“Big Hair, Big
Science & Emily Explore Geneva”
On a warm spring day in Geneva, a young adult named Emily
waited excitedly on the terrace of her apartment for a friend to visit from
Croatia. As a taxi pulled up, she squealed with excitement, and out came Big
Hair, Big Science (first spotted by her hair). Their big embrace marked the
beginning of a four-day long journey, filled with excitement, disappointment
and giggles.
The first evening was spent exploring the Geneva waterfront.
Walking from the train station to the waterfront, the friends noticed that
Geneva upholds the two main Swiss stereotypes – Swiss chocolate and Swiss
watches – as the streets were lined with watch shops and chocolate shops. How
delicious, and prompt!
As they neared the waterfront, the first site was spotted –
Geneva’s famous Jet d’Eau. Descriptively named, the Jet d’Eau is a big fountain
that shoots out of Lac Leman (or Lake Geneva as it is known to foreigners). Oh
the excitement over a stream of water!
The next day, the friends had a tightly scheduled day. First
a trip to the Palais des Nations, the UN headquarters, for a tour at noon, and
then on to the Old Town to explore and visit the Patek Phillipe watch museum,
concluding with a dinner at La Plancha, a nice restaurant in the middle of the
eatery district. But when the friends arrived at the Palais des Nations, they
were greatly disappointed. Despite being twenty minutes early, the tour was
already full! And their tightly packed schedule did not allow for waiting
around for the next tour which happened two hours later. Instead, the friends
spent some time taking pictures of the UN from the outside, and of the symbolic
Broken Chair located outside the UN. Would Big Hair, Big Science have the
chance to tour the UN in the two short days she would be in Geneva? Only well-scheduled time would tell.
After spending a considerable amount of time exploring the
beautiful old town, a very silly Emily was freezing because it was raining and
much too cold for a dress, so the friends had to make the tough decision to
skip the watch museum and head home to get changed, before heading back into
town for dinner. But not before taking some fun pictures of the famous
Reformation Wall!
Dinner that night was perfect, the food was delicious, and
Emily was finally warm. The friends also decided upon a schedule for the next
day that would allow them to still visit the Palais des Nations, see Big Hair,
Big Science’s number one attraction, CERN, and go to the Musee d’histoire des
sciences for the Nuit des Mussees that was happening in Geneva that weekend.
The next morning the girls awoke early to make it to the
Palais des Nations for 10am, to ensure a spot on the 10:30 tour. The tour was
quite worth it, as the friends learned about the symbolism of the artwork and
architecture of the Palais, and had a sneak peak into some of the impressive
meeting rooms. The tour also made Emily feel like a baller, because her WHO
badge got her in as a “staff” for free! Three cheers for interning!
And this one:
And this one:
After a few magical hours at CERN, the friends went back to
Emily’s apartment for dinner and to relax a bit (ahem, allow Big Hair, Big
Science to cope with her excitement), and then headed out to the Musee d’histoire
des sciences. But first, an unexpected stop on the way! The girls stumbled upon
Les conservatoire et jardin botaniques, Geneva’s botanical gardens! Here they
discovered a large beautiful park, with so much waterfowl (including flamingos
and a black swan) that it was Emily’s turn to be overly excited.
When they arrived at the Musee d’histoire des sciences after
their short detour, the girls found out it was a 10chf admission fee, but that
Sunday was free (so naturally they decided to go back on Sunday). Instead they
admired the Pearle du Lac park, and took some romantic pictures during sunset.
The next morning they visited the Musee d’histoire des
sciences. What an interesting old building it was, with some pretty nifty
artefacts.
And with the end of their morning in Geneva, it was time for
the friends to part. A quick goodbye, and Big Hair, Big Science was back on the
train to the Geneva Airport, and Emily was back on a train to her apartment in
the suburbs. The wonderful weekend of laughter, excitement and friends was over
and had left the girls with heartwarming memories, and 800 photographs. A true
success.