Geneva, the city that gave us the World
Wide Web, covers itself in flowers and takes chocolate to an art form
has got to be okay. You can’t go wrong visiting this city, even if you
just walk its streets and lakeshore for days on end -- those flowers are
everywhere and the Lake Geneva is clear and picturesque.
It might be in Switzerland, but Geneva is
tres French.
It didn’t join the Swiss Confederacy
until after 1815, so French culture permeates the place by way of
foodand language. Still, Calvin, who preached here during the
Reformation, seems to have had a deep effect, tempering the French
spirit a bit.
But if the city seems a little staid,
perhaps it’s because it contemplates the fate of the planet on a daily
basis. Switzerland hasn’t seen a war for over 300 years; Geneva hosts
hundreds of humanitarian and scientific agencies. It was the home to the
League of Nations, the predecessor of the United Nations. The UN still
maintains an office here. The International Red Cross is here. So is the
World Health Organization. And the European Centre for Nuclear Research,
CERN, which also brought us the Web. The list goes on and on.
It makes us dizzy to contemplate, but we’re
awfully glad those organizations are here, working towards a peaceful,
healthy planet. It seems fitting that when Genevans get off work, they
get to wander through a peaceful, beautiful city.
Geneva is a town of Arts and Culture. Its
numerous museums and libraries, the Opera, the Orchestra of the Suisse
romande have largely contributed, among others, to its development. For
nearly twenty years they have been new cultural centres which have been
created from old uninhabited buildings, some of which are now preserved
as monuments, like the Halles de l’Ile, l’Usine, la Maison des Arts
du Grütli.
Recently, there have been annual events
such as the Music Festival, exhibitions of books (Fureur de lire) or the
"Journées du Patrimoines."
The term "urban district" is
often used to depict Geneva. However you only have to fly over the City
to notice that it has very close links with the surrounding country-side
and this gives it the privileged position of having less pollution of
any city in Europe.
The City of Geneva is therefore deservedly
called the city of parks. Geneva has an area of 330 hectares of parks of
which the following are the most famous: La Grange, Les Eaux-Vives or
Mon-Repos.
Geneva has always been a friendly city and
is very international. This is confirmed by the presence on its soil of
17 international organizations, around 150 non-governmental
organizations (NGO’s) and 140 permanent missions to the United Nations
and over 400 international companies.
In 1996 the Geneva Welcome Center for the
International people working in Geneva was created in order to
facilitate their installation and integration during their stay.