Money, money, money........

Three nights in a four star hotel  - $1600

Small bottle of Pellegrino water - $7

One chicken sandwich and bottle of coke - $17

Swiss Army knife - $56

Diamond watches and sparkling jewellery - $35000.00 ( I wish!!)

Leaving Geneva - Priceless

It's an interesting little city, picturesquely set on the lake front with mountains in the distance, but boy does it drain the credit card balance. Well that is unless you have one of those hidden Swiss bank accounts to draw on!

Lots of walking and quite a bit of window shopping was done in a hectic 2 days in Geneva. Oh and some purchasing. Climbing the hundreds of steps of St Pierre Cathedral gave us a fabulous view of the lake and Mont Blanc in the distance. The water jet fountain in the middle of the lake was fabulous. Much higher than the Captain Cook jet in Lake Burley Griffin.

One afternoon we walked to the United Nations only to find that the tours had closed for the day.  The International Committee for the Red Cross was just up the road so we headed on up.  We were able to do the tour but unfortunately ran out of time as it is a very absorbing place.  Lots of "moving photos" of refugees and committee members telling their stories of how the Red Cross had saved them from war, poverty, natural disasters, etc.  

One of the Red Cross witnesses, a talking hologram.  When you place your hand on his, his commentary commences.  Amazing!

The next morning we headed back to the UN to do a tour. Again another fascinating insight into the workings of a major international organisation. Geneva is where it all began. The buildings and the works of art from around the world that line the walls were incredible. Unfortunately unlike the New York UN building where we could wander through the main areas on our own, we had to stay with the guided tour which didn't allow for time to stop and view more than a couple of highlighted pieces.

Inside the main chamber with the roof art looking like stalegtites.  It was painted this way so that no one country could identify with the painting and can claim favouritism over another, a very unique piece indeed.  In fact you cannot see the whole painting from any point in the chamber.

One of the tapestries on display - works of art!

Jules and Tony ready for work!

This tapestry donated by China has a similar effect to paintings that have eyes that follow you. No matter where you stood the path would appear to be angled towards you.

Outside the UN in the Nations Plaza there is a sculpture raising awareness of the damage caused by landlines and the campaign to rid the world of these maiming and killing devices.

The irony of children running through the water fountains to cool off was not lost on us. 

Sandy and Chris left us in Geneva on the third day heading for more sun Langkowi and then there were seven!

After two weeks of fabulous french food, we branched out a bit in our eating in Geneva with a Chinese dinner, Italian dinner and for some the tradition of a Swiss cheese fondue.

Our final day in Geneva was hitting the shops for some bargains???  Plenty of "salde" signs but not much left.  Some shopping was done though, as we had to make sure that we had Swiss timing........

There are many luxury brands in Geneva and some stores like Cartier are actually renovating into larger premises.  In fact Geneva had more cranes working than anywhere we had been in Europe, a very sharp contrast to Greece.  

Next stop, Venice, about six and a half hours away!