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. 

 

Walking in a Winter Wonderland (Part I)

I could actually divide this post about Oviedo in different categories:
- According to the different kinds of sun light I witness in only 3 hours (at the begin it was almost raining, then it was raining, then the thick clouds went away and only the white and fluffy clouds stayed, afterwards the sun started playing peekaboo with me, then it was actually shinning up in the sky and surprisingly warm, and when I got back to my hotel room the sky was getting dark grey and I could barely see the snowed mountains that “frame” the city);
- According to the different types of architecture of the city because Oviedo has it all (there are glass balconies like in A Coruña, some more medieval made from wood like in Burgos, there are also art deco buildings, even a megalomaniac building from Calatrava, and there was a group of colorful “lego buildings” just in front of my hotel that really inspired me);
- Or even according to the different statues (they were so many and so different)…

But finally I decided to organize the pictures by order. From the begin until the end of my long work/fun day in Oviedo. Because the city has it all, I figured that if I just drop them by order you would actually have the sense of how it truly is, a pot-pourri from everything. I also decided to comment only some of them because I believe the rest are pretty self-explanatory and this way the post is not so heavy. Enjoy the ride in this wintry (and very complete) wonderland!  

 Statue number 1

 Statue number 2

Statue number 3 (from Botero). And counting…

According to the locals Asturias, the province where Oviedo is, has the most beautiful sights from the Santiago Path. And that is something that I’ll confirm you in a couple of months, since on March 24^th  I´ll leave Madrid towards Asturias, this time around to walk the last 200 kms from the Path. I’m so so excited. They will be 9 days walking an average of 20 kms per day, but I don’t care. I really need this spiritual journey and to “live” more the deep Spain.

A statue that is also a homage to the travelers!

Apart from this megalomaniac building from Calatrava in the very center of the city, not far from Oviedo there’s an entire city projected by Oscar Niemeyer. What the authorities tried to do with these both was to replicate the model and the success that the construction of the Guggenheim in Bilbao represented to that city (exactly as in Valencia the authorities tried to do the same, using the Ciudad de las Artes as a “bait”,  and in Zaragoza they tried to do it with the Expo 2008 and the buildings from Zaha Adid among others renown architects). Nevertheless, in all those cities (Oviedo included) they failed! The projects were super expensive to the local authorities and to the Spanish government and they all have a much inferior occupation rate than the expected. A pity, actually! But, even if they’re not as used as it was expected, the buildings are there to be appreciated… and photographed! 

The already mentioned “lego buildings”!

Room with a view…

At the end of the day my hosts took me to dinner in a very typical restaurant. They had a lot of local products and they were all very delicious. Apparently, Asturias is the Spanish region with more restaurants and hotels with the quality certification stamp. Almost 1.500 establishments have this stamp!!! I’m sure the restaurant where we went was one of them because the food was great and the place very typical. 

So typical that in the floor they had sawdust, just like in the old times. Do you know why they have it?! Because in the old times, everyone used to drink the Sidra from the same glass. And in order to the diseases not to pass on, people used to leave a little bit of Sidra in the glass and through it to the floor making the alcohol pass by the side of the glass from which the former person drank, this way the “bugs” would be killed. If the floor didn’t have this sawdust and people constantly threw the drink there, it would be always wet and people might fall… and in that case the remedy would be worse than the disease, literally!

The snow on my way back…