Waters of Geneva

Alrica and I spent two days (one full day and much of a second one) in Geneva, Switzerland. I know, you figured I meant the one in Switzerland. But I wanted to be very clear I wasn't referring to the city in New York or the lake in Wisconsin. It's funny that in my time in the U.S. those would have seemed more likely. But now, that is so far away.

Geneva is an interesting city. One thing to note: It is very expensive. What we spent on food over the time we were here could be about what I spent on food during my entire time in Tirana. (Okay, probably not quiet that high, but not far off.)

You can see why this is called the Broken Chair.

But it is also very beautiful. It is right where Lake Geneva (or Lac Leman and I don't know why it has two completely different names) drains into the Rhône River. (It isn't the source of the Rhône, just a lake along the way.) The lakefront is lovely with plenty of views of architecture, old ships, and the Jet D'Eau.

Jet D'Eau (I know with the scale you can't tell how tall it is.)

Jet D'Eau, for those who don't know French, means the Jet of Water. Literally, that is what I am talking about. The Jet D'Eau is a fountain in Lake Geneva that sprays up to 140 meters high. That's 460 feet or about one and a half football fields. Really it is one football field including its endzones and then a third of another football field ignoring its endzones. I think I am working too hard to describe this in football fields. Apparently, it is a symbol of the city, encapsulating it's Geneva spirit. This surprised me, because before knowing i was coming here and looking into the city, I had never heard of the Jet D'Eau. Maybe all of my readers are already familiar with it. I will say this for the Jet D'Eau, it is an impressively high spout of water.

It appears Alrica is half the height of the jet. 70 meters tall? Well, she looms large in my life.

Geneva does have wonderful water, not just the lake and the Jet D'Eau, but also its drinking water. And throughout the older parts of the city there are fountains. They are on the sides of churches, in the middle of parks, in the center of traffic circles. And they all have a sign telling you that this is Eau Potable. (If you didn't figure it out from the translation of Jet D'Eau, eau means water. And potable means potable.)

Thirsty? Geneva's got you covered.

Among our excursions, we visited the Ariana Museum. It is a museum of ceramic and glass. Now, this seems a bit out of place. Switzerland is not famous for its ancient ceramics or glasses. Sure, they made such things in more modern times, but some of the exhibits here stretch back to the 9th century. Back then, ceramic was a jealously guarded secret of China. And the Europeans paid good money for it. You've heard of the Dutch East India Company and the British East India Company and the French East India Company? These were all royally chartered companies in the import/export business with the East Indies (which included China and Japan.) Ceramic was one of the major goods brought by the Dutch East India Company.

But wait, Dutch means from the Netherlands. There was no Swiss East India Company. Switzerland lacks any easy access to the sea. So why is this museum about the history of the "fire" arts located here? Because of a collector who loved ceramics (and glass, but really ceramics.) He then gave all his collection to Geneva to become a museum so that the people could experience his vast collection.

In French, they got 175 new pieces in 2024. In English they only got 16. Huh?

We also saw the United Nations Building, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Building, the Cathedral of St. Pierre, and the Broken Chair. This last one was originally built to commemorate civilian casualties of war, but now it stands as a monument condemning the use of cluster bombs and landmines in war.

Promenade of Flags with UN Building behind it

Another famous site in Geneva is the Flower Clock. It is a clock built into a hill, with the mechanism underneath. And it is so beautiful because it is surrounded in flowers. Sometimes. When we went, there were no flowers, only grass. Apparently, they are preparing a new artistic flower creation that shows a woman stretching for a soccer ball to commemorate the Women's European Cup which is coming to Geneva in June. Alrica called it the Flower Not Clock. But I disagree. It's still a clock. The hands were moving, it was telling the time. I think it is The Not Flower Clock or the Not Flower Flower Clock, which I guess is just The Clock.

What would you call it?

I'm sure you are all asking, "But Erich, did you eat cheese? Did you eat chocolate? Did your eat churros?" (Not that last one, I got carried away with "ch" foods.)

Yes, yes, and no, but again, you weren't asking about churros. We had a very savory fondue and enjoyed chocolate from brands with which we were previously unfamiliar. I'm not saying that one entire dinner consisted of chocolate, but I'm also not saying that it didn't happen that way either.

I like to leave a bit of mystery for my readers.

Only Partially Agreeing with Dorothy

As I write this I sit in the Tirana Airport. Alrica and I are leaving Albania for the foreseeable future. And yet, even as I say that, I feel pretty confident we will come back to Tirana. It will likely be a few years hence, but also likely that it will happen.

Why am I so sure? Because of all the cities we have visited and lived in since leaving Reno, this one feels the most like home. I don't mean it feels the most like Reno, but that it feels like a city in which I could really enjoy living longer term. I don't want to speak for Alrica (which is a lie, I would love to speak for Alrica, but I know the consequences if I do, so I won't,) but I think she feels it too. Tirana has enough variety in foods and entertainment, it isn't overwhelming, it is very friendly, and the cost of living is quite affordable. Add to this list that Albania allows U.S. passport holders to stay for one year without a visa and it is a super attractive place to make a home base the next time Alrica and I want to travel around Europe.

There is a saying "you can't go home again." And I agree. Tirana is growing right now, growing a lot. Albania is opening up and trying to be more tourist friendly. There are so many buildings going up (amazing quirky buildings). And I wonder what this will do to the city. Will it lose its inherent Albanianity? Will it become expensive? Will it feel like some smaller version of a Western European destination? I hope not. I want Tirana to hang on to itself and for Albania to hang on to itself.

That's a picture, not an actual building, but how cool would that be! (Not to live in though.)

There is an irony that some cultures which can't be crushed by war and persecution can suddenly be overturned by prosperity. Declare that we are others, that we are inferior, try to crush us, and we resist, we thrive. But let us become successful and comfortable and we let the assimilation begin.

I see it in my own heritage. I am Jewish by heritage, but personally I no longer believe in the tenets of the religion nor in the supreme being associated with it. (I haven't replaced that supreme being with any other who is more or less or equally supreme. I'm reasonably content with no higher power at all.) But why can I make that call and previous generations didn't? I think when Jewish people were othered and tormented by the majority, they had to cling together and the religion became all the more important to their identities. But welcome us into your society and let us become mathematicians and goofy bloggers, and then we don't feel the need to only associate with other Jews or to take refuge in the sanctuary of our sanctuaries.

That's just one example, but the one I can most personally relate to. I'm sure there are many others and that some readers will have a similar experience or family history with a similar experience.

Coming back off my tangent, I wonder if a new prosperity, a flourishing of a tourism economy, will have that same affect on Albania. I hope not, because the next time I return to Tirana, I would like to find it much as I left it.

Dorothy said (repeatedly, while clicking her heels,) "There's no place like home." But I don't entirely agree. I think there are other places like home. Not identical, but other places that could easily become home, a different home, but equal in its homeness. So I would reply to Dorothy, "Well, not everyplace is like home. But I wouldn't go so far as to say, 'There can be only one!'" (I know that I just mixed movie references that are decades apart. Eh, there are worse things I could do. Third movie reference!)