UN

The same way not many people can say they have the privilege of, only a week after visiting the New York Guggenheim Museum, be able to visit the Bilbao one (like mentioned in here) not much can say that only a couple of weeks after being in the United Nations building in New York they can visit the Genève one neither. But I do. And this time around I didn’t miss the opportunity to go inside, like I missed in New York. Well, to be completely true, is not that I missed my opportunity in New York is that I couldn’t because they were having some important meetings and any tour was allowed during my time in the city. 

But in Genève everything went smoothly. It wasn’t the easiest thing in the world, they ask you for a lot of documentation before letting you in, but I finally got in. And got my own badge! How cool is that?! I already have one from the European Parliament, that I got in 2010 when during my interrail I visit my friend Gisela in Brussels and she took me to the Parliament to lunch. And now I have a new one from the UN to add to my collection! 

It was my friend Connie, that lived in Genève and is a huge huge fan of the city, who recommended me the visit and I have to thank her, it was very interesting and I learned a lot. For instance, did you know that the area where the UN Palace was build was a property of the Revilliod de la Rive and when they offer that piece of land to the city of Genève they impose three conditions: first, that the patriarch from the family could be buried there; second, that the park would be open so the people from the city could visit it whenever they wanted and third, that their peacocks could still live there. And so it was... When the UN moved their headquarters there they kept the peacocks that, as you can see by one of the Pictures bellow, still walk freely around the park. 

Another thing that really interested me (and surprised me) was the quantity of Spanish artists involved in the decoration of the meeting’ rooms. To be more precise, of Catalan artists. In one of the rooms Josep María Sert was the responsible for the beautiful paintings on the walls and ceiling. As you can see by the pictures bellow, that might look tremendously familiar, he was also the responsible for the decoration of the lobby of the Rockefeller Center in New York (which you saw already in here). And in other room Miquel Barceló created beautiful and colorful stalactites. Two Catalans, two works of art in the heart of the United Nations. Well done! 

For these reasons and many more (all the visits are guided and the groups are always small so you can place all the questions you want and take all your doubts about the UN labor and departments) when in Genève you shouldn’t miss the opportunity to visit the United Nations. Even if you leave it for the very last minute, like I did… And that was all from Genève. 

And from Switzerland. 

 

More from Genève...

But there’s much more from Genève, a beautiful lake (that you won’t see featured in here because in an effort to avoid taking so many pictures with the LOMO fish eye – which according to my mum is a shame because later in life I’ll look back to my pictures from this phase and regret having taken absolutely all of them with my fish eye lens – I forgot to take pictures from the lake at all), white mountains surrounding the city that looked as beautiful during my mid-morning landing as during my early-morning take of, a small but yet very complete botanical garden (with tropical plants, as you can see by the previous post and adorable animals), great and very wealthy looking shops (which you won’t see featured in here neither because I didn’t want to look like a freak paparazzi disturbing the fancy people with the shoots from my camera while they were calmly buying in Chanel, Bvlgari, Hermès, etc.) and the United Nations. Most important (which doesn’t mean that the United Nations itself didn’t impress me, because it did, so much that it deserves a post for its own) the square in front of the United Nations, with the big sculpture of the chair without one leg, reminding us how armful anti-personnel mines can be… 

Genève, seriously?!

Indeed, in the city of Genève (yes, that Genève, in Switzerland, where it snows and it’s super cold during the most part of the year) I found this little piece of tropical paradise…

All thanks to this!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland (Part II)

But the real Winter Wonderland is, of course, Switzerland, where I was last November. The idea behind this quick escape was simple: I had some spare time, found cheap flights with Swiss Air from Madrid to Genève, didn’t know the country and had some friends in different cities which I meant to visit for quite a while so… off I went.

The first day was spent visiting Genève, the second Luzern, the third Zurich and the last day the… United Nations, that is actually in a spare category. During the next couple of days I’ll post the pictures from the different cities I visited, starting from Zurich not only because of the pressure the friends I visited there are making (guilty as charged!) but also because it was the coziest I ever felt in a winter landscape. Specially in the afternoon we went to Péclard. That really felt as a Winter Wonderland, with the hot chocolate, the Christmas carols and the love of my friends: Judith and Sandro. Guys, I apologize for having taken so long to post the pictures and I’m really looking forward to visit you in the Summer, to see the light and bright side of this Zurich and… go down the river as you promised we would!

The night I arrived was received with the tastiest Fondue ever!

Hummmm, how creamy!!! And, as you can see by the picture above, served in the traditional way: with bread, pickles, little cherry tomatoes and corn cobs, white wine, tea and starch, to avoid the cheese from becoming thick.

The next morning, before we started trudging the city, we went to check the view from terrace of Judith and Sandro’s building. Amazing, almost 360º over Zurich, and what an amazing place to sunbath and to make barbecues in the Summer. Even if they didn’t promise me that we will swim down the river, just seeing this terrace and imagining the possibilities that it hides would already convinced to come back in a couple of months, when the weather will be better. 

What you see at the distance, looking almost like a greenhouse, is actually a swimming pool. Apparently Zurich is the city with more swimming pools in the entire world. These swimming pools are directly in the lake and in the river and when people dive, they’re actually diving into the lake or river. Nevertheless, due to the whole wooden structure they can also sunbath calmly and save their stuff in the specific dress rooms and… during the night, they can party in there. At night millions of light bulbs create the coolest environment to have some drinks and chat with your friends, while you have your feet inside the lake/river water. 

At one side the lake, at the other the river… and us in the middle!

Despite being the largest city in Switzerland, home of several important banks and companies, Zurich still has that little town charm. Especially during Christmas time. 

Inside Péclard. Next time you’ll be in Zurich take my advice and DON’T MISS IT. Apart from the fact that it is beautiful, one of those coffee shops from the old times, it has a huge variety of chocolates, cakes, teas and pastries and they’re all delicious. I must confess that I’m not a chocolate person, but being in Switzerland and not having chocolates seemed like a crime. So, when Judith and Sandro took me to Péclard, I decided to stop counting the calories of everything and taste it all with no regards nor regrets!

While we were waiting for our afternoon snack… Trying with my LOMO fish eye lens and the golden balls from the Christmas Tree that was next to us!

And now with Sandro as well…

Although Zurich is not a “tall” city (it barely has skyscrapers, nor a lot of buildings with towers), its tallest and older buildings are all together, almost if they were competing  (like the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building). 

Oh boy, the sun goes down early in this part of Europe. Especially during this time of the year!

But I think that Zurich looks even more beautiful with all the little lights on. 

Mafie being silly in Zurich!

And Sandro and Judith also being silly in Zurich! 

There’s a bar on the top of that tower. But that isn’t the most interesting view from Zurich. The most interesting is the one we saw from the restaurant/bar/lounge of the Prime Tower, an office building that also houses a hotel and a privileged food and drink’s area on its 35^th floor!

Do you want to guess what this is?!

I’ll let you know because I’m sure you’ll never ever guess it right. It is a Police Station! Cool, ahn?! 

The tram railways and the Hauptbahnhof at the distance. I loved the means of transportation in Zurich. Actually not only in Zurich! From Genève to Luzern, from Luzern to Zurich and from Zurich back to Genève I traveled with the SBB and they were incredible (and also incredibly expensive). Always arrived sharp, are clean and comfortable and the people that work in there are quite correct. Not super nice, but I actually prefer it this way… less talk and more efficiency. And, either we think about Swiss clocks, Swiss banks or Swiss trains, we always arrive to the same conclusion: they’re perfect! 

The Hauptbahnhof or Central Station.

The “Protective Angel" hangs over the travelers’ heads in the lobby of the Zurich Central Station. It’s a work from the artist Niki de Saint Phalle and, in my opinion, has the perfect name.  And although this angel isn’t quite my style, here you go a cool piece of information: it was inspired by Gaudi’s art. Cool, isn’t it?!

Having a Kir Royale while enjoying the night view from the 35^th floor of the Prime Tower could have been the perfect way to end up this quick escape to Zurich… But, I couldn’t leave without seeing Les Halles. Because we were only a short walking distance way from it, after our cocktail in the Prime Tower Judith took me to see the funkiest and youngest place in all Zurich. We weren’t hungry not thirsty, but couldn’t miss the chance to visit this Bar-Tapas-Restaurant-Gourmet-Shop in the west part of city. It was definitely the cherry on the top of the cake and another reason to come back this Summer!