Chocolate, Cheese, and Watches

This past weekend some friends and I bought last minute flights, booked an Airbnb, and went to Geneva, Switzerland. We landed at 10am, dropped our bags off, and immediately headed to the United Nations building. After going through security and having all forms of identification possible checked we got personalized ID badges to wear (and keep!) while on our tour. We learned about the history of the UN, got to see all of the large meeting rooms, and even walked into a conference room right after a meeting about the Venezuela conflicts had just finished. Then we went to the Red Cross Museum Cafe for lunch. Fun fact #1: The Red Cross was founded in Geneva as a universal aid service after it was decided that medical personnel must be neutral in times of war.

We had done very minimal research before leaving, but one thing I did find was that there is a nearby mountain, Mont Saléve, just over the French border that has a cable car roundtrip to the top for less than $10. After lunch we took a bus to the border, walked into France and up to the lodge, and hopped on a cable car. The view from the top is indescribable. Hiking up to a cafe while surrounded by the Alps on all sides had me in sheer awe. It's crazy to think that the same God that designed these mountains designed me. Fun fact #2: Frankenstein's monster escaped to this same mountain in Mary Shelley's famous book.

Day 2 we walked to Aldi to get breakfast and lunch for the day on the cheap after realizing that Switzerland is ridiculously expensive (I'll touch on that later). We went on a walking tour of the city and learned how Geneva was a crucial location in the Protestant Reformation, how the UN came to be, that the Swiss Civil War only lasted 4 weeks before they decided to just get along, and that the reason they are neutral territory is because they self-proclaimed in 1815 that they would be in order to promote peace. After the walking tour, the three of us walked around the lake and just relaxed for a bit, ate some fondue, and wrapped up the trip by visiting a few chocolate shops and eating as much chocolate as we could afford.

I think one of the most interesting things we learned was Fun fact #3: The reason the Swiss are watchmakers is because during the Reformation jewelry was forbidden, putting jewelers in the city out of work. Some refugees moved to the country and their main profession was watchmaking. These watchmakers decided that they would team up with the then unemployed jewelers, letting them make watch bands and the intricate casings the Swiss are known for, while they made the clocks. Since watches weren't considered jewelry as they have a functional purpose, everyone had to have their hands on a watch as soon as possible.

As far as being expensive, we looked at the exchange rate from USD to Swiss Francs and were super excited the dollar was worth more! I went into this trip thinking that I would save money, and boy was I wrong. Our last night we were all out of money and were desperate to find somewhere cheap for dinner. Checking everywhere we could, and like I said, we were desperate, we decided to go to the McDonald's in the nearby mall foodcourt. (Not so) Fun fact #4: For reference, a BigMac in the US is $3.99. In Geneva, a BigMac would run you about $7. And that's just for the burger. Needless to say, we decided that if we were going to spend that much money on food we would rather have something nutritious. I ended up getting a bagel sandwich for $7 and then didn't buy food again until I went to the grocery store when I got home Sunday (shoutout to Clif Bars, peanut butter crackers, and the Goldfish Garrett sent to me for getting me through until then).

All in all, I'm glad I went. I'm thankful for safe flights and cheap grocery stores, and I'm looking forward to our upcoming adventures. For the next 3 weekends I'm staying in Scotland. This weekend we're going to be tourists in our own city, and then the following 2 Garrett will be here and I get to show him around! Countries still on my list include Spain, Italy, Denmark, Netherlands, Portugal, Greece, and maybe even Sweden and Norway. We'll see where the cheapest flights are and go from there. That's all for now, but keep an eye out for my next post about cultural differences between the USA and Scotland!