Journey to Geneva

Switzerland has many different sections. The first part that we explored (Appenzell) had German influence (street = "strasse"), because it was close to Germany. When we left the Lake Como area, we passed Swiss cities like Lugano and Locarno with Italian influence because they were close to Italy. Now we are visiting Geneva, which seems very French (street = "rue"), because it is close to France!

As we drove into Geneva at sunset, we were astounded by the beauty of the distant snow-capped mountains across Lake Geneva draped in pink alpenglow lighting. We later learned that the most prominent snow-capped mountain we saw, which provides a backdrop for Geneva, was the lovely Mont Blanc, which is in France.

We pulled into the Hotel N'Vy ("envy") so late on Wednesday that there wasn't time to do anything except unpack and order room service.

The next morning (Thursday), Brock found time for a picturesque run along Lake Geneva. We then cleaned up and walked along the lake. We were blessed with an amazing sunny, warm day which we overdressed for. We think it got up to 74 degrees!

This is what it looks like to walk along the lake:

There is a large fountain in the lake behind me:

Our destination was the United Nations! This was maybe 2 miles from our hotel.

Across from the United Nations there was a sculpture signifying people who have lost limbs due to land mines:

We wanted to take a tour of the United Nations, but the next tour didn't start until 2:00 p.m., so we grabbed some lunch at this hotel next door:

Then it was time to check in for the tour!

Our tour guide was German, but he spoke perfect English. There were people on our tour from Mexico, India, Korea, all over - a true United Nations! The guide explained that the United Nations in Geneva works on human rights issues, as opposed to the United Nations in New York City, which deals with political issues. The hot issue being dealt with right now is refugees.

There are 193 member nations, and 6 main languages used. We saw several large meeting rooms; this one was in the "new" building:

This next conference room was renovated by the country of Spain, and an artist from the island of Majorca created the ceiling art:

Here is a close-up of the ceiling:

This next conference room, in the Art Deco-style "old" building, had stunning art on the walls depicting the things that bring us together, and the things that tear us apart:

Here is our German guide, who did an excellent job:

This large vase, a gift from Japan, depicts a view of the world from space, and the rug underneath it was also a gift from one of the persian countries. This is one of the largest and most beautiful rugs we've ever seen! Throughout our tour, we saw gifts of art from many nations.

The grounds outside are lovely, and there are peacocks roaming the grounds; we saw 3! Note Mont Blanc in the background:

Here is Brock in front of a sign depicting the flags of all 193 member countries. He is holding the Hebgen Lake Yacht Club flag:

We thoroughly enjoyed the tour (and gift shop), and we came away inspired.

Later, we took a sunset boat cruise across Lake Geneva before dinner.

There were many sailboats out, taking advantage of the warm weather:

There is a swan behind me:

Here are some lovely sunset shots:

We had dinner at the Kempinski Hotel's Italian Restaurant, "Il Vero"; it was excellent and expensive!

Geneva is a very expensive city; we need to leave before we run out of money!