2008-07-05 (Lindau Post Visit Day 1)

Migros.

We finally arrived to our hotel (Ramada Hotel) in Geneva after all the tiring transit flights. There was a Migros near our hotel, something like a big chain store of everything (you have Migros Restaurant, Migros supermarket, Migros currency exchange center, etc.) Swiss France is the currency used here and most of people in this part of Geneva speak French.

The schedule for the first day in Geneva was light. Our plan was visit the exhibitions in CERN. For those who had no idea what CERN was: CERN is currently holding the highest energy particle accelerator known as Large Hadron Collider (LHC). CERN is like a small town of its own and even has its own bus stop! The first place we visited in CERN was the Microcosm. Before we moved forward, we had our another bread-wrapped Kebab lunch. (Why so many Kebab around?)

 CERN.

 Bus stop #56.

Microcosm is basically like the particle accelerator version of National Science Center; it hosted many interactive equipments and gave many information about CERN and its projects: the history of CERN development, the foundation of the particle physics, the introduction to particle accelerator technology, including the computing system that lead to World Wide Web (WWW) we all use today, and so on.

Later, we stopped by the Globe and went to the exhibition titled “Big Science – LHC in pictures”. The Globe has a wooden look and it is a symbol of Planet Earth, at least that was what I read. Inside, many long and large banners hanged vertically and featured photos of different parts and developments of the LHC. It also gave pictorial information of the formation of the universe along the curved pathway.

The Globe.

The dipole magnet in LHC.

It is time to enjoy Geneva! We took a stroll around the city of Geneva and came across Jet d'Eau. It is the largest fountain in Geneva, Switzerland. Geneva is an international city as I came across people with different skins and languages, something like a Europeans version of Malaysia. I started to eat fast food almost everyday because it is generally cheaper than normal dinning. I will think twice before having fast food in Malaysia now.

I really hope this is how Klang River looks like.

The light is calling me…

Err...

 Thumbs up for the photographer.

Jet d'Eau.