Diary
Dates: 24-26 th June
Visa Process: None
Visit Purpose: Visiting Geneva university
Fun Facts
The flag is 1:1 (as you can see!) and is one of the only ones like that – the vatican has one but it’s proportions don’t seem to be defined.
The town / country is crazy levels of indeoendance and creativity. The best chocolate shops don’t export, croissants can have pistachio, there’s no euro, no EU, no capital, unconventional flag.
Capital: Bern (de facto) but officially none
Population: 9m Country || 200k Geneva || 400k Zurich
Land area: 41k km2
GDP (PPP): $0.881 trillion
Per capita (PPP): $97,000
Note: PPP is adjusted GDP to make comparisons easier (difference in cost of living etc)
Diary
24th June
I was looking forward to coming back to Geneva, Switzerland, as the only time I had been here was as a backpacker on a (small) budget. Switzerland is not the place to come with limited means it turns out. Everything is expensive. It’s very fitting that all the major watch manufacturers of the luxury world are based here. They are also a great example of how, if you can afford it, everything works how it should.
One of the first things I noticed is how beautiful the place is. With lush greenery to the mountains in the background. I would love to hike here one day.
My first day was action-packed with a tour and a museum visit. I really wanted to make the most of this stop as both my flight and the hotel was covered by the university that I came to visit. My first tour, of course, was about swiss chocolate. The final piece of chocolate art was a tiny cauldron with 1602…
In 1602, during an attempted invasion by the Duke of Savoy, a woman named Catherine Cheynel, known as Mère Royaume, famously defended Geneva by pouring boiling soup from a cauldron onto the attackers. This event is commemorated annually in Geneva with the festival called L'Escalade, where chocolate cauldrons are smashed to celebrate the city's victory.
The museum I visited was the Patek Philippe watch museum which was the perfect example of Swiss engineering at a price that few of us can afford if we ever want to pay off our house but it was a beautiful collection of everything horlage-y.
“A beautiful collection of everything horlage-y”
Along the way, I found out that there are many water fountains around the city. Locally, I’m told, they are called the Evian fountains as they supposedly bottle the water from the mountains and give back to Geneva through free water around the city. It certainly tasted good, I can tell you that for sure.
“It certainly tasted good,
I can tell you that for sure.”
Photo Album
