Itinerary followed during this Interrail throughout Germany, Denmark and Switzerland

Cologne - Koblenz - Copenhagen - Helsingor - Hillerod - Roskilde - Berlin - Potsdam - Rhine cruise - Freiburg - Strasbourg - Black Forest - Rhine Waterfalls - Schaffhausen - Stein am Rhein - Konstanz - Zurich - Basel - Interlaken - Luzern - Zermatt - Brig - Bern - Geneva - Heidelberg - Munich - Dachau - Fussen - Nuremberg - Rothenburg (ODT) - Wurzburg - Jungfrau and Lauterbrunnen - Brienz - Geneva

We arrived to Geneva after two hours in the train from Bern. We entered the so-called Romandy Switzerland, the more French Switzerland where mainly they speak French. The centre of this region is the Lake Lehman or Lake Geneva, where most population gathers, including Geneva or Lausanne. This region is less industralized than the Germanic Switzerland, but it makes up for the service's sector, thus we are talking about a very cosmopolitan and tolerant place, where the tourism abounds, as well as the banks, the multinationals, the international organisms, the trade, the medicine, etc.
The canton of Geneva only has a 4,5 Km. long border with Switzerland and 104 Km. with France, a fact that has always conditioned the town's personality. The quality of life is very high. It is the Swiss town where we have noticed the more varied mixture of cultures.
Due to this particular situation, surrounded by France, this region has been the last but one to incorporate to the Helvetica Confederation. The initial height of the city began during the 15th century when it became a financial town of international rename. The French king banned that the merchants went to Geneva, so the citizens approached the Swiss and German neighbours, that triggered the arrival of the new religious ideas. In 1536 the Reform is adopted and the town started to house the refuges coming from other countries, such as the Huguenots in France. In this period the French Calvin appears to turn the city into the "Protestant Rome" through his severe advices. The refugees contribute to the development with their industry and money. All these events made Geneva very rich and famous in the 17th century. This fact and the alliance with the confederates made that the Catholics like France or Savoy got really angry. In 1602 Savoy attempted the assault to the town but they were repelled during the well-known night of "L'Escalade" that still nowadays they celebrate. The next important happening was the French Revolution in 1798. After the sinking of the Napoleon Empire the Swiss troops invaded Geneva in 1814, and they entered the Helvetica Confederation. Throughout the 19th century a very liberal welcoming politics is developed for refugees from the whole Europe.

Henri Dunant with the assistance of the general Dufour, commander-in-chief of the federal army during the Sonderbund's war, founded the Red Cross in 1864. In 1898 an anarchist stabbed Sissy, the empress of Austria and she died. The city welcomed numerous refugees such as Lenin (who stayed from 1905 and 1908).
Nowadays the almost 300 international institutions make of Geneva the second town of the UN (after New York ) and the most cosmopolitan city across Switzerland .

We spent two days here: one after visiting Bern and the last day of our interrail, since it was ideal for our return to Spain in a night train. We had time to see many things. We liked it very much because in addition to a lake, a river, a historical old centre and great landscapes (it is very similar to the rest of Swiss towns) we found the possibility to visit the very compelling international institutions.

he visit to the old town starts at the Island 's Bridge, the widest over the river Rhone. You will check that the historical town is small and with many slopes

We first reached the town hall . The Baudet's tower is the most ancient part (1455), which you access through a precious fortified staircase. You can see the rooms where the Red Cross was constituted in 1864, or where the north Americans and south Americans discussed about the south's cruise Alabama in 1872, during the Secession War.
In front of the town hall there is the old Arsenal . In the 15th century it was a granary that after successive transformations became an arsenal from 1720 and 1877. Under the arcades they keep several French cannons that the Austrians snatched in their war against Napoleon. The mosaics are great. One of them shows the arrival of Julius Caesar to the city.

We were influenced by the streets, admiring the facades. The Tavel's house is outstanding, and the most ancient across Geneva . It was constructed at the end of the 13th century, but a fire devastated the town and the house had to be rebuilt. It is wonderful, the small tower, the painting, the courtyard, the railings and the warehouse.
As for the Saint Peter's cathedral , the works lasted for one century, from 12th to 13th. The facade and the tower were completed in a Flemish Gothic style, from the 14th century, the époque when the temple became a Reform church. The copper arrow dates from the 19th century and can be seen from most parts of the city.

We liked the richly sculpted capitals that remained after the Reform, with animals, monsters and diverse religious and mythological characters. Calvin preached here from 1536 to 1564, when he died. They keep his chair. Many important figures during the Reform lie here. You can go upstairs to the northern tower to contemplate the magnificent views. The tower holds a bell that sounds every hour. There are archaeological excavations nearby the cathedral, and everything they find, they store it at some halls under the cathedral that you can enter. They are the vestiges of an ancient Roman and medieval town. There is also a baptistery from the 4th century.

Close from the cathedral we reached the Bourg-de-Four Square , a pretty square surrounded with ancient houses and where they installed the fairs during the 13th century. The still maintain the emblems of the old inns. The buildings date from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Students who take seat in any of the numerous terraces frequent this spot. It is a marvellous place to have a break and enjoy the atmosphere.

The New Square houses cultural building such as the Great Theatre, the Conservatory and museums. In the middle a statue of the general Dufour (cofounder of the Red Cross) is erected. In front there are the Bastions gardens , where the univeristy is located, as well as the Reformers wall, from 1917, with 4 gigantic statues of the main Reform's figures: Juan Calvino, John Knox, Guillaume Farel and Théodore de Bèze.
Along our walk back towards the lake we found some perfect streets for those who love shopping, the Rhône's street and the parallel street that changes the name four times (among them the Marché or the Croix d´Or, that is, the Market or the Gold Cross).

Near the lake we went to the English Garden , that keeps a pretty clock made of flowers. This zone is very lively. Once you are at the lake you will contemplate one of the most sold postcards in Switzerland, the famous huge water jet (called Jet D'Eau Fountain) on the middle of the lake. It is a water spurt launched vertically to 140 m. height. It is difficult to imagine that at any moment 7 tons of water are flying above the lake.

The present jet is from 1947, but here was a previous one since 1886. We walked until the point where the water is launched. We approached to check the dimensions of the stream, getting a bit wet. We almost lost this spectacle since during our first stay here the wind prevented the jet to run (such a huge mass of water flying far away could cause many damage). However, we were lucky in our second stay.

At the other bank of the river we walked until the Geneva 's beach but the weather didn't invite to baths. As for this bank, there is little of interest but anyway it is worthwhile. The Rousseau's island in the middle of the river was a fortified islet at its origin. In 1834 they displayed it for walking and they put the name dedicated to the famous philosopher who was born here in 1712. Not only this, but also all the bridges that cross the river offer splendid sightsee .

And now we begin with the museums and International Organisms that differentiate Geneva from the rest of Swiss towns. This international role is originally due to the foundation of the Red Cross, which brought many international meetings. Afterwards the President of EEUU decided to settle here in 1919 the Nations Society and the International Work Office. Later on they came the UN (United Nations), the WHO (World Health Organization) and others. You have to book these visits, except in the case of the two that I consider the most captivating: the UN and the Red Cross.
The UN is compulsory, and you have to arrive to it by bus. You can select the language for the visit. It starts with a video showing the helplessness of the UN before a world that doesn't want the peace.

After it we walked through the interesting facilities that help us to understand better how the different instruments of the UN run. It is very nice to go deep in these subjects because, despite on TV they are always talking about the different machinery of this institutions, most of us don't know exactly how they take the decisions, the power that they hold and many other things. The Assembly Hall is the biggest and most famous.

Very close to the UN we found the Red Cross and Red Crescent International Museum The entrance is awesome, since some statues of prisoners with the hands tied at the back and the eyes blindfolded are represented. At the inside the panorama is not better. They reconstruct the activities of the Red Cross since the foundations, and we advance through the horrors of the Contemporary Era, passing through the World Wars until Rwanda or Bosnia . There is a space dedicated to the victim attention and their problems. The origin of the Red Cross was due to the battle of Solferino (1859). The troops of Napoleon III fought and defeated the Austrian army. It was an authentic slaughter and near 40.000 people died. In Switzerland an impulse to help the victims raised, and this resulted in the decision of Henri Dunant of creating the Red Cross in 1864. He received the first Noble Prize of the Humanity for these works.

We also entered the Car's International museum , since in Geneva they held the Car's International Motor Show every year.
I don't love vehicles but the exposition is rather nice, with numerous models and even some cars that belonged to historic figures. To visit this museum you should take a bus or taxi.

As we are scientists we had a deep interest to know the Microcosm , the permanent exposition that the European Organization for the Nuclear Research (CERN) has established. The CERN was created in 1954 for theoretical researching, without any immediate application in mind. It possesses a particles accelerator located underground (100 m. deep) that nowadays is the greatest world-wide (27 km. long) and is placed between the Swiss and French border. It is a round device that launches the smallest known particles near the light speed and makes them crash to observe what it happens. Its final aim is to understand how the Universe runs, the forces that govern and the composition of the matter. Despite they try to make the visitor understand everything by means of videos, scale models, demos and interactive objects, in my opinion you should like this field and have some scientific background and English knowledge, since the subject is hard. To come here we took a bus in the town centre. Mainly, in this institution, they work physicians and engineers.

We got back to Interlaken to sleep, although we checked that there are many cheap accommodations in Geneva. The second day we came to the city we considered the possibility of going to Chamonix and the Mont Blanc. The problem is that although they are close in kilometres, you need many hours in trains to reach it, so we desisted. The Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn are the nailed thorns that I hope to visit sometime.

At the end of this interrail we arrived in Geneva for the second time, in order to travel to Spain. We came from Interlaken and it was dark. We were lucky to find an acceptable and cheap accommodation relatively quickly, but to arrive late to a city without any booked bed is a bit stressing, like in Mainz. The next day we saw the city for the second time and we took the night train until Hendaye. During this journey some backpackers didn't take any precautions and they were stolen. We slept very deeply despite the discomfort, as we were exhausted.
If I compare this interrail with the one I spent in Italy, I have to say that I ended this interrail through several countries more exhausted, since in Italy you spend several days at each city. In this interrail we wandered from one spot to other, with habitually short stays at each location. However, if I have to select one of them, I take both :-).