Visiting the UN

This weekend I went into Geneva again, as has been my tradition so far. I started off in Old Town and walked around the perimeter of Lake Geneva (or Lac Leman, as they call it here), ended up at the UN headquarters, and then walked all the way back to old town to catch my tram and to a little grocery shopping.

On the way to the UN, the first stop was the Brunswick Monument. Apparently, the Duke of Brunswick died in Geneva and left a large sum of money to the city, stipulating that they build a mausoleum in his honor. Here are some pictures:


These are the lions around the steps to get into the mausoleum area.



This is a side view of the monument.

Me in front of the monument.


A statue that I can only assume is the Duke of Brunswick.

After seeing the mausoleum, I stumbled upon a free beach volleyball tournament that was taking place, sponsored by the department store Coop. There was a riveting match going on between a Canadian pair and a Swiss pair. Pictures below:



The Canadians are in green and the Swiss are orange. Canada ended up winning.

Being on the opposite side of the lake meant I could get some pretty good shots of the old part of town from across it. So, I snapped a couple photos.

A cool view of the Jet d'Eau and some of the buildings across from the pier.


A hilly residential area next to the Old Town.


Me walking on water. Residential area in the background.


On the way to the UN, I passed by the President Wilson Hotel and the Palais Wilson.


President Wilson Hotel. Named after Woodrow Wilson


The Palais Wilson, where the League of Nations was founded. Also dedicated to Woodrow Wilson.

Then, finally, I made it to the UN. In front of it there is a nice set of fountains and a large chair with one leg broken that is dedicated to those with physical disabilities.



Stereotypical tourist picture.


The UN!

The actual UN was closed, but I managed to snap this cool picture through the gates.

The last part of the circuit, on the way back to the tram stop, had some very interesting sights.



First, there was a series of interesting contraptions shaped like people set up by the Jet d'Eau.


Then, as part of a clean water campaign for the lake, the Swiss Ronald McDonald was there.


Then, there was this crazily dressed street performer charging 1 franc for a shot on goal. They were set up next to a toy store, so the little kids were loving it. I'm guessing the parents weren't.


And finally, outside the toy store, which is called Franz Carl Weber, I managed to get a picture with someone dressed as the Transformer Bumblebee. I felt sorry for them, because it was a really hot day.

So, that was my trip into Geneva for this weekend. It was pretty fun!

Fete de la Musique

This weekend was the Fete de la Musique in Geneva, where you can walk around and there are basically musical performances anywhere you go. Also, all of the museums are open for free, so its a great time to go around and just explore the city.

But first, we had some particularly nice weather this week, so I decided to take some pictures from the office window to show you my view from work every day!


If I look out my office window and turn left, this is what I see. On the left side of the picture
is the start of a very large vineyard.



This is what I see if I turn right when I look out my window. It is the French town of St. Genis.



This is my main view every day. You can see the Jura Mountains and the town of Thoiry.



These are two of the other people in my office. The one sitting is Jack, the other undergrad here for the summer. The one standing is Alberto, the postdoc that I have been mainly working with.
In the background you can see the whiteboard full of things related to the work we have been doing.

Now, onto pictures from the Fete de la Musique. Jack and I went into town together to check it out, and we started out at the Musee d'Art et d'Historie (Museum of Art and History). Unfortunately, they don't allow you to take any pictures inside. We saw lots of cool Middle Ages armor as well as some very nice artwork (lots of Monet and Renoir in one section). Here are some pictures of the exterior of the museum:


This is the entrance of the museum.



A side view of the museum as you approach it.


A picture of the museum courtyard that I managed to sneak from a second floor window.

Then, came the bands. First, we went to go see a rock band that also snag a couple country songs in French called "Skim".


After that, we went and saw a cellist perform a beautiful piece by Bach at the museum. Outside the museum, there was a reggae band performing. In French. Needless to say, this was the last thing we expected in Switzerland. So, we got a picture:


This is the reggae band "The Green Kingdom".

After this, we went to the Parc de Bastions to see the jazz band "Pepper Funk" play. These guys were the best by far. Each musician was really talented, and we ended up staying through their whole set.
The jazz band "Pepper Funk"


A little pond in the park that I thought looked cool.



One of the buildings adjacent to the park.

On the way back to the tram stop, we went through the Place Neuve and I managed to snap a couple pictures of buildings from afar, though I'm not sure what they are.



This is one of the buildings on Place Neuve. You can also see one of the tents set up for the festival.

Finally, one of the cool things I found out while exploring today is that the water that comes out of the fountains in the city is actually drinkable! So I took a picture of a fountain while waiting for the tram to take me back to CERN.


Finally, I close with a picture of something outside a chocolate shop that I just found really amusing.


And no, you can't just go around buying gold bars in Geneva...

C'est pas sorcier

Today was a pretty low-key day...I just walked around CERN and explored. It was also very very hot, which wore me out a bit. I'm posting some more pictures from Geneva and also some interesting pieces of old detectors on display around CERN. See captions for descriptions!


Got to see the site where the Red Cross was founded!


I just thought this was a nice view of an old alleyway


A very typically European narrow uphill walkway

Saw many, many cool high end cars in Geneva. This would be a Ferrari


And I don't know what kind this is, but it was awesome in person.


The building with the black bricks is the oldest house in Geneva.

Now, onto some pictures of things at CERN:


This is the European Bubble Chamber. When it was running, it would be filled with a liquid such that when particles hit the liquid, their tracks form bubbles that we detect and take pictures of to analyze the data.


A view inside the bubble chamber from the bottom


The piston that was used to close up and create pressure in the bubble chamber.


This is an RF cavity from CERN's old accelerator, LEP. This is what drives the proton beam around the accelerator.



A side view of the RF cavity. The center part is where the beam would go through.


This whole setup is a Cockroft Walton generator, which is used to feed protons into the accelerator ring.


A closeup of the voltage stepper of the Cockroft Walton.

Another French bubble chamber called Gargamelle


View inside Gargamelle


This is a "solar fountain" that is on the lawn in front of CERN's Restaurant 1.
The solar energy collected by the panel is used to squirt water and keep a ball elevated in the air.


Closeup of the actual fountain part. It was a sunny day!


And finally, I get a big kick out of this. As you probably know, CERN's new accelerator is called the LHC. This sign in front of restaurant 1 says CERN LH...C'est pas sorcier. "C'est pas sorcier" can be interpreted as "It's not rocket science." I got a big laugh out of that!