I've been going around having mental arguments with the Geneva town planners (or whoever decides on new bulidings / new bars / opening hours etc) for quite a few months now... so I thought I'd throw it open for your thoughts...

Before I go on, can I just say that I like Geneva! This is not a Geneva rant... well... ok maybe it is a bit...

I can't be the only one the finds there to be a lack of 'life and soul' in Geneva for want of a better expression. I know that there are good bars, restaurants, live music etc - sure it exists, and if you look hard enough and plan ahead, you can find this stuff. My point is, if you don't want to plan ahead, to pick up every leaftlet and google every event - if you just want to be sponataneous, Geneva doesn't really have it. Or is it just me?

You can't just wander around and stumble upon an interesting bar, then another, then some live music, then a cute little cafe... and if you do happen to find some of these things, the chances of them being open are very slim (bars and restaurants closed on a saturday ...ermm...)

I guess after recent visits to Madrid, Paris, Montpellier etc I really feel this has been highlighted to me as there is just so much 'life' in those places. Coming back to Geneva after those trips has been hard...

Has Geneva always been like this? Do licensing laws etc make it hard for bars / cafes to have live music, / tables outside / open on a sunday?

I realise that winter is a bad time and I do remember from last summer that it's a different place when the sun shines and everyone heads to Bain de Pacquis :-) Perhpas it's just a case of the winter blues....!