Geneva might be pricey but it’s a nerd paradise
5x5 I’m off to Geneva next week, a lovely birthday and Christmas present where the main event will be a trip to CERN, as well as eating and drinking my weight in chocolate, looking at absurdly expensive watches, going on a lake, looking at a fountain and going up a mountain. Hopefully there’ll be time to build a snowman (if you make yellow snow and pack suitable Marigold gloves, can you build a snow-Trump?).
With the focus on CERN , I wondered what else Geneva might have to offer the nerdy traveller. Quite a lot, it turns out.
1 CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research is harder to tour than you’d think, but fortunately we bagged places on a guided tour. You can’t see the Large Hadron Collider on account of radiation and sciencey stuff, so we won’t be coming back with superpowers or a pocket full of antimatter.
We will get to visit the operations centre for one of the experiments (I don’t know if this is just a lucky dip), the 40-metre diameter Globe of Science and Innovation, with exhibitions about the Universe of Particles, Passport to the Big Bang, and the revamped Microcosm exhibition about the LHC.
Planning note: The site’s so big that you have to take your passport in case you wander into France while you’re there.
2 The History of Science Museum Science museums are two-a-penny, but Geneva is the only city in the world with a museum about the history of science, which houses a collection of ancient scientific instruments from the offices of Geneva scientists from the 17th to the 19th century, including Saussure, Pictet, La Rive, and Colladon, from astronomy to meteorology.
The latest temporary exhibit is about the science of geo-location, from the earliest compasses and theodolites to modern GPS, and the Villa Bartholoni is supposed to be impressive on its own.
But the real win is that they hold astronomy evenings every Wednesday from 6.30pm with the Société Astronomique de Genève, although my French translation might be pushed.
Planning note: not open on Tuesdays.
3 The Museum of Natural History You’re always on safe science ground with a natural history museum, and Geneva promises not to disappoint with a dinosaur exhibit and the Blaschka room, which showcases models of jellyfish, molluscs and other marine organisms created by Dresden glassmakers Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka. Plus, you never know when you might find some badly-stuffed animals hiding in a corner.
Planning note: not open on Mondays.
4 UNOG — Palais des Nations It’s fashionable to deride the United Nations as nothing more than a talking shop, as though that’s better than shouting and fighting, but the Palace of Nations is where the world gets on with trying to settle its differences peacefully, not to the UN agencies which do everything from aid and disaster relief work to making sure we can communicate with each other.
There are also statues of Gandhi and Yuri Gagarin, as well as the Broken Chair sculpture.
Planning note: You need your passport to get in, it’s closed for two hours at lunch and the last tour is at 4pm (expect a 30-minute entrance delay).
5 International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum Next door to the UN in Geneva’s most touristy area is place where you can find out about the oldest global humanitarian organisation and see what it’s doing now. The museum reopened in 2013 with a new permanent exhibition titled The Humanitarian Adventure, which looks at Defending Human Dignity, Restoring Family Links, and Reducing Natural Risks instead of just chronicling the conflict zones where most people hear about the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
Planning note: not open on Mondays. Find something uplifting for afterwards, just in case. The Botanical Gardens are nearby.
