One would find it too hard to believe if we say that we had decided that we would go to Switzerland almost a year ago. We knew pretty well that Switzerland would require at least four days to tour around and the only occasion we have a four-day vacation in the calendar is during Easter. Sometime in November 2000, when I told our good, old Natarajan that we plan to go to Swiss, he replied: "Don't say you plan to go to Swiss. Say you will come to Swiss. You can be my guest. By that time I should also be knowing places to visit etc.". What more is needed for a good start for a tour? It was a perfect beginning. (The fact that he invited trouble by inviting us is a different story!).

We were lucky enough to get an offer from Swissair for a return ticket to Geneva from London Heathrow at a reasonable fare. We had full four days at our disposal. One of the many good things about travelling to Switzerland is the rule that we needn't have a separate Visa since we were holding Work permits to work at U.K (No more standing in the embassy queues in the wee hours!). Natarajan worked overtime at Swiss office to chalk out our itinerary. More than the itinerary, he bought us the tickets to travel within Swiss and we had them all, well before the trip.

On Friday, the 13th, seven of us - Harikumar, Hari Baskar, Ganesan, Ramesh, Jagadeesha, Nataraj (yeah.. it is another Nataraj) & I started from London Heathrow and landed at Geneva at 1030 hours. We had done enough homework before embarking on the trip and our plan was to roam around some places in Geneva on our own for a while and then join the guided tour which starts near the main Bus station at 1400 hours. As if to prove that no man-made plan is perfect, we forgot to get prior info as how to reach the main Bus station. Despite the groundwork and so much help, we struggled quite a bit to get to know where exactly that damned Bus station is. At last, one old bloke put us in a bus that took us there.

By the time, we reached the Bus station, it was already quarter past two and we thought that we would miss the guided bus tour. To our luck, the bus was 45 minutes late (I heard that everything happens on time at Switzerland. : Anyway, never mind!), that gave us some breathing time. Geneva is a city comfortably camped on the shore of Lake Geneva. It is being said that one in three residents of this city are non-Swiss. So, this tidy city belongs to international community as much as it belongs to Switzerland. Needless to say that Geneva's negotiating tables are too famous for its neutral nature, as every global problem would be discussed here.

The bus tour went along the lake and the numerous parks that were along the quayside. One main thing to be noted is that the city was very clean. I wonder how they maintain such cleanliness. Among all the cities I have ever visited, Geneva is the tidiest of all. The green grass, tall trees and the wayside parks were simply fabulous. The bus drove us past many International buildings. In front of one of the UN buildings looms a giant chair ("The Broken Chair") with one leg broken, a graphic commemoration of the victims of landmines.

Further down the square is the "Place des Nations", the famous United Nations buildings. This is supposedly the second largest building in Europe and is the European head quarters of United Nations Organisation. When the news has reports of "negotiations taking place in Geneva", they mean this place. Though the building is open to public, our bus tour was simply confined to watching the building from the gates. "Place des Nations" is surrounded by dozens of international organisations from International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) to WHO. To add more International touch to that place is the presence of many embassies and high commissions. We were simply unable to follow the guide simply because every building there deserves a second or third look and by the time, we finish that, a couple of other important buildings would have crossed. Perhaps, a walk around that area would have been ideal and that too if one is interested in history & the glory surrounding the UN.

Not contented with the numerous parks along the roadside, Geneva has two huge gardens across the lake. Like all the other attractions, we just had a glimpse of those gardens from the bus and proceeded along. One of the main attractions in Geneva, apart from the UN buildings and parks is the 140 metres high fountain (Jet d'eau) in Lake Geneva. We were very much disappointed on hearing that the fountain had been switched off due to windy weather (Believe me. It was NEVER windy on that day!).

Hold your time for the next episode...