I had the opportunity to go to Switzerland for business in late May, right before Memorial Day. I am just now getting the opportunity to post some pictures of our trip. My brother Dan ( and his wife Beth), my Dad (and my Mom), and I attended VitaFoods EU 2012, a tradeshow for health and nutrition ingredients. Inga and Kate stayed home in Ohio.
I arrived early on Monday after flying all night. Dan and Beth did not arrive until the late afternoon, and Dad and Mom did not arrive until before dinner. I took the opportunity to explore the city a bit.
Looking up the Rhone towards Lake Geneva
Neat sculpture in old Geneva
Looking up a narrow street towards the stairs to the Cathedral and Old Geneva.
Looking back down the same street. On the right was a really neat antique scientific instruments shop; I wanted to buy something but the pieces were hundreds and hundred of Swiss Francs, and the shop was closed. Actually, most everything was closed or closed early on Lundi (Monday). That was the hard part of getting used to Geneva; there was a shopping district very close to the old Geneva city with designer Rolex and Gucci etc stores, and a huge 4 story toyshop, and lots and lots of shops, but almost everything closed at 6pm every day. 8pm was the late hours on Thursday. Very odd to American sensibilities.
St. Pierre Cathedral is high on a hill above the lake. You can climb to the top of the spire and look out over the city and Lake Geneva. It was closed.
The bottom of the Old Geneva Prison.
You can see the Carousel in the foreground and Lake Geneva in the background.
It was overcast the first day and not great for picture taking. The hotel we stayed in was the Hotel de la Paix, in the far right of the large block of buildings in the center of the picture. It was very old, but very nice.
When my parents arrived, we went to the concierge and Dan asked for a recommendation for a good place to eat dinner. He said he wanted something simple; not too complex. They recommended something, and we set off. We went to a restaurant that was absolutely packed; the waitress literally shoehorned us into a table, pulling the table out from the wall, seating Mom and Beth on the bench against the wall, then pushing the table in close to them, and scooting chairs up for the rest of us. When we asked to see a menu, the waitress was very puzzled and brusque; there was no menu except for the wine. How would you like your steak cooked? Rare? Medium Rare? Well done? She brought us a salad, some wine. and all you can eat Steak and Pomme Frites. It was good but very fattening. We soon learned that the style of restaurant called 'Entrecôte' meant steak and fries and little else. I can say it was simple, but it wasn't quite what Dan was looking for. The best part is is that a few nights earlier Mom and Dad had eaten the exact same style of restaurant in Geneva: Steak and Pomme Frites. I made jokes about Entrecôte the rest of the trip.
It was a short 5-10 minute train ride from the main Geneva train station to the Geneva Airport and Convention Center, Palexpo. It was also free. Palexpo was actually quite a long walk from the station, and Tuesday it rained very hard. We showed up to the convention in our suit and ties, absolutely soaked.
The main platform in the Geneva main station.
A double decker car. The Swiss Railway is called the SBB CFF FFS: they get French, German, and Italian acronyms all out in the same name! The newer, more expensive, long-haul trains like these (this one was probably headed to Zurich) were whisper quiet: they could be traveling at 60 miles an hour and you could whisper to the person across from you. I had the opportunity to ride one of these to the airport: very cool.
