I’ve been a bit slow with my Vienna stuff, but I’m working on it so hopefully I’ll have that posted soon.

One of my favorite things to buy when I travel is Christmas ornaments. They are often delicate and require special handling so I love the idea of bringing these Precious Armor bags along to carry them home. Made of super strong, leak-proof nylon and insulated with a layer of padding, they’ll protect your breakables while they are packed in your suitcase. They also cleverly include a window so airport security can quickly identify your items if inspected.

$19.50 for set of of two – one small & one large Magellan’s

Visit My Adventures to read about our trip to Geneva, Switzerland and check out pictures on my Photos page or by clicking into the album through one of the images posted.

Will and I found ourselves in Geneva for business, but decided to check out the city a little while we were there. I wasn’t really sure what to expect other than banks and high end watch stores and truthfully….that’s pretty much all there was! Geneva is right next to France, so the language and the food (which is delicious) are French. While there isn’t a lot to do, there are a few interesting places to visit.

Highlights:

-Lake Geneva is one of the largest lakes in Europe and it borders both Switzerland and France. Its fountain, the Jet D’eau, is the tallest in the world, shooting a stream of water over 450 feet into the sky. Public transportation is free in Geneva when you stay in a city hotel and it includes the yellow water taxis that cross the lake. Longer trips to see bigger portions of the lake are available through several tour companies. Both locals and visitors tend to congregate around the lake to enjoy the view of the city and Mount Blanc and to feed the seabirds and swans that swim there.

-Even though the United Nations has had its European headquarters in Geneva since the late 1940s, Switzerland stayed neutral and acted only as an observer of their activities until joining as a full member in 2002. The Geneva office is the second largest, after New York, and tours are offered to the public at designated times on most days. Unfortunately, there were no tours during our visit but I enjoyed seeing the building and the powerful “Broken Chair” monument to land mine victims across the street.

-The European Organization for Nuclear Research, otherwise known as CERN, is the most famous science center in the world. Its main objective is to study atomic particles and it is best known to the public for the Large Hadron Collider operated there. The purpose of the LHC is to test and study the fundamentals of theoretical physics and further the understanding of space and time. They hope to recreate the Big Bang Theory of the Earth’s creation and deepen scientific knowledge of existence. Although most of the enormous facility is not open to the public, visitors can reserve tours in advance and/or visit the displays set up that explain how the LHC was built and how it works.

Geneva may not be a tourist mecca, but it is an important, international city. The sites I visited there are so unique that they make it special even if it’s not the most exciting place.

For more pictures, please visit my Photo Gallery or click on any of the photos posted above.

Geneva Links:
Geneva Official Site
United Nations Geneva
CERN

Canada has announced that they will be phasing out paper money and replacing it with bills made out of plastic! The new currency, made from a polymer fiber, will cost twice as much as paper, but it will last 2 1/2 times as long and is nearly impossible to counterfeit. $100 notes entered circulation earlier this month and will be followed by $50 versions in 2012 and $20, $10 and $5 varieties in 2013. It will be interesting to see how well this works and if the U.S. will follow suit as we’ve had issues with counterfeits and rising production costs here as well.