down everyone....

GANGNAM STYLE 

:-))))

I never thought an innocent,non-political,non-controversial thread would elicit so much emotion.

Peace and love sty-leeee

Dear Tea,

I'm not mocking anybody.....I only replayed to your absurd comment that a big city like Milan might be less interesting (culturally) than a nice city but much smaller like Lyon.....

Reading your points I can see your ignorance too as,you said, you saw mine,

well, I'm italian,I have friends there but I like Milan not only for it, but really 'cause ..... as in many other metropolis... there's a lot to do and...it's silly and useless to make a list.... but according to you and another couple of the forum there's not much to do

The fact I insist about Milan is because is the closest one and is more pratical to go for the week-ends.......but I see i'm obliged to specified....

I leave to me and to people I know any comments about my "negativity" to you, I answer.....whatever...

And by the way I'm here for the same reason you are, and the same of all of us ....job...... so, that kind of comment, keeping it for yourself......

regarding living in Italy or switzerland (even though was not this the discussion) of course people would say switzerland....maybe you forgot..???!!!.... that in the most of any other european country we have a job crisis.......and what about in your country.....

People here work to make money for a long vacation to Italy,or any other beautiful place around the world

baci