We arrived in Geneva ready to kick off our European adventure with science, chocolate, lakeside walks, and maybe, just maybe, a little alpine cool. Spoiler alert: Geneva in July is not cool. It was HOT. And not “pleasantly warm with a breeze off the lake” hot. It was “sweating through your shirt while standing still” hot. As quick as we arrived to the hotel, I was headed right back as O accidentally forgot a bag on the plane which just happened to include my medicine. They put in a ticket for me and said that every night an employee gathers all the lost and found items from the airport and brings them to their "lost and found." Spoiler alert- the bag was found, but guess what, in order for me to get it back, I had to pay them 34 Swiss Francs! If I didn't have my medicine inside, I probably would have just let it go, but boy Switzerland, this was the most expensive 48 hours of my life.
Now, the Swiss are big on sustainability, which we totally respect. But this means air conditioning is considered a bit… excessive. So that usual glorious blast of cold air when you walk into a shopping mall on a summer day? Not in Geneva. We found ourselves sweating in the food court. Even the airport check-in line offered no relief.
Our hotel was minimalist "chic," and I mean really minimalist: no clock, no dresser, not enough towels. So of course, the air conditioning followed suit: present in theory, but barely noticeable in practice. Still, we managed to sleep. Sort of.
Despite melting, Geneva had some definite highlights. CERN was a huge hit with the kids (and the grownups). We had the inside hook-up from a friend of mine whose niece works for CERN. We saw some pretty cool places that are never included on a normal tour, so we were flying high as VIPs. After spending some time in the visitor center, those of us who are scientifically-challenged managed to actually understand a little bit about particle physics. I guess you don’t have to be a science nerd to get excited about standing near the world’s largest particle collider!
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| The main"control" room at CERN |
Have you ever head of the Choco-Pass? It is a sampling of chocolates across some of the best chocolatiers in Geneva? There might have even more chocolate shops than cafes. We had 12 different shops to visit, but after stop #9 and the 90+ degree weather, we were all choco-ed out. That was probably the least amount of money we spent on food (we dropped $120 the night before at a pub and didn't order one drink or dessert!).
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| Half of our score from the Choco-Pass tour |
Geneva - its been steamy, scientific and sweet, but we are ready to leave and head to Rome to meet our family for an 11 day Mediterranean cruise adventure !
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