United Nations

On Monday, Mary went to work and I slept :). One of the people that went with us to Gruyere was Kate, who recently moved to Switzerland from Houston. They moved for her husband's job, so she was still pretty new and had free time. Lucky for me, she became my weekday sightseeing friend :).

Monday we tackled the free tour at the United Nations. No, we didn't go back to New York. The second largest UN office is in Geneva. It is in the old League of Nations building. Here's some pictures to walk you through my afternoon.

This is a three legged chair outside the UN where the tram drops you off. It is a monument to remind you and politicians about land mines. The cloudy weather doesn't help the picture any.

The side of the UN I started to walk in until I was shown the very clear "do not enter" sign for tourists. Oops.

Do you remember the move The Interpreter? Can you picture Nicole Kidman up in this glass box? It's all I could think of :). Good movie if I remember correctly.

Sitting down in one of the UN meeting rooms. The ceiling was done by a Spanish artist and is meant to look different from each angle (it is 3D with different colors on the stuff hanging down). The artist did it this way to remind the politicians that everyone comes in with a different perspective.

I didn't realize how complex the UN was. This poster tries to explain it. Only two or three of the UN objectives are addressed in Geneva (as opposed to New York or other offices). I can't remember for sure, but I think they are the more humanitarian initiatives.

The remainder of the UN flag that survived a bombing. Who bombs the UN?

There were paintings all over the building and I was drawn to this one.

The UN building is huge. Huge. Who funds this? Is it really necessary? :) This is a view of the front from one of the wing windows.

I turned the corner and a view of the front lawn. The globe in the center of the lawn (right side of picture) is a gift from the U.S. and is a globe that use to rotate.

A mural on the ceiling of one room. This is the treaty room where big stuff is signed. Our guide told us examples which I recognized but now forget :-/.

One item he did tell us is that they had to rearrange those chairs below into a triangle instead of square because some Middle East countries would not allow their representatives to look into the eyes of their counterparts. I tried to google it quick with no luck. This is the problem of not posting quickly :).

They had free wifi in the reception area and peacocks roaming the parking lot. It was a really good tour actually, especially being free. I recommend it for any visitors.