Wow. What an incredibly busy, exhausting, and exhilarating four days. At the moment, the whole group is on a charter bus traveling from Geneva to Basel, where we’ll spend the next week and a half. I’m getting my first look at the Swiss countryside. It isn’t exactly the idyllic countryside perpetuated on cheese labels, but good god the Alps are gorgeous. They just dominate the skyline as far as the eye can see and are by far and away the largest mountains I have ever seen.
I have never been anywhere as expensive as Geneva. The narrow, winding streets are lined with wonderful shops, restaurants, and hotels, but if you’re actually going to buy, eat, or sleep anywhere you need to be prepared to spend a fair amount of money. Everyone in the group was just in shock at how quickly money flew out of our pockets.
That said, you can’t walk through the city without continually stopping to stare with wonder at the beauty all around. The lake itself deserves a day of admiration. Crystal clear, surrounded by mountains, the city from the view of the lake feels like a hidden island of beauty and culture, separate and protected from the rest of the world. At night a string of small lights runs above the shore, forming a wonderful backdrop to the grand, illuminated hotels and the signs atop every building facing the lake.
Like any good, old European city, every neighborhood is accessible by either the bus or walking. It’s very refreshing after the Twin cities that need a bike or car in order to get anywhere. Unfortunately, our hostel was located in the roughest neighborhood in Geneva, but it was still much better than the rough areas of many American cities and ten minute walk brought us to the luxurious Old Town neighborhood.
In terms of activities, our overnight flight into the country Saturday night left most people pretty shot for Sunday, but we still managed to get out and explore. On Sundays, almost everything in the country is closed, so we walked the boulevard along the lake with many families and couples and sampled some offerings of the few cafes open. On Monday, we visited the World Health Organization (WHO), on Tuesday we went to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Office of Migration (IOM), and UNAIDS, and today we visited the United Nations (UN) headquarters in Geneva at the Palais des las Nationes. All of these organizations are located within sight of each other in Geneva, which made visiting all of them very easy. Overall, Geneva’s a great city to spend a few days, but just come prepared to spend a bit of money.
Some pictures I took...
The view along the shore of Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva
Beautiful buildings in Geneva
The mountains behind Geneva
No comments:
Post a Comment