Palais des Nations

Guten Morgen! -says castle. What the -says I.

This last week in Mittelhäusern was quite a long one. The boys were still in vacation so every minute I was pretty much with them. For the fourth time we poured mentos into diet coke and made a mini geyser. Benny thought that was pretty cool. I basically studied german allll week long and had another dream in it. What gives!!? I'm still no where near to being fluent! But I'm now able to pick out words in sentences and understand some of the phone calls I listen in to on the train :)

Geneve. Such a shame there was so much construction going on everywhere. 

This weekend I went to Basel Friday night and spent it with my totally awesome Colombian friend, Ana. I stayed the night at her house (well host family's house, she's an Au Pair too) and woke up to a freaking castle out the window! Oh Switzerland. When I met Ana's host mom she was saying something to her children and I felt like the worst person in the world because guess why. I didn't understand ONE word. Nothing! Good thing I found out later that she was speaking an entirely different language. Czechoslovakian.

The next day I went to Genèva and Ana made the kind of decision that you can only make in the moment at 7:30 am and came with me. We arrived in Genève by 12 and then met her best friend's from Columbia brother. He is working on some other degree and does something crazy smart and complicated with physics.

We walked around for a little bit, sight saw and hunted for chocolate filled croissants. The lake was nice and the geyser in the middle was pretty cool. Reminded me of a man made yellowstone. Then we made our way to the Palais des Nations! Or the United Nations. Both Ana and I want to work there (or for me work with something related) so it was really interesting. Ana speaks Spanish, Italian, German, English, and French. Go her! She is aspiring to be a translator for the conferences at the UN.

Wandering around Geneve...

After that we went hunting for some good ol, classic swiss fondue. Still not a fan. But the restaurant had a nice ambiance as if you were in a Swiss chalet in the mountains and the company was great. I came home that night quite satisfied! (And tired.)

Ana and the Fondue

Love all this outdoor seating! 

And this would be Geneve's 'Lake Leman' with Old Faithful erupting in the back ground.

Pretty much how pick pocketing in Switzerland would go.

Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room at the UN. This ceiling was Cra-a-azy. It was done by a Spanish artist Miquel Barcelo. From the UN's website it says, "The new dome consists of many layers of paint of different colours, composed pigments from across the globe and sprayed onto the ceiling to generate stalactites."

Globe donated to the League of Nations by Woodrow Wilson in the 30's. It once was gilded in gold as well as spun around in alliance with the North Star. Mt. Blanc looms in the background!

Original buildings dedicated for the League of Nations (post WWI)

Don't remember exactly what this room was called but it is where peace discussions take place. In the right corner there are some doors. On the exact other side there are the same doors. This is because during the Cold War the USA and Soviet Union leaders refused to enter through the same door. Cold!! 

Made it.

Ana looking all Posh in the rain.

Interesting work of art dedicated to the UN by Czechoslovakia. The US's piece was lame! It was like a boat... ugly.. water.. and that was it.