Geneva in twenty photos

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Geneva, Switzerland - Saturday December 4 - Sunday December 5 2010

I think the image speaks for itself; I have now travelled to Switzerland twice, and it is truly a beautiful country! The food is good, the people are friendly, the streets are full of history - I know the same can be said for a million other places, but there is just something magical about Switzerland that keeps me wanting to go back for more!

I could write an 800-word blog entry on my trip to Geneva, but instead I've decided to showcase Geneva in all its glory in 20 photos or less; after all, photos are worth a thousand words! ;)

ONE

Central Perk's Geneva location!

TWO

Canadian crêpes on the menu! - eek! look at those prices! And those are in Swiss Francs which are worth more than our dollar! It's no surprise that Geneva is ranked as the  4th most expensive city in the world!

THREE

I love the upside down Christmas tree decorations inside the Jardin des Crêpes restaurant!

FOUR

Geneva International Christmas Market

FIVE

Cité du Temps: a public exhibition centre focusing on the world of time and home to a permanent exhibit of Swatch watches - Geneva is the birthplace of Switzerland's watch industry

SIX

Pont du Mont-Blanc

SEVEN

Les Délices: Voltaire's residence between 1755-1760

EIGHT

A Pac-Man light installation in honour of the video game's 30th anniversary highlighted the Geneva Festival of Lights and Trees

NINE

Temple de la Fusterie & Geneva International Christmas Market

TEN

"Broken Chair" - located in front of the United Nations Office, this sculpture symbolises opposition to land mines and cluster bombs, and acts as a reminder to politicians and others visiting Geneva  

ELEVEN

The United Nations Office at Geneva

TWELVE

Statue of Gandhi in front of the Ariana Museum

THIRTEEN

Swiss Chocolate Shop window

FOURTEEN

St. Peter's Cathedral

FIFTEEN

La Maison Tavel - Home to the wealthy Tavel family in the 16th century; it is the oldest standing private house in Geneva

SIXTEEN

Cannons located at the Old Arsenal

SEVENTEEN

Canada is aptly covered in snow!

EIGHTEEN

Two of Geneva's most famous landmarks, the Flower Clock (pictured) and the Jet d'Eau were out-of-order; the Jet d'Eau, due to seasonal maintenance, and the Flower Clock, due to vandalism

NINETEEN

Seagulls perched on a snow covered roof; Pont du Mont-Blanc in the background

TWENTY

I've been told I look like Nana Mouskouri, you be the judge!

The last, and twentieth photo is not of Geneva, but of me and Greek singer Nana Mouskouri. While my roommates and I were eating dinner at the San Remo restaurant, our waiter came up to me and said that I looked like a Greek singer, her name, escaped him at the moment, but I knew exactly who he was talking about. When I first started working at Metro in the summer of 2009, one of the butchers asked me if I was Greek because he said I reminded him of a famous Greek singer, Nana Mouskouri. After my shift that night, I went home to google her name as I had never heard it before; she emerged on the music scene in the late 1950s. The waiter eventually remembered the Greek singer's name and it was Nana Mouskouri, just as I had suspected! Then, later that evening, just as we were about to leave, a man who had been seated at a nearby table with his son, came up to me and asked me if I spoke Spanish. Thinking that perhaps he needed directions, I answered no, but added that Corina, who is from Argentina does. Turns out he didn't need my help; he just wanted to tell me that I reminded him of a friend of his from Mexico! Unfortunately, he didn't have his phone on him, otherwise he would have showed me a photo of her. So now, not only do I resemble Nana Mouskouri, I also have a Mexican dopplegänger!

And there you have it folks, Geneva, as promised, in twenty photos or less! Let me put this into perspective for you; I took a grand total of 410 photographs that weekend, so narrowing that list down to just 20 took a lot of work! But it was fun, and I enjoyed looking back upon that trip. As I have already mentioned, I have visited Switzerland since that weekend (spent NYE in Zürich), and I'm already thinking about going back again! - I've caught the travel bug and the only remedy it seems is more travelling!! :)

-A.

*All photos were taken by me and edited using picnik.com

p.s. Happy Birthday to Johnny, the best cat in the whole world!!!! <3

My little bugger is 11-years-old today!