GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

                                            Pedestrians Beware

       Situated along the banks of Lake Geneva, Europe’s largest alpine lake, and at the foot of the Alps, Geneva sparkles as one of Europe's most beautiful cities.

       Most of the time I’ve spent in Geneva has been through the airport, but I was lucky enough to have a full day there  recently after hiking the Alps. Arriving at the airport hotel early in the morning our rooms were not ready so after leaving our luggage with the concierge, our guide gave us transit tickets and accompanied us by tram to the city center. He tramped us all over the city leaving us in Old Town. The bell tower down town was out landmark.

       One can’t miss one of the city’s famous landmarks---the Jet d’Eau fountain. One of the largest fountains in the world, it is featured on the city’s official tourism web site.  Five hundred liters (132 gallons) of water per second are pumped 140 meters (459 feet) in the air by two 500 kw pumps, using one megawatt of electricity.  The water leaves the nozzle at a speed of 200 km/hour. At any given moment there are about 7,000 liters (1849 gallons) of water in the air. The original Jet d’Eau, installed in 1886, was a little further downstream from its present location.  Originally it was used as a safety valve for a hydraulic power network and was not a tourist attraction.  When factories closed down in the evening the valve was used to release pressure in the system.  In 1891, its aesthetic value was recognized and the fountain was moved to its present location.   The present Jet d’Eau was installed in 1951 in a partially submerged pumping station to pump lake water instead of city water!

      Lake Geneva is surrounded by a lovely pedestrian promenade and manicured city parks. Geneva  is the capital of the Republic and Canton of Geneva.     With a city population of 192,300 and a canton population of 468,000, Geneva is the second most populous city in Switzerland---after Zurich.  

      Geneva is a global city, a financial center, and worldwide center for  diplomacy. Over 200 international organizations, including the headquarters of many of the agencies such as the United Nations and the Red Cross are located here, as well as corporate headquarters for international companies such as P&G and IBM. The Geneva Conventions, which chiefly deals with the treatment of wartime non-combatants and prisoners of war, were signed here.  

      Geneva has 200 pianos around the city that anyone can sit down and play at anytime. We heard a couple people playing. These people are ordinary people, not street performers. Interesting.

      Geneva's Old Town, a gothic maze of cobblestone streets and is   topped by historic Saint Pierre's Cathedral and the Town Hall where the League of Nations and the Red Cross were founded.

      Being without a car we bought tickets for the city tram to get to some of the places out of the city center. Riding around we came upon the Broken Chair Monument. Made of wood, it stands 39-feet tall and is constructed from 5.5 tons of wood. The chair stands across the street from the Palace of Nations and symbolizes land mines and cluster bomb injuries. Erected in 1997 by Handicap International, it was intended to remain for only three months. Forty countries ratified the Ottawa Treaty, but because of the failure of several significant countries to sign and public support for the sculpture, it remained in place until 2005 when it was removed for remodeling of the Place des Nations. It was reinstalled in 2007. We got around the city, including by the major buildings, on the tram.    

      The traffic in Geneva is horrendous. The cars are high-end and bigger than in the villages. There are a lot of bicycles and even more motor cycles where the drivers abide by their own rules! It is a pedestrian beware city.

      Hiking friends wanted to introduce us to reclette. After a bit of walking around and reading restaurant menus we found a restaurant in Old Town that served  this specialty. Reclette is melted cheese of the same name that is scraped into a dish and served with cooked but small firm potatoes, gherkins and pickled onions.  We each enjoyed a single portion and a good size salad which was a most adequate lunch.

      We walked all over town, up and down hills and had a most enjoyable day in Geneva. We saw and learned several new things on a warm sunny day.

STOCKHOLM AND ITS SITES

      Stockholm has a population of a million, but include  the suburbs and that number  doubles. About 12% of the country’s population is foreigners and 25% of those live in the Stockholm area. The rather lax immigration rules of the past are now stricter.

      In 2005 Stockholm was voted the most modern European city. The city hosted the Olympic Games in 1912.

      Elegant Stockholm is a beautiful capital built on 14 islands linked by 54 bridges, but visitors only need to be concerned with 4-5 islands. In the center of Gotland, in the Baltic, a mild natural paradise has many fine beaches and wildflowers. Lund and Uppsala are rich in history and tradition with famous universities and churches. The city, on the country’s east coast, was founded in 1250 as a fortress at the junction of Lake Malaren and the Baltic Sea.  The Royal Capital is ideally situated for trade and maritime connections. The city has historic ties to France, and that is reflected in some of the architecture.

      The city is often called the city of water or the Venice of the north. Besides the islands and bridges, Stockholm has its towers and steeples, cobbled squares, broad boulevards, Renaissance splendor as well as its steel and glass skyscrapers. The city is one-third green, one-third blue water, and one-third for living.    

    The city, with a lively and lovely medieval heart, has pure water and is ringed by quiet woods. An archipelago of 14,000 islands protects the city from the open sea. The city gracefully balances its loyalty to cultural tradition with its affection for modern innovation. The clean green city is understated. Sweden is famous for its glass and crystal.

     Stockholm has a world-class transport infrastructure. Many multinational companies are located in the largest city in the largest country in Scandinavia.

      Our hotel in Stockholm overlooked the Kings Hops Park where hops were grown in the 18^th century for the royal brewery.  King Garden Square, located downtown, was only a short walk away. Five hundred years ago it was the king’s kitchen garden where he raised vegetables. Today it is surrounded by the Sweden House, NK department store and the harbor front; it is a great place for people watching.

      Katrina Church. In the 1600s the king wanted to move old town to a new site because of overcrowding. He built the church first and named it after his mother. It took 40 years to complete. In 1723 a fire destroyed the church and 400 homes. Ten years later the church was rebuilt. In a 1990 fire arson was suspected, but it turned out that old fuses had caused a spark that started the fire. The old foundation and bolts were able to be used when the church was rebuilt in 1995.

     In Old Town, Gamla Stan. the winding cobbled streets are lantern lit. The area was built by merchants dealing with the Hanseatic League. Walking the charming area we saw the narrowest street in Europe, the oldest restaurant, 1421, still in business, a church and the palace. The Italian Baroque Royal Palace, 1754, is the official residence used for state functions. It was built, with 608 rooms, on site of the first Renaissance-style castle that burned in 1697. The statue gazing at the palace is of King Gustav II who was assassinated at a masquerade ball in 1792.   The Royal family lives in Drottningholm.

      At the Vasa Museum the king’s mighty new ship, the Vasa was the center of a huge celebration on the day of her maiden voyage in 1628. She sailed with 145 men on board with plans to pick up 300 soldiers just outside the harbor entrance. She also sailed with all of her gun ports open.  A wind blew  the top-heavy ship and soon water started going in the gun ports which were too close to the waterline. She sank twenty minutes into her maiden voyage, before even leaving the harbor. Several of her crew died, and she was not raised until 1961.

      During the trip we saw several May poles still standing. The pole traditionally is covered with leaves, often beech, and flowers. Girls pick 7-9 flowers and place them under her pillow to remain silent until morning and to dream of a beau. Boys eat salt to dream of a girl pouring him beer and to eventually become his wife.

     One of the  hotels in the city has  ice bar that can accommodate 30 people. Reservations are needed for the half-hour stay. Everything in the bar is made of ice including the glasses. People are given parkers to stay warm while enjoying this experience.

     In Sweden they don’t cross their fingers for good luck, but instead fold their thumb into their palm and say hold you thumbs.  Peppakahor is a thin, round, fluted cookie made of pepper and almonds. At Christmas time they are used to make the equivalent of gingerbread houses. They taste a lot like a ginger cookie.

     In Sweden I found a couple unusual manhole covers and one of these days I’ll gather all of the ones I’ve collected for a show and tell post. 

You might want to check post: Gorgeous city hall  8- 3- 14

                                                  Skansen ecomuseum  4-3 -11

REYKJAVIK SITES

                                              Lots to See

The church

 The famed Hallgrimskirkja Church  Completed in 1986, the church is designed to look like a mountain of lava and is the city’s most unusual structure. Named for a poet, its 246-foot tower affords a panoramic view of the city. Outside the church is a statue of Leif Eriksson presented by the US in 1930.  Many think the Lutheran church interior is stark, but I rather think it is elegant in its simplicity. The all white interior makes it very light inside. The plaza surrounding the church is paved with 9-inch charcoal and grey tiles that are laid to form several crosses in the design. The parish built the church taking 40 years to complete. Architect Samulson designed the church plus many other buildings in the city. In 1920 he was the first to graduate from architectural school. The church is the tallest building in the city, but I understand an office building is in the process of being built that will be slightly higher.

      The ten-story Perlan, Pearl Building, 1990, is where geothermically heated water and power is supplied to the city.  The building sits on six huge storage tanks. On the fourth deck of the building is an observation platform that offers wonderful views of the city. A revolving restaurant is on the top floor and a café below that.

       Old town is fascinating with much of the city’s past as well as where green parks and museums are located. The city was the site of the Reagan-Gorbachev summit in 1996.     Government offices are housed in a white building that was originally the 18th century jail. It is one of the oldest buildings in the city. A statue of the first prime minister in 1904 is on the right of the building and a statue on the left is of Christian IX. However, the oldest house in town, dating back to 1752, was Sheriff Magnusson’s weaving shed. Destroyed by fire in 1764, it was immediately rebuilt on the same site and now houses a pub.

      The City Hall, Radhus, was controversial when it was built. Located on the north end of the lake, its front pillars and part of the building are actually in the lake. It is an unusual building. The lake, Tjornin, is in the city center and is more of a pond than a lake.

      Reykjavik is relatively small and very walkable. There are sights outside the city and we took the time to travel to see the magnificent Gulfass, golden waterfall. The picturesque two-tier waterfall often showcases a rainbow shining through the mist and spray. The wind was blowing and we got a pretty good shower of spray. At one time a hydroelectric plant was proposed, but there was such a citizen uproar that the government bought the land to preserve the waterfall. West of Gulfass is the Strokkur Geyser, “the churn”, which spouts a 60-100 foot jet about once every five minutes. The geyser performed for us a couple of times as we walked by.

      The drive around the Golden Circle was a lovely ride into the countryside on a beautiful sunny day. The beautiful historic site of Thingvellir lies 30 miles from Reykjavik. It is the site of the world’s  oldest existing parliament. Starting in 930 AD the parliament met annually to enact laws and govern the island. One law in 1000 AD introduced Christianity.  The lake in the area, 84 meters long and 114 meters deep, is the largest in the country. Shalholt was the historic site of Bishops for 740 years. An early school dates to 1056.

 

A Friendly Greeting

     Since 1902 natural thermal heat from springs in the center of town has heated greenhouses at Hveragerdi, Greenhouse Village. Artificial light and hot water prolongs the growing season for flowers and produce. A thin layer of soil covers boiling water underneath. Many residents make regular treks here for fresh produce long after the normal growing season is over. It was an interesting visit to a unique facility. The southern low plateau is an agricultural area.

Visit posts 4-6-11 Reykjavik, Botanical Garden9-4-11, Blue Lagoon7-17-10, Famous hot dog12-31-10