Between movies and little entertaining video snippets, SwissAir shows the progress of the flight. They show a map with the airplane's current position and a red line traces the path so far. Other screens show altitude, current local time, expected arrival time, distance to destination and time remaining until we land. It's quite cool, but I'm happy to find that I don't pay much attention to the display. Watching the miles slowly tick away could be maddening. The current map shows a close-up of Ireland and we're now passing just over the southwest tip.
Overall, I'd call the trip to Geneva a successful one. I think I learned more about European life in general than Switzerland specifically, but I'll have to make a few return visits to the continent to verify that. I also learned a lot about how I like to travel, which is a good thing. I was happiest when I was in the small towns. In Geneva, I felt compelled to walk, explore, move, see, find things, and generally couldn't sit still. It wasn't until I got out into the countryside that I was able to sit still, read, and just be.
My preflight impressions of Switzerland turned out to be fairly accurate in certain respects, especially regarding the people. They certainly walked much too quickly. There was an air of haughtiness about the people which may be specific to Geneva ("a very cosmopolitan city," according to Helena) or may be endemic to the whole of Europe. The city was clean, organized, efficient, and, well... orderly. I never saw a homeless person or even a panhandler. The buskers were very talented. One place my preconception erred, though, was in the art. There was certainly no naivete in what I saw. Of course, the only art I saw was in the Chateau St. Germaine, home of the eroticism and horror of HR Giger.
My ideas about what makes for good travel need some revision, I think. It's not enough to just show up in a city and expect to uncover its secret tidbits. Next time I go anywwhere, I'm definitely packing a guidebook. I discovered how repetitive a trip can be without a few suggestions from people in the know. Just flipping through Margaret's lonely planet for a few minutes uncovered a wealth of unknown possibilities -- from "semi-legal alternative nightclubs" to a restaurant that promises a live show that "brings the Alps into Geneva."
So the verdict... well there isn't one yet. It seems the jury is still out. I guess I'll just have to go back again.