Lyra, I somehow missed this fabulous news.

I'm quite jealous, and in 1890 you have the best guide to Geneva possible.

It's less than 4 1/2 hours from Milan by train, you know . . .

Well you know, one of the things I've been obsessing about is where can I go by train at weekends. Milan's on the list...

Ah, Lyon is much closer (and has better food). And then there is Bourg en Bresse and all of Burgundy, and Annecy, Chambery and the Savoie, and the 3 1/2 hour TGV to Paris, and . . .

And there are a number of places on the line between Geneve and Milan worth seeing, including Montreux and Stresa on Lago Maggiore). And then there are the places you can go by boat, which is ace.

Don't laugh but actually the Black Forest is kind of at the top of the list for some reason.

I'm hoping to entice my friend Margaret out for some longer trips too, we have had good times doing the visiting-cities-in-Europe-museums-galleries-architecture-vodka thing.

Must remember am going for purpose of study not gallivanting. Must remember.

Yeah no offence to the people living there, but I was disappointed by Milan. Then an Italian told me it was like the Birmingham of Italy - basically it's an industrial city (not that Brum is now but). If you have that in your mind you'll not be so disappointed.

I think there would be other cities that would be higher on my list. Grenoble for example - I quite liked it.

You can thank the RAF for a good bit of Milan's lost "charm".

It's commercial, not industrial.

Oh, and Lyra, Freiburg has an excellent university and is the perfect place from which to explore the Black Forest (as well as being a lovely town in and of itself).

3-4 hours from Geneva.

That sounds perfect. I could pretend to want to use their library.

And then I can ask for my money back because they all speak German.

ursus - yes of course I meant commercial.

Also the war didn't occur to me as the reason. Still on the bright side, it's still a fair lot nicer than Coventry. The Luftwaffe are welcome anytime to come back and have another go at flattening it.

You also have a night train to Venice from Geneva, look out when the sun rises around 7am in Venice and you can roll in the city of the Doges with the sun rising on the laguna, behind Venice. It's quite something...

For starters, a simple return journey from Geneva to Montreux on a nice day will offer you what is one of the world great panoramas, with vineyards in the hinterland, the lake and the Alps in the background. It did inspire a few people to put pen to paper...

Even closer, bus to Veyrier, a short walk to the cable lift station and go up the Saleve, the small cliff mountain just outside Geneva. On a clear day, you have one hell of a view from up there. In autumn, when Geneva is under grey skies, you can enjoy the sun and the "mer de brouillard" covering the city and the lake, with mountains popping out of it like islands.

Or go on top of the cathedral in the Old Town for a great view of the city.

A few years ago I stopped for the night in a camping site near Montreux. It was beautiful. I got up at dawn and went swimming in the lake, it was so gorgeous.

We arrived in Venice at dawn on our honeymoon (though we were on le Train Bleu from Nice).

It is without question one of the most glorious experiences of our lifetimes. Literally breath-taking.

How wonderful. I love night trains but it's not something I've done often enough. Still, from now on, what's to stop me (aside from £££ of course).

You need to start thinking in CHF.

You also need to get a rail card; no one in Switzerland pays full price for transport, and all of the fares are set up to soak tourists looking for Heidi. Ms ursus has one because it saves her serious money on travelling between Italy and Germany, even though she rarely stops in Switzerland and we've never lived there. And we all have Swiss lake passes, which can pay for themselves in an afternoon.

On doit etre malin . . .

Well this all sounds rather bloody good.

Bless you TT. I'm sure the words 'at last' spring to mind eh...