Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high

There's a land that I heard of, once in a lullaby.

Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue,

And the dreams that you dare to dream

Really do come true.

Someday I'll wish upon a star, and wake up where the clouds are far behind me.

Where troubles melt like lemon drops, away above the chimney tops

That's where you'll find me.

Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly.

Birds fly over the rainbow.

Why then, oh why can't I?

-E.Y. Harburg, 1939

PS - More photos on the way, stay tuned....

Final result.

I'm happy with the way it turned out. Ah, it feels so good getting rid of that hideous yellow. I decided to go with an off-white color, with a slight tint of beige, to blend the green bedroom and the peach kitchen together. Overall, I'm happy with the way my flat looks now. I feel that the color of a room has a big effect on your mood, and now I'm finally in a "peaceful" mood in any room, even the hallway...!

More work.

Surface electrostatics of the molecule. So much fun....

Parking.

Okay okay, not the most beautiful picture I've ever posted - but I just wanted to show you my parking area. Parking here in Geneva isn't so readily available, and IF you're lucky enough to find a lot to park in around here that has a free spot, it costs around 200 CHF per month - not so convenient.

It just so happens, though, that a short while back a building was demolished directly behind my building. And now, this footprint became the parking lot for my building, hidden from the street by a lockable garage door. Pretty sweet. When I signed for this apartment, I was told there is a construction project that would start January 2007 to rebuild in this spot, and that I would have to look for parking elsewhere. However, it is now May, and still no sign of construction (keep your fingers crossed). It's super convenient to have the car and bike off the street, hidden, and directly underneath my apartment.

Beautiful Sunny Afternoon.

A nice comfortable afternoon. Temperature around 24 (75F) with dry air. A nice cool, constant breeze blowing across the lake and filling sails. Sitting in the sun, enjoying great food and drinks. Wish you were here.

Rewards.

To the victor goes the.... bananas?

Sucrose, fructose and glucose - combined with fiber, bananas give an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy... oh yeah, and also some vitamin C, vitamin A, some B complex vitamins and even some folate

...all wrapped up in a tiny yellow biodegradable package.

Second Place Winner.

Came in about 3 minutes after the winner.

And a view to the left.

Earth meets Sky.

Just a typical walk home for me today... Well, not exactly on my way home. I have to walk about 3 minutes more to reach this place. The lake is very close to my apartment, and some evenings I like to stop by and relax here for a few minutes - great place to think, and to unwind from the daily routine.

View from the top.

This was one amazing road. There are really no words to describe it. This photo was from our ride 9 days ago, and I enjoyed that road so much that I went back there this past Saturday by myself and spent probably close to 1.5 hours riding up and down this mountain. The twists were continuous, requiring me to constantly shift from side to side, leaning through the turns in a rhythm that really put me into a peaceful trance. There are a few hairpin turns thrown in to make the road even more interesting. I couldn't keep the smile from my face as I listened to my engine echo off the trees at 14,000 rpm and moved my body with the rhythm of the roads. (Oh yeah, no cops or radar up there too - makes for a very, very pleasant time).

More BBQs!

So after we soaked up the sun lakeside, we traveled back towards Geneva and visited our friends who prepared a Turkish feast for us! This was the first time I tried authentic, Turkish food - and wow, as you'll see from the lack of photos, I was very busy eating the entire time we were there. Our friends have a nice sun room, and we stayed there enjoying some amazing lunch and delicious desserts. And, of course, what Turkish meal would be complete without the famous tea! I have a few more pictures, which you can find by clicking on the link below:

Random Swiss Town.

We had a beautiful ride along the lake after leaving Nyon, and every now and then we would drive through a town like this. At normal speed, and if you don't obey the speed regulations, if you were to blink with the right timing, you wouldn't even notice you passed through a village. Don't worry, of course we were good bikers and followed all posted speed limits in the towns.

We decided to stop and walk around for a few minutes at this place. It was really a perfect day; the temperature was about 25 and the roads were free from traffic. Just a little further up the road I stood on while taking this picture, we turned north and rode into the mountains. At that point, the decision had to be made to either stop every 3 minutes to take pictures, or to twist my right wrist and enjoy the roads - I chose the second option, but I still want to tell you about the road we were on.

As we climbed up the mountains, the ground was noticeably more rocky. And the farmers and country-folk took advantage of that by building elaborate and ridiculously long stacked-stone walls - It looked like a scene from Ireland. The walls also lined both sides of the roads, and the roads were twisty and very well paved. If I had to design the perfect riding roads with the perfect scenery, this wouldn't be far from what I would imagine.

Castle in the clouds.

I mean really, honestly - it's almost like living in Disney World or some kind of pretend country. As you walk away from the lake and approach the town square of Nyon, this old prison is the most pronounced structure among all of the other buildings. On the other side, you get a beautiful view of the lake... Don't know how good the food was 400 years ago, but I wouldn't mind staying in a prison with a view like that!

All of the streets in this part of the village were made from cobblestones, and almost every bakery and storefront was decorated with flowers showcasing every color of the rainbow. You could easily get lost in this little village for an entire weekend (week, month,.. lifetime??) as you browse around the many art stores and handmade craft stores, wait in line to taste the freshly made ice-cream, or sit outside under the sun at a quaint cafe overlooking the lake.

Hello everyone!!!

I'm back!! - It's time we got these POD's started again!!! So, I decided to start off with the really bad news first, and of course after this news - things will keep getting better and better. Don't forget to check back every day for a new and exciting picture from the 'life of Tom'.

I was working late on Friday night, and close to midnight I was walking to my motorcycle when I noticed four guys walking "away" from my moto. Didn't think anything of it, this is Geneva right? So, I put on my gloves and helmet, jumped on the bike, turned the key and all of the gauges and lights came on as normal, then instantly shut off. After that... Nothing. I tried and tried everything, but couldn't get any power to the bike.

So, after 20 minutes of checking fuses, checking the charge on the battery, checking switch connections; I decided to leave her and walk home. When I came back Saturday morning, after 10 minutes of close inspection, this is what I found.

Apparently, someone cut my ignition wires and tried to "hotwire" and steal my bike. I got really lucky - the moto-gods are smiling on me. Even though I was pretty upset, I soldered up the wires and wound up going on my scheduled motorcycle ride through Switzerland, regardless. Make sure to check back, you don't want to miss the pics from that ride!!! And, from now on, I'm putting on my wheel lock, locking the handlebars and setting the alarm - so nothing to worry about.

Cheers!

Military Strategy....

...although, after watching this "military demonstration", my friends and I realized why the French were defeated in 1602 - They were either:

1. Bored to Death.

2. Died from laughing too hard.

Basically, a bunch of guys with pink and purple socks ran around in a circle carrying oversized toothpicks while a few guys with black-powder guns took 10 minutes to pull off one shot... I'm glad there was an old lady who decided to throw a pot of hot soup on the French (as legend has it), because this army wasn't doing much of anything.

Still, pretty cool to see how things were done back in the day...

....still going...

These guys (and gals) gave the Energizer Bunny a run for his money. I don't think they stopped until they either feel asleep or their drums ruptured.

Drums.

Many of them. Everywhere. In the streets, in the alleys, on the steps of the cathedral, all night long, even at 2 in the morning. Oh yeah, with flutes too.... I don't think anyone that lives in the old part of town got any sleep during the Escalade celebrations.

Age.

As you walk around this part of town, it feels as if you are back in the 1500's. Throughout the evening, the classic tones of the cathedral bells echoed through the streets, accenting the drums and flutes of the marching troops.

Done.

Well, at least with one wall. I'll eventually take some pictures in daylight so that you can see the real colors. Hopefully I'll finish the kitchen this weekend, and I'll have something nice to show you next week!

Lights.

The Swiss really like to light things up. Apparently, they like to light up trees. This was a particularly cool 'light sculpture' I found while walking around the streets of the old city. I'll have to grab the tripod and start snapping some pictures of the lights around my neighborhood - it is quite beautiful this time of year.

Buildings.

Old buildings, lights, flags - overall, a pretty nice atmosphere...

Cathédrale St-Pierre.

Many of the buildings in the older part of Geneva are typically showcased with lights quite nicely. As we walked around the running course for the Escalade, we took some time to check out the sites. Here is some info (shamelessly stolen from the web) about this church:

The Cathedral of St. Peter in Geneva is best known as the church where John Calvin gave his inspiring sermons during the mid-16th century. The imposing, Romanesque and Gothic Cathédrale St-Pierre dominates the center of town.

The site of St. Peter's Cathedral has been occupied at least since the 4th century, which you can see for yourself by touring the archaeological site underneath. Construction on Geneva's cathedral began in 1160 and lasted 150 years, by which time the towering Romanesque cathedral had acquired Gothic accents.

The Catholic cathedral of St. Peter became a Protestant church in 1536. Like reformers all over Europe, Calvin's followers stripped Geneva's cathedral of its altars, statues, paintings and furniture. Only the stained glass windows remained. John Calvin preached here from 1536 to 1564, and the cathedral became the guiding center of Protestantism. Calvin's seat outlasted him and still sits in the north aisle. The original Gothic façade of the Cathedral was modified in 1750 to its present Neoclassical style.

Today, Protestant worship services are still conducted at the pulpit from which Calvin had declaimed for hours on end against "idolatrie." Sermons are significantly more moderate these days, but amid the soaring austerity and the singing of old hymns, one can still feel the texture of an important history stretching back 450 years.

Mens Elite.

This is the class of guys that can run the 7+ Km course in 30 minutes or less. This is fairly difficult to do on a flat surface, let alone over some very steep terrain.

The Kitchen.

I'll spare you the gory details of this project, and hopefully by the end of the week I'll be able to put up a picture of the finished product. These two walls are located on the edge of the building, and given the age of this place and the location of the walls, the natural movement and breathing of the building created some nice cracks and bubbles in these walls. So, after hours of spackeling, sanding and masking, I was able to start applying some paint. The last owner painted the entire kitchen with this ultra-high-gloss yellowish enamel, and it looks quite horrible. I can't wait to get this place up to my standards.

View 2.

Saturday morning.

As I made my coffee around 7am this Saturday morning, I decided to stand on my balcony and check up on Geneva. This is what I was greeted with. The French alps are in the distance, and aside from the construction crane, I really enjoyed the view, and the moment - thought you should too...

Bike Riding.

Okay, so this isn't your typical picture, but I thought it was worthy of making the POD album. Most people here in lab are very fit, and enjoy spending their free time running, biking, hiking, skiing... I was invited by two people that work here on my floor, Benoit and Markus (who, by the way, are avid bikers and are in superb shape) for a bike ride last Sunday. For them, a 1000 meter (3000 foot) high mountain bike-ride is as easy as riding your bike to the grocery store. I did my best, although they were kind enough to constantly wait for me as I did my best to catch up. The weather was pretty lousy, rain and wind, but the ride was great - and the view from the top, even better. There are so many twists and turns in the road, I can't wait to get my motorcycle up there.

So, Benoit has a tiny GPS that was able to record our ride; the time, speed, location, distance, altitude, etc. When we got back, he uploaded the information and then mapped it onto 3D satellite images using Goolge Earth. So, here's a screenshot from that program, where you can see our path highlighted in turquoise - the gray 'wall' above that line represents our speed (well, actually Benoit's speed), the higher the wall, the faster the speed. This is the view of the ascent.

paysage a gauche.

Well, here's an early morning view from my balcony (to the left). Not much action on the street below at this time. The sun was just starting to come up over the horizon. My balcony and apartment are to the left of this shot (obviously). I'm standing near the bedroom door, and you can see the kitchen shutters further up the balcony.

Kitchen Table.

Slowly but surely, I'm making this place a little more habitable. Here is my new kitchen table, isn't it great? Actually, now you get to see a little more of what my kitchen looks like. The doors in the background open up onto the balcony... And yes, that is my refrigerator in the left corner. Not quite American-sized, but I really don't need to store that much food anyway.

Most Fuel-Efficient Vehicle that I own.

Thanks Mike for working your wonders on my old machine. Now, just like my car, I have a hybrid bike. Half racing bike (with tires that are thinner, gears for higher speed, etc.) and half mountain bike (Thicker frame, good handlebars and shifter components). In the end, I have a bike that is fast through the city, yet can take the abuse of jumping over curbs and any other obstacles (like old ladies) that might get in my way.

Disc Brake.

A very nice upgrade from the previous setup. This unit is very tiny, possibly even smaller than the original, weaker front brakes. I'm sure it will come in handy if I'm cruising downhill at high speeds and a nice, little old Swiss-French lady decides to cross the street in front of me.

Shifters - Brakes.

The new system, with very ergonomic shifting action. You push on the upper to lever to up-shift, push on the lower to down-shift. As you hold the handlebars, all of the controls are placed comfortably at your fingertips. Can't wait to tear around the city now...

Front Brakes.

Old, inefficient, squeaky (Really squeaky under heavy braking..). The newer bikes use disc brakes, and after speaking to Mike about this, we decided to renovate the front of the bike as well... Disc brakes are much stronger, allow for some serious stopping power, and work well in wet conditions.

Brakes - Shifters.

These things finally started to wear out (not bad for lasting 15 years). So, here's a shot of the old controls. These are slightly lower-end components, and Mike brought me some nice new shifters. Plus, since the new wheel has more high-speed gears, a new shifter is required in order to reach all of the gears. Notice as well the one piece stem; This makes it hard to adjust the height of the handlebars relative to the frame... again, Mike came through with some amazing components.

My Bed.

Doesn't look that impressive yet, but I'm sure it will be much more comfortable once it is assembled!

My Place.

As you stand in the doorway to my bedroom and look slightly to the right, this is what you see..The floors are in great shape, and as you can see, I have a huge door that leads to the balcony.

Old and New.

The very central part of town has not been tainted by modern architecture. Unfortunately, as you move away from the lake area, this type of view becomes more common. Nice, old-fashioned buildings attached to plain, (and mostly boring), modern complexes. I'm not sure yet if this creates a bit of synergy between the old and new. I'll have to explore more so that I can formulate my opinion. There are many great looking modern buildings; just not sure how well they all fit with old Geneva...

Old and New.

I'm surprised to see a car such as this (The light green) sitting on the streets of Genève. It is actually illegal to have rust on your car, and all of the cars that you see here are new and very rust-free. There aren't any junkers with noisy, old exhaust or any banged-up, dented and ugly cars here in Switzerland. Don't ever complain about going through NJ inspection; this is effortless compared to the Swiss inspection!

Heat.

This place is pretty old, over 100 years. And because of this, it has a good amount of charm - and also hot-water radiator heat. Each room has one of these units, controlled by little thermostats on the water feed. The apartment is surprisingly warm, even with the heaters barely turned on. So, I'm happy it is a cozy place, although I've heard the winters here are fairly mild, rarely dropping below freezing.

Switch.

As you can see, if you look closely, the last paint job wasn't up to the standards I prefer. One of the main reasons I want to paint is not only to add some color, but also to make the walls and trim as clean and perfect as possible. This particular switch lives right by my front door, and is used to activate the light in the hallway.

Looking out.

So, the pictures this week will be a bit "short-sighted"; and given this fact, I thought a shot of my "peephole" would be appropriate. I've been very busy this past week (as you might have noticed by the lack of PODs). Since my car and bike arrived, I've had a fun time working with my insurance agent to get things ironed out with making both vehicles legal here in Switzerland. That, coupled to a million other bureaucratic circus acts, topped off by unending lab-work (and a few social outings), has whittled my "alone time" away quite efficiently. Now that things are starting to settle down a bit, I'll grab the camera and actually take it outside of my apartment this week to show you all more of Genève.

But, getting some of the detail of my new place, I feel, is worthwhile too - Since you all want to see this place through my eyes anyway. I'll eventually show you what my apartment looks like farther than 2 inches away from the wall - But good things are worth waiting for... I want to paint and get the place cleaned up a bit first, and then I'll post up some 'before and after' pics... Keep checking back often :-)

Connected.

I don't have that many things yet, but at least now I'm connected to the outside world. I have a home phone line, as well as a DSL connection. (I'll send an email this week to give you all of my latest contact information.) Don't really have any furniture yet, but this will come with time.

Reunion!

Note: This is obviously not my picture!! Thank you Yuri for letting me steal it and put it up on my POD blog. This is a shot of the three clowns that met up in Dusseldorf, Germany over the weekend. When I found out Yuri (with his co-worker and fellow motorsports-freak Vinnie) were coming to Germany for business, I jumped on the chance to go see him. Originally, I was hoping to have my car delivered and registered by this weekend, so that I could drive the Autobahn all the way up. Instead I took the rail system - which was surprisingly efficient and clean. The interior of the trains here in Switzerland and Germany are nicer than those of commercial airplanes. It was a bit of a long ride, but well worth it to spend time with Yuri (and Vinnie too!).

First breakfast.

The first meal in my new place, isn't it wonderful?! I have absolutely nothing, no forks or knives, plates or napkins, no pots, no pans, no cups... it's like a little camping adventure. I'm not in a hurry to go and buy everything at once, since I prefer to shop around and get the things I like. The advantage of living close to the main rail station is that they have two shops that stay open much later than all of the others in town. And, one of these shops is a bakery with some very fresh and delicious bread. I walked down there last evening and picked up a freshly baked, steaming warm Baguette around 20:30!

As I start to acquire the basics (plates, cookware, etc) I'll start making more elaborate meals. But for now I'm making do with the produce and breads and yogurts. This coming weekend I'll do some shopping.

Nature.

So, when I was back living in NJ, a 40 minute road trip would get me to the shore (which, don't get me wrong, I love to visit)... or to Philly, or almost to NYC. In Geneva, a 40 minute road trip gets me here: the Chamonix / Mont Blanc area of France.

This past Sunday morning, a few of my new friends decided to take a day-trip for a little hiking in these mountains, and this pic is just a teaser of better things to come. I snapped an album's worth of shots, and I'm currently working on processing some of the better ones (hope I have some good ones), and I'll try to post the gallery by next week.

This was the first Sunday that it didn't rain since I've arrived here in Switzerland. The weather was absolutely beautiful; high 60's and sunny. We hiked for a few hours, taking in as much of the scenery as we could. I hope to return here often throughout the year, and as ski-season starts, as often as possible on the weekends.

More of the view across the lake.

With the meaning of 'across' being somewhat subjective, I would like to mention that the picture was taken while standing on "my" side of the lake (where my new place is) looking toward the side where my lab is.

...In other news, I was able to secure a parking place within my little apartment building area. So now, my two Hondas will be safely hidden from those that tend to get jealous of vehicles such as these and try to take closer looks. More pics of the new place as the weeks roll on.

Two wheels.

This is a nice example of the various modes of 2-wheeled transportation around here. Everything from old slow blue bicycles, to fast new red superbikes.

Cool.

Banks. Hotels.

Not sure if there is really any other business near the lake. There aren't any tall buildings, most are the size of the few in this picture. Having the size limit makes the entire neighborhood 'aura' quite pleasing to the eye.

Advertising.

All of the very old buildings that line the streets surrounding the lake have huge, colorful company signs on their roofs. They look great at nighttime, when the lights reflect on the lake - I'll have to get down there some evening and take some shots for you. But among the Rolex, Gucci, and Hilton signs - this one in particular caught my eye (Most of you might even know why!)

Commuters.

It is such a common thing around here for people to zip around on motorcycles, scooters, bikes... and even the occasional ATV (These four-wheelers are even registered with regular license plates!!!!). The weather is decent enough most of the time to warrant cruising around on two wheels, and even rain doesn't keep the bikes off the road. For a city that is relatively small (about 250,000 people), the streets are usually quiet. However I'm starting to get annoyed by the tiny scooters and small (less than 200cc) motorcycles - They're like annoying little knats or mosquitos - For some reason their exhaust note is much louder than the cars (guess that it's legal), and they sound like bugs as they come whining down the road.. Overall, though, the cars and bikes seem to get along nicely, with mutual respect on both sides. This is much unlike the States, where most car-drivers (cagers) never know to look for people that might be on a vehicle a bit smaller than them (bikes). For everyone who reads this post, make sure you always check EVERY corner of your mirrors and blind-spots for motorcycles - So many bikers die each year because the person in the car simply "didn't see them".

Some of our group.

Most of us were able to make it, but we did not have a complete lab group at this cookout, so I'll wait until we can get a proper lab picture before I give the names, etc. Of all the beers that we could have had at the cookout, we wound up sipping on Pilsner Urquell - This Czech beer is pretty popular around Trenton as well - I really felt at home this weekend; Familiar beer, familiar food, and everyone (given the international mix) spoke English... and a good time was had by all!

Coffee.

This little machine is the highlight of the morning. "Nespresso" is a pretty popular brand around these parts... And they make these wonderful little machines. The coffee is pre-packed in tiny little tins, and each type of coffee (different strengths and flavors) has a different tin color. You simply lift up the black 'spout' and drop in the tin, close the spout and out pours a cup of piping hot, and very delicious and aromatic, European coffee. Now, the mug in this picture is about 3.5 inches tall, total volume can't be more than 6 ounces. But, every morning it is 6 ounces of some of the better tasting coffees I've had. And, you'll never believe who is the big front man celebrity for this coffee line - He's shown sipping this coffee in all of the magazines and billboards and yes, even TV commercials... George Clooney!

Work.

Many of you asked me to start this picture of the day album to keep you up to speed with the things I see and experience here during my stay in Geneva. Well, today I spent most of my time staring at this scene, so why not share that with you too. It was another dreary day, and the rain was coming down in buckets. I spent most of my day in lab trying to catch up on the various computational projects I have going.

Things here are moving along nicely. There is plenty of lab work to do, and since I don't have to head home early to cut the grass or work on my car, I've been spending more time here at school, trying to stay organized and on top of my projects. In other news, my apartment search continues, day after day. I've seen about seven of them now, and have applied to almost all of them. Keep your fingers crossed, I came across a few that are pretty decent - we'll see what happens.

Architecture.

You won't see much of this in Philadelphia, New York City or even San Francisco. The age and history of this town are evident everywhere you look. This is a view of a street closer to center city, not far from the lake. This Saturday I headed out with my camera and just walked and walked and walked. There is so much to see and do, so many little shops (Yes, they even have hobby shops, cool toy stores, art supply stores, great book stores...) to visit, and an endless variety of restaurants and outdoor cafes. Many of these buildings are wrapped in sculpted facades and intricate, artistic brickwork, accented with elegant ironwork. This weekend I treated Geneva as a photographer, next weekend I'll give it a try as a "local", without my camera...!

City Streets.

This is a good representation of what I see as I walk around Geneva. Almost all of the buildings are as old as those in this picture, and many of them have beautiful intricate iron railings on the balconies and gates. Overall the streets are very clean, the sidewalks are wide (unlike Paris) and the drivers always yield as soon as you put your foot on the crosswalk. The standard layout seems to be: shops and/or restaurants on the first floor, with apartments on the upper floors.

Beer.

As many of you know, I greatly appreciate the fine beauty and subtle flavor ensemble of a good beer. My friend Omar knew of this place, close to where we live, that has a seemingly endless selection of international beers. This place isn't called the beer garden, or beer oasis, it is called the "Beer Palace". Nice. The two coolers on the right house about 50% of the choices, the other more popular choices are kept behind a counter in a larger cooler to the right of this picture. They have brews from all of the European countries, many Asian and even Australian beers. There was also a nice selection of Canadian, and even Mexican, beers. Guess which country was not on the list? It is a shame though, because breweries like Red Hook, Sierra Nevada, and even Riverhorse could give some competition to these other international brews.

So, Omar (who is fluent in French), agreed to help me study the language. I brought one of my French books and we were planning on having a beer and going over the language basiscs. We got to this place a little too late though, and since they were getting ready to close, we just bought two beers for the road. I tried a Spanish brew and Omar had a Bavarian Grand Ale. I think I'll be visiting this place again in the weeks and months to come.

My Bench.

The layout of the lab is very open and well-planned. This is my little bench, I took this one because the view is quite nice from the window that is to the right of this workspace. Currently I'm doing my desk work across the hall in another room since the other two people in lab are working there as well. In a few weeks I'll move my things and set up my desk next to this bench, as the remaining three members of our lab start to settle in.

Our lab is actually the first group to use this space, so my boss was able to plan the floor layout to suit our needs. This room is where most of the molecular biology is done. We have 5 other rooms that hold fume hoods for tissue culture work, offices, storage, incubator and large equipment rooms, etc. I guess there isn't much to look at now, but over the next few weeks I'll be ramping up my experiments, and will be spending much more time here at this bench.

Other end!

I'm sure you will all be excited about this one..! Here is the other end of my lab building, Sciences III, here at the University. The location of the main entrance is pretty obvious. The main foyer has a very "industrial" appearance, built mainly out of concrete and stone, it feels as if it could double as a World War II bunker. The interior architecture, though, is pleasant, crisp, clean and tastefully done. This week I'll try to put up some inside shots of my building and my lab rooms...

Jet d'Eau.

This is one seriously large fountain; the fact books say it shoots water 140m into the air with the speed of the water leaving the nozzle at 200kph. I took this picture while I was here in the beginning of June (as well as the next picture). Although the weather is not as warm anymore, the lake and the sights around are beautiful. Geneva is a clean and quiet city, filled with gorgeous architecture, monuments and fountains. The weather this weekend was quite gloomy and rainy, and I didn't have much of a chance to walk around with the camera.. I guess that's my excuse for using older pics!

Commute to work.

About 50 meters away from my front door, I cross a bridge (over the river L'Arve) on my way to work every morning. This is a shot looking down the southern part of the river, downtown Geneva is in the other direction. In the morning, the sun rises slightly to the left of the edge of this picture. Since sun glare was an issue, I took this picture around 17:00 (5pm) in the early evening. It is such a pleasure to wake up and walk to lab. The air is so fresh and clean, and the weather now in the morning is cool and crisp. The people here are plesant in the morning! No "one-finger" salutes from the motorists, and you very rarely hear horns blowing or people shouting.

Care to join me for dinner?

After lab, I went to the local grocery market 'Migros' to buy some food for myself. Since most of the shops close at 19:00 around here, I didn't have that much time to spend in the store. I'm very impressed with the selection of natural and organic (bio) food here in Suisse. While I was looking through the carton of eggs to make sure they weren't cracked, I found a chicken feather stuck to the bottom of one - talk about fresh! The bread is absolutely delicious, crunchy crust with a soft interior, very flavorful with a hint of sourdough. As you can imagine, the cheese selection is overwhelming. Since they were getting ready to close, I wasn't able to choose from the meats at the deli, but I did pick up some salmon (reasonably priced). Food overall costs slightly more, but for the taste and quality, I really feel this is a justifiable expense. The milk and yogurt are very tasty as well, rich and creamy. It was my first dinner "in", and quite an enjoyable one.