Europe

When we landed (October 12, 2019), we headed to customs which had a massive line. We were worried because our flight was going in about an hour, but the employees told us we would be fine. They did have a short connection line, but our departure time was still far enough out we had to wait. As we got closer though, they called our departure time and we got to skip ahead. We got our 8th Amsterdam passport control stamp and then headed to the gate for Geneva.

Walking in AMS

The plane to Geneva

When we got to the gate, I went and gave our standby cards to the agents and they gave us seats. We were put in the exit row together and had the whole row to ourselves. It was nice to be back together after the long flight apart.

The flight was about 1.5 hours and we took a nap for most of it. We woke up during the service and they gave us water and a little pear cake. It was tasty.

Water and cake

Nearing Geneva. The plane's window was quite dirty, unfortunately, but the view was beautiful!

You can see their jet d'eau (water jet) in the distance

A quick video upon arrival

When we arrived we headed out of the airport. We stopped at a tourist information desk and found out how to get to our hotel. It was a 20 minute bus ride almost to the door of the hotel. Across the street was a grocery store where we stopped and got some snacks.

We checked in at the hotel, the headed out to go to CERN. While we couldn't take a tour, we did get to see their two permanent exhibits. Taken from their website, "Universe of Particles is the exhibition installed in the Globe of Science and Innovation. Dedicated to CERN main missions, it allows exploring of the world of particles by immersing the visitor in a unique and spectacular ambiance. Microcosm is next to CERN's reception. This exhibition offers a discovery of CERN adventure".

Walking to the bus stop to get to CERN

Regular and portrait mode picture Hunter got of me!

The bus has electronic signs that tell you where you are

Arrival at CERN Universe of Particles exhibit

I was so excited to be here!

Hunter and I!

When we entered the building we were right on time for their quick video about the story of the universe. Here is a snippet from it.

Inside the exhibit

The first ever internet server, Hunter was quite excited to see it

Hunter working one of the narration controls, they were a bit small for him but told cool stories about CERN in a variety of languages

This is the start of their second exhibit, Microcosm

One of the original particle accelerators

A map of the Particle Accelerator 

After visiting the CERN exhibits I was becoming very very tired. We decided to head back to the hotel and have a nap. Hunter practically carried me back. On our way back we passed a church with a wedding going on. We also saw an Aldi!

The church was very pretty

  

They had a cute little car all ready to go for after the wedding

After our nap, it was around 8pm and we decided to go see the UN at night. We eventually found our way there as we walked and it was very nice. There were water fountains in front, and then a 3 legged chair sculpture, and behind that was the UN's European Headquarters. We sat and watched the fountains, then went closer to the UN to get pictures of the flags. At 10pm, the lights and fountains shut off abruptly, which we laughed about. We took a bus back to our hotel and then ordered Uber Eats sandwiches because everything was closed! Even our hotels' room service didn't have food! The sandwiches were very yummy and I'm glad we got them. They were each 40cm long! Hunter got tuna and I had chicken dijon. I was very full after eating. We both showered and then went to bed. 

Video of the fountains

The 3 leg chair

Hunter!

   

Walking back to our hotel

Midnight dinner