Switzerland in the summer!

So my first work trip of my new job (same company, different project) is Geneva, Switzerland! Not bad! Arrived on Saturday morning and went straight to my grad school friend Farouk's flat and we were able to visit for a bit before he had to go to the airport for a meeting in Sao Paolo, Brazil. He works at the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations here in Geneva. He was my first friend at Harvard- we met on the very first day of orientation and ten years later I think it's great that we can meet in Geneva and catch up!

I met up with a colleague on Saturday night for a walk around Lake Geneva (Lac Leman)- one of the largest lakes in Western Europe and borders Switzerland and France and the source of the Rhone river. The weather was just divine- probably 75/80 and zero humidity. Walking along the lake on a Saturday afternoon seeing what seemed like all of Geneva out either swimming, picnic-ing, sitting by a lake-side cafe sipping wine. A lovely life. Paul and I ended our walk with a small glass of wine- 1 deciliter (they measure wine in deciliters here?!?!)- and water and then walked over to Old Town for dinner at a small cafe Soupcon (suspicion in French). Was fun and it was light out til about 10:00 p.m.- I suppose since we're so far north- on par with Newfoundland, Canada.

Back to Farouk's apartment that evening to rest up for a fun day in Bern, Switzerland, with colleague Paul the next day. Was quite proud of my ability to use the fabulous public transit system (bus mainly) to get to and from Farouk's without a map, my phone, or being able to speak French. :) Thank goodness for the internet though- helped me plan- though the Geneva Public Transit website is all in French too!

Off to Bern on Sunday. We went to the train station at the airport and for about $100 (not cheap) got a round-trip ticket to Bern. Trains left every half hour basically so we hopped on a pretty empty train and settled in for the two hour ride. Beautiful ride along the lake. Passing by these bucolic villages, vineyards (Swiss make some good wine), and the views of the mountains and the lake. Really nice. So why Bern? What's the big deal? Well....here's what Wikipedia says:

"According to the local legend, based on folk etymology, Berchtold V, Duke of Zähringen, the founder of the city of Bern, vowed to name the city after the first animal he met on the hunt, and this turned out to be a bear.... The structure of Bern's city center is largely medieval and in 1983 was recognised by UNESCO as a Cultural World Heritage Site. Perhaps its most famous sight is the Zytglogge (Bernese German for "Time Bell"), an elaborate medieval clock tower with moving puppets. It also has an impressive 15th century Gothic cathedral, the Münster, and a 15th century town hall. Thanks to 6 kilometers of arcades, the old town boasts one of the longest covered shopping promenades in Europe."

So that's why we went (really it was Paul's idea and I was just tagging along :). Our first stop the Zentrum Paul Klee (Paul Klee Museum). Don't know Paul Klee- we didn't really either but he's a contemporary of Kandinsky and big into cubism, expressionism, and realism. He's Swiss/German and grew up in Bern hence a museum dedicated to him here. We got our dose of modern art and then walked probably two miles back to town, through suburban Bern, and then by the alpine Aare River, and eventually to the bear pit! Yes, bear pit! Since the 16th century, the city has had a bear pit (the Bärengraben). Four bears live there- Bjork (female) and Finn and their two cubs (Berna and Ursina). Though the cubs will be moving to Romania I guess because at 18 months old the parents don't want them anymore- sad. But I guess they'll like Transylvania! I guess Paul and I were lucky to catch all four before they moved!

On to Einstein's apartment- Einstein lived in Bern for two years while he was a a clerk in the patent office and coming up with this Theory of Relativity. We toured the little apartment and learned that Einstein had a daughter with his first wife (before they were married) and it's not known what happened to her! He also had two sons with his first wife, then he divorced his first wife and married his cousin. Quite an interesting fellow on a personal level even if he was a genius. He loved Bern and considered it the best place to live. No wonder, Bern is ranked among the world’s top ten cities for the best quality of life and the average temp in the summer is right around 70 degrees!

Time for a snack. We sat outside at a cafe with a view of the Aare river taking up the shade and lovely weather. Typical snack/small plate in Switzerland- tatar- or in English tartare. We enjoyed our beef tatar with calvado (an apply brandy) poured over it, with onions and capers on toast. You might be gagging, you might be wondering, "Erin, eating raw beef? Isn't there a mild health concern there?" I would say yes, but both Paul and I said that there is no other place we'd rather eat raw meat other than Switzerland- a stickler for cleanliness, abiding by laws and health codes, so we thought we were ok and 24 hours later or so- no problems! :) Was a nice snack coupled with 2 deciliters of wine. On the see the clock tower and quite a let down with the moving puppets at 4 min of the hour. We strolled a bit before making our way back to the train station at 6:00. Bought a soft pretzel at Brezelkonig (yes, Pretzel King) and caught the 6:30 train back to Geneva. I slept most of the way (still killing the jet lag and also wiped out from all the walking in Bern!).

So all-in-all I think we took solid advantage of the day we had in Switzerland- much different from a day of being a tourist in any African country! Probably only one more update from Geneva as I'll be in a conference at WHO for the next three days and likely not have much interesting news to report. We'll see! Au revoir!