Geneva Day 3

Sunday
We woke up at 8 again for free continental breakfast again. Then we got our stuff together and checked out of the hostel. We were determined to figure out the Palace of Nations this time, so we stopped back at the trusty tourist office and asked for help. Turns out we're just dumb.

But we made it! We went through security and they gave Shannon a very nifty-looking photo visitor ID badge. They didn't give me badge or even look at my passport. Apparently if you want to sneak into the Palace of Nations undetected, you just have to bring a friend who's OK with being detected. Weird.

Our tour guide was fantastic! She is Ukrainian, and she speaks Spanish, French, and English fluently enough to give tours in those languages. Impressive! The tour was very short, but it was good. It's funny taking a UN tour when you study international law/politics. The guide kept asking "Does anyone know why..." questions, which led me to one of 2 scenarios every time. Often I knew the answer, and was wondering if I should be a jerk and answer every question or if I should let her/someone else do it. The rest of the time I was thinking, "I cannot believe I don't know this! Shoot! I'm supposed to know this! How can I graduate from college without knowing this?"

At one point I was looking away from the guide at a piece of art when she said something like, "I don't know if maybe any of you are familiar with Huntington's Clash of Civilizations theory..." and I inadvertently groaned and nodded. She got all excited and said "Oh! You can explain it for everyone!" Fortunately I really did mostly remember, and was able to say enough on the spot to not seem like an idiot. Yay education!

After the UN tour, Shannon and I walked to the botanical gardens. The gardens were exquisite! I love big, grassy parks with pretty plants anyhow, but there were also tons of animals, and a yurt full of interesting stuff, and a playground, and an awesome carousel! I rode the ox! The place reminded me a lot of my cousin, Isaac, actually. I think he would have loved it!

We split another little pizza at the botanical gardens. This time it was a "Jeff," which had capers and olives and I don't remember what else. Yummy! We had some difficulty finding the way out of the gardens. We got kind of trapped. But we did see some more pretty stuff and an incredible view of the lake while trying to escape.

Then we went to the Art and History museum. Shannon had to catch a 5:00 train, so we didn't have a ton of time at the museum. We looked at the directory in an attempt to select two or three exhibits, and discovered that both of our majors were there. One of Shannon's majors was Classics, and one of my majors is Music History/Theory. There was a musical instruments room, and rooms for Ancient Greek and Roman architecture. To the right, you can see me having a music-nerd-freak-out.

On our way to the museum, we had passed an incredible park, so on our way back from the museum, I bid my friend Shannon farewell and went to check said park out. It was beautiful! There were a bajillion giant chess boards set up, as well as giant checkers, which I have never seen. There were also ping pong tables and a restaurant, and all sorts of cool buildings and statues. I was completely exhausted from our busy weekend. I sat on a bench in the shade to write down some notes for later blogging, and read a bit. I also had to erase some of the crappy pictures from my camera because I had actually filled my memory card.

I have extra memory cards, but I hadn't even thought to bring them to Switzerland. I haven't filled one up in so long! I always erase all my photos after I put them on my computer. The inconvenience did cause me to reminisce about the olden days before digital cameras, and ponder how different things are now. If this was olden times (i.e. the nineties), Shannon and I would probably have gone through a roll of film each. Maybe even 1.5-2 rolls since it was such an exciting and once-in-a-lifetime weekend. We would never have taken all the ridiculous pictures of goats, or the risky flash-free photos inside museums. You never know if those will come out or not. And after I got the photos developed (probably in about a month after I returned to the US), I'd choose a few really great ones of me and Shannon together and have extra copies made to send to Shannon and my grandparents. How times have changed! Oh facebook!

Anyhow, after I took care of business, I expertly wrapped my arms through the straps of my purse and backpack in a way that blocked all of the zippers and made it impossible for me to accidently let go, and went to sleep on a bench. It was rather impressive really, and I don't know if I could reenact if I tried. But I got a great nap in, and didn't get robbed or anything!

Then I did more wandering. I managed to find all sorts of nifty stuff Shannon and I had missed earlier. Big cities are great for finding stuff you haven't seen before.

I got dinner and watched part of Argentina vs. Mexico, which was kind of sad. Then I headed to the Eurolines stop. I got there 40 minutes early, and the bus was 45 minutes late. The ride was uncomfortable and frustrating, but I can say that Brussels seems like a really fantastic city, and I wish I had gotten to spend time there.

All in all, Shannon and I had a fantastic time in Geneva! We managed to fit in everything we wanted to do and then some. It was a great weekend and it made the 35 hours on the bus worth it!

NOW MY MOM COMES TOMORROW!!! So excited!