The Neutral Country

Spring break was so chock full of voyages and visitors that I have to travel back in time three times for all of you patient readers. First up, a weekend in Geneva, Switzerland. And my apologies for the wait!
We decided to plan a surprise weekend trip for my roommate, Oonagh. None of us have ever been to Geneva, so we figured why the hell not? (Well in the city that is; my fun times in the airport don't count) Plus, it's only 2 hours away by train. It sounded like a perfect surprise birthday trip (although Oonagh still found out!) We were off to catch the 6 am train Saturday morning. Silly me thinking practically...oh it's the cheapest ticket AND we'd get a full day there. More like the prime opportunity to snap photos of each other  passed out with our mouths open. Once we arrived, we didn't even have to show our passports! (Take that for homeland security!) We then walked towards Lake Geneva to discover the city. We found the famous Jet d'eau as well as the bank section. We instantly began questioning who in the crowd around us was filthy rich.

Jet D'eau

We visited the Cathedrale de St. Pierre where John Calvin (one of the famous Protestant Reformation leaders) held debates and frequented. After traveling around France and seeing hundreds of churches, I must say that this one did not impress. True, it's Protestant history explains the plain tabernacle and simple decor, but I was let down a bit. Well, that is until we ventured down into the archeological museum beneath the present cathedral. We learned about the history of the three different churches that once sat there, dating back to the 4th century during the Roman Empire. It's quite amazing to see stones still lined up from hundreds of years ago. Better yet, to think who was in charge of the construction and how long it took to move the rocks around to make one single wall.

After exploring old Geneva for a bit, we decided to book it to the United Nations before the public tours closed for the day. We made it there exactly when they were starting to close up and luckily they let us in through security. We decided to take the French tour and use our brains a bit. Good thing we did because the English tour was ridiculously crowded and he talked way too slow that we probably would have fallen asleep (like we did when we went to take a five minute break in a park earlier that day). The tour was definitely worth the moolah and my motivation to learn more languages has increased drastically since learning all about the meetings there. There are five official languages: English, French, Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese (I just have to learn 2 more!) They are currently debating the addition of Portuguese because of Brazil's growing influence on world politics.

Where the interpreters sit

The oh so majestic looking U.N.

Another fun fact, each country has donated artwork to the U.N. building. My favorite was the roof in the Human Rights meeting room. Overseen by the Spanish artist, Michael Barcelo, the ceiling appears upside down with its seafloor look. It took him almost two years and 20 million euros to complete (making you question where they really put their money). Another noteable piece was the Chinese painting in one of the hallways. No matter where you stand, the temple always remains in the middle. It reminded me of those optical illusion books we had in elementary school, where you start off with the book right below your nose and then you slowly pull it away to see objects popping out at you. Finally, the U.N. in Geneva has a lot of history since it originally started as the League of Nations. Thus, a lot of the inner decor in the older building still carries the symbols as well as the overall art deco appearance. I could definitely envision the outfits and hairdos as I walked through the monstrous hallways. After an amazing tour we were exhausted. A day well spent for sure!

Amazing...over 300 paint colors

League of Nations (LN) or  Société des nations (SN) in French

The 5 Founding Fathers

War

Peace

Finally, on Sunday we headed to the Red Cross Museum for more history fun. The Red Cross was founded by Henry Dunant after witnessing the Battle of Solferino in 1859 (in modern day Italy). His book, A Memory of Solferino, led to the creation of the Red Cross in 1863 and in 1901 he won the first Nobel Peace Prize! This organization quickly gained popularity and importance. In 1929 the Red Crescent was officially recognized by the Muslim countries in Northern Africa and the Middle East. I never really thought about how this organization came about nor what it specifally does so it was a very informative hour.

House where the first meetings were held for the Red Cross

1000 out of 1665 of these children in Rwanda were found thanks to the Red Cross and these pictures!!

Creepy postcard

Henry Dunant's prizes (Nobel Peace Prize in the middle)

We also spent quite a lot of time transferring from boat to boat on Lake Geneva. The sun was shining, the swans were out and about, and Spring Break had officially started. Life couldn't get any better. Well, it would have been nice if the Franc wasn't so expensive, but what's a traveling girl to do? Sit around and watch the world pass by? I think not!!!