Genève, Suisse: Un monde en soi

The lack of blogging this month is due to a two week vacation that started February 25 and lasted until March 11! (French teachers really have it made when it comes to vacation time.)

For the first part of the vacation I spent a long weekend in Geneva, Switzerland with some friends.  Geneva’s slogan is “A world of its own” and it couldn’t be more true!  Geneva is a city surrounded by the Alps, includes Lake Geneva, is home to the UN, and every designer brand you can imagine- I have never seen a city like it!

Alice, Me, Amanda, Jim, and Laura in front of
the famous Water Sprout on Lake Geneva

This trip allowed for my first view of the Swiss Alps! I had to pinch myself every time I saw the beautiful mountains as I never truly got used to walking around and seeing the Alps pop up over the city buildings.  It was breath taking!  We could also see the top of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Western Europe.  It lies on the French/Italian border and both countries claim it.  (Obviously I’m siding with the French on where Mont Blanc is.)  As someone who is rarely around mountains seeing the Alps so frequently was one of my favorite parts of the weekend!

The Swiss Alps!

Lake Geneva is much bigger than I thought it would be!  So big that part of the city’s public transport even includes multiple boat lines across the lake! (In addition to buses and trams on land, of course.)  One day it was so windy it felt like we were at sea and not on a lake…a wave even spilled into the boat!  Needless to say we got more adventure from this public transport than anticipated!

Part of Lake Geneva with a rainbow over it

View of Lake Geneva (and the Swiss flag!)
from the back of a public transport boat

As cliché as it may be, there really were watches and Swiss Army knives everywhere!  Our hostel even sold Swiss Army knives which was slightly unnerving but honestly you couldn’t turn a corner without seeing these two items in a store window.

Swiss Army knives and watches galore

The streets of Geneva had designer brand stores everywhere.  No, seriously.  Name any designer brand and it could be found there.  I mean it is one of the most expensive cities in the world so I suppose it only makes sense that the products being sold are top quality.  I was going to take pictures of the designer stores but quickly realized that would mean I’d just be photographing almost every store….insane.

Geneva is hands down the most clean city I have visited.  The air smelled fresh, the streets were spotless, and the lake was crystal-clear.  I was constantly having to remind myself I was in a city!

Lake Geneva....not quite like the Charles River !

And it's home to many international organizations, including the UN!  Althought the Palais des Nations was closed due to meetings it was still really interesting to walking around the UN grounds and gardens.  Amazing to think of the various political figures who had been to this very same place!  The Poli Sci major in me was quite pleased.

Me outside of the UN

The UN

Aside from the sheer beauty and the delicious food (cheese and chocolate- Switzerland is like France and Belgium's love child!) one of the most remarkable aspects of the trip was how at ease I felt about traveling to another Francophone country-  it was a nice reminder to appreciate my French.

Words of the Post:  Un monde en soi -- A world of its own