Working the U.N. in Geneva

Geneva is a truly international city. It is home to international organizations, corporations and people from around the world. It is home to the headquarters of various U.N. agencies, NGOs such as Medecins sans Frontiers as well as famous watch companies. I was sent to represent my employer at WIPO’s (the World Intellectual Property Organization) 10th Intergovernmental Committee Meeting on traditional knowledge, genetic resources, and folklore. I spent most of my 10 days in Geneva sitting in a stuffy meeting room at the WIPO headquarters but I managed to find time to wander the city and eat a lot of chocolate with a few colleagues from other Canadian organizations.

The meetings were hosted at the end of November and beginning of December, usually not a great time for tourists to visit a new city. On this trip, however, I quickly learned that a lot happens in Geneva during the month of December making it a great time to discover the city. On the weekend falling closest to December 11th, the entire city of Geneva celebrates Escalade, the victory over the invading Duke of Savoy in 1602. The Savoyards used ladders to gain access to the city, hence Escalade (meaning ‘scaling’), but Geneva residents fought back. The most celebrated defender of the city is Mere Royaume who, as legend has it, made short order of an enemy soldier and some of his companions, when she tossed a cauldron of hot vegetable soup out her window on to the street below. Every December, the victory is celebrated with a parade through the streets, hot vegetable soup and chocolate recreations of the cauldron filled with marzipan vegetables available in any chocolate shop. No, the chocolate cauldrons are not thrown from windows - they are smashed at home.

Wandering the city is definitely the best way to experience Geneva. We happened upon so many interesting places and events we never would have experienced if we had simply headed directly to our desired locations. We stumbled upon the Escalade marathon, run a weekend before the Escalade celebrations. We also made a stop at one of the chestnut roaster booths that dot the Old City. We purchased 100 grams of meaty roasted chestnuts for 2.80 Swiss francs. In our wanderings we also came upon the Advent Market of the German-language Evangelical Lutheran Church of Geneva located just on the edge of Place de la Fontaine.

Quick Tips:

The Art and History Museums of Geneva offer free admission to permanent exhibits every day and to temporary exhibits on the first Sunday of every month. Entrance for children under 18 is also free. Most of these museums are closed on Mondays so be sure to plan appropriately.

Geneva can be a very expensive place to visit and, in particular, to dine out. A great way to save money is to shop at a Coop grocery store. There are locations across the city, including some inside department stores. I shopped at one located across the street from my hotel just outside the Mole transit stop. I was able to pick up bottled water, yogurt, meat, bread, and fresh produce for snacks and money-saving suppers.

Bank machines can be difficult to locate especially if you are not familiar with the city. If you need to grab some cash you can stop at the bank machines at the main post office on Rue du Mont-Blanc. There are only 3 machines at this location so there is always a long lineup. A better option is to head to the underground entrance to the Cornavin Train Station at Rue du Mont-Blanc. There are about 15 machines located in a well-lit indoor area. While this location is busy, there was never more than a lineup of one person deep at any of these machines.

And who could come to Geneva without eating chocolate? (Gee, I cannot believe it took this long for me to get into a discussion about chocolate!) This self-professed chocolate lover (or addict perhaps) could not resist. Luckily I was traveling with other chocolate lovers so they never had to be convinced to stop for chocolate. Chocolate shops abound in Geneva with some offering tea rooms to enjoy a cup of coffee or hot chocolate and chocolate or pastry while resting your weary feet.

Best Way To Get Around:

Geneva has a great public transportation system. It offers both buses and trams. I used trams exclusively to get to the U.N. on rainy days. A short trip, defined as three stops or less, costs you only 2 Swiss francs. Other longer routes will cost you more depending on how many zones you travel. We tried to get help from a local man who saw our puzzled faces when trying to figure out which ticket to buy. We told him we were heading up to the U.N. and he suggested the short trip ticket even though we were traveling 4 stops. We did not have any problems with the bus police but I noticed that they were out in full force on the weekend. You can get a map of the transit system at their website.

Maps of Geneva are very deceptive making the city look much larger than it actually is. I did not trust online information saying it would take less than 20 minutes to walk from our hotel to sites in the Old City. Being used to large North American blocks I thought there was no way that was accurate. I was wrong. It took little time to make it across the bridges and into the Old City. To speed up your trip use the pedestrian crossing buttons to ensure a green light.

Taxis are also widely available but are generally expensive. It is best to book a taxi to the airport from your hotel the night before but if you forget the hotel can always call a taxi for you. If not heading out to the airport I would skip the taxi. Half the fun of Geneva is wandering around the city.

Never have I had an experience requiring a negative review. That is until now. Working at a non-profit organization we’re conscious of costs. So when the usual moderately-priced hotel used by our organization in Geneva was unavailable we trusted a recommendation. Everyone was pleased with the central location and the price point (120 Swiss francs) until we took a look at reviews on the web. We knew we were going to have a problem.

We checked in upon arrival in Geneva on a Wednesday morning. The lobby looked just fine but that must be where the owners spent all of their money. A colleague of mine did not even make it up to the elevator. She got that far and turned around saying she was not going to stay there.

Hotel Windsor advertises itself as a first-rate, three-star hotel but it provides nothing of the sort. The rooms are small, dirty and house broken furniture. The bathroom was very cramped and some of the tiles and grout were falling out. The shower grout was sprouting mildew. The walls are paper thin and I heard my neighbours coughing lightly. There are no non-smoking rooms. The owner said he did not care whether the patrons smoked in the rooms. Well, some of the patrons might mind!

This hotel advertises itself as suitable for the business traveler. There was no Internet access, no business centre and no desk on which to work. The furniture that was provided was actually falling apart. The chair in my room had a split seat that had separated from the chair base. There was no alarm clock and no instructions on how to get a wake-up call by using the phone.

Continental breakfast, served from 7am to 10 am, is included in the price of the room. While I do not need a big spread for breakfast I appreciate a balanced meal. Breakfast consisted of bread and jam and a choice of cold cereals with milk. We also had our choice of coffee or tea. There was no protein, either cheese or meat, and no fruit provided. Definitely not a great start to the day.

Luckily our stay was to be short-lived. The day we checked in we talked with the head of Canada’s delegation. She contacted the Canadian mission to the U.N. and they found us hotel rooms in a much better hotel. After breakfast we headed over to the Royal Manotel to check in. We then headed back to the Hotel Windsor, packed up and checked out. I was never so happy to leave a hotel.

If you need a centrally-located hotel at a moderate price, I would recommend the family-run Hotel Montana. My colleague who refused to stay at the Hotel Windsor usually stays at the Montana and checked in there instead. Another option is the Hotel Drake which can be booked, apparently, for about 100 Swiss francs if you book a few months in advance.

After the disaster that was the Hotel Windsor, the Royal Manotel felt like a palace. The Royal Manotel is one of 6 hotels owned and operated in Geneva by the same group. Each has its own theme and the Royal is a blend of French and neoclassical design. The lobby was immediately open and inviting and was buzzing with activity the morning we changed hotels. Even though we checked in around 9am our rooms were available and we dropped off our luggage before heading up to the U.N.

Everyone else had warned me that these hotel rooms would be much smaller than North American ones. While the room was a bit smaller than a North American room I definitely could not complain. I opened the door to a spacious and calming bathroom, a double bed, sidetables, closet, personal safe, mini bar, and flat screen TV. While there were a few signs that the room was well used, i.e. noticeable wear on the carpet, it felt palacious compared to the dump we had stayed at the night before. The bed was comfortable and included fluffy pillows. Interestingly and smartly you had to insert your room key into a master slot to turn on the electricity in the room. It took me a couple minutes to figure that out! Best of all it was a non-smoking room on a non-smoking floor!

One of my colleagues stayed in a room at the back of the hotel and noticed the trains rumbling into the train station at night. Thankfully I was at the front and although I had to contend with some street noise from the Mole tram stop when I kept the window open to cool down the room I had brought my earplugs along and did not hear a thing. The wireless Internet was apparently not working in the rooms at the back of the hotel but was accessible in the lobby. The hotel is centrally located on Rue de Lausanne near the train station making it very easy to get around the city. The Coop grocery store is located just across the street from the Royal Manotel so it was easy to pop in at the end of a long day and pick up a few items to save money.

The room was not cheap running 585 Swiss francs. Luckily the Canadian mission had gotten a good deal at 250 Swiss francs. Breakfast is included with the price of the room. The buffet breakfast provided a full spread of anything and everything you could imagine, cheeses, breads, granola, canned and fresh fruit, fresh juices, meats, and a strange offering that was translated into English as ‘starchy food’. We weren’t exactly sure what it was but it did not look appetizing so we stayed clear of it. The service in the breakfast room was impeccable. Breakfast ran from 6am to 10am every day.

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay here and would highly recommend this hotel to anyone.

One of my colleagues had been to a Spanish restaurant during a previous trip to Geneva. He spoke very highly of Restaurant El Faro but could not remember its location. He found one of the North American staff members at the U.N. who had a business card with the restaurant’s location. We planned an evening out at the end of our stay and after many nights of cheap sandwich meals put together from supplies bought at the Coop grocery store across from our hotel we were ready for something substantial.

When we arrived we were greeted by a heavy curtain just inside the entrance door. It opened into a small bar area where there were no patrons. We walked half-way in to the establishment to the restaurant area. We asked if there was a table for 4 available in a non-smoking area. Well, like everything else in Geneva, there are no non-smoking areas anywhere. Joy! We were also asked if we had reservations. No, we did not. We did not know this place was quite that popular on a Thursday night. Even without a reservation they found a table for us. Unfortunately we were seated next to chain smokers.

The service at El Faro is impeccable. When we arrived we had help removing our jackets and we ladies were helped putting our jackets back on at the end of the evening. The place was hopping but the servers were attentive. My colleague raved about the paella so we decided to share the already peeled variety since it required a minimum of 2 persons to order. It was a good thing, too, since the paella cost 90 Swiss francs! Definitely not cheap. It took a while for our food to arrive but our server brought out a special side table and placed our food on plates then brought it to our table. My colleagues who had ordered other dishes including lamb received the same treatment, nothing was placed directly on the table after coming out of the kitchen. No sooner had I finished my plate of paella than the server loaded up a second plate for me. The group ordered a lovely Spanish red wine (Jean Leon) to go with our meal. This very smooth wine cost 75 Swiss francs but my colleagues thought it was definitely worth it.

I had been subjected to a big build-up by my colleague. While I certainly enjoyed my experience here I thought the food was overpriced. I thought the paella lacked something. There was enough seafood but the rice seemed mushy and it was lacking taste. Perhaps it is just my personal preference for flavour and spice. But for my share of the 90 Swiss francs I had expected more.

I would still recommend this restaurant with the caveat that it is expensive. I would definitely recommend reservations, especially on a weekend. Restaurant El Far is closed on Sundays.

Having lived in Europe I knew all about the fantastic Christmas markets that are held in cities in the month leading up to Christmas. Considering I was going to be in Geneva in early December I thought I’d search the Internet for a Christmas market. I was thrilled to read about the International Christmas Market at Place de la Fusterie between Rue du Rhone and Rue de la Confederation in the Old City.

I was excited about the market and all of the little chalet-type stalls filled with traditional woodworking, Christmas candy and treats, other treasures and, of course, mulled wine. I had told colleagues from other organizations about the Christmas market and we made plans to head out on the Saturday morning to check things out.

The walk across Pont du Mont-Blanc to the Old City took about 10 minutes. We had a little trouble locating Place de la Fusterie because we made a left turn after crossing the bridge as opposed to turning right. No worries, though, since wandering through this area of this city allowed us to get our bearings. When we came upon the Christmas market, I could see all the little chalet-style stalls lined up and crawling with shoppers. I was, however, disappointed because there were no traditional woodworking vendors. The name of the market, international, should have clued me in that the vendors would have been from around the world or offering imported items. There were candles, jewelry, toys, Russian dolls, and homemade paper products. Okay, for some people this is not a big deal but I can buy these same things or similar things imported into Canada.

Nevertheless, a colleague of mine found hand-painted wooden Santas at a Russian woodworking vendor’s stall. She found a lovely light blue Santa with a northern scene including a wolf. Considering she is Inuit this particular Santa spoke to her. She balked at the price of 170 Swiss francs. After a few attempts she managed to talk the vendor down to 120 Swiss francs. This Santa now sits proudly among the others in her Santa collection.

We were on the hunt for chocolate that day so we did not stay to try out the small restaurant offering a good deal on fondue and mulled wine in the evening hours. There were also a couple of stalls tempting us with crepes and candy which we passed on because we had dedicated ourselves to the call of chocolate.

The International Christmas Market makes a nice diversion especially when you know what to expect. It is open from late November through to Christmas Eve from 9am to 6pm daily with some late shopping nights. It is close to the main shopping street in the Old City so a stop at the Christmas market would fit in well with shopping plans.