Geneva, Switzerland

I had the opportunity to visit Geneva, Switzerland this weekend. Since it was a pre-organized trip through IFALPES, we had bus transportation and a tour guide at our disposal.

Our first stop in Geneva was to the old part of the town. We visited the statues of Jean Calvin and other well known Protestant leaders. We then visited the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre (photos are on Facebook). Our trip continued by visiting the Jet d'Eau, which is one of the signature attractions in Geneva. The Jet d'Eau sprays 100 gallons of Lac Léman water over 400 feet in the air. Our trip finished by visiting the United Nations building in Geneva.

Switzerland is a little divided in terms of language. In the west, closest to its border with France, the people speak French (as they do in Geneva). In the middle and northern parts of the country, the people speak German. In the southernmost part of the country, they speak Italian. In the easternmost region, they speak a language called Romansh, which is a hybrid of different romance languages. And considering that Switzerland is less than half the size of South Carolina (the 11th smallest U.S. state by land area), that's pretty incredible.

There were certainly some noticeable differences between people in Geneva versus people in France. First, drivers seem to be a little more forgiving. A car might actually stop at a crosswalk to let you cross. Second, Switzerland does not use the Euro. This created a ton of confusion on how much you were actually paying for a given product (until I found out that the exchange rate between Swiss Francs and US Dollars is about 1 to 1). Finally, the people who speak French in Geneva definitely have an accent that is, at times, difficult to understand.

Overall, Geneva was well worth the 25 Euros I paid to take the trip. And for the record, I did not open any Swiss bank accounts.