Day 10: Diplomacy, Detectors, and Dinner, Geneva

Today is the day of exciting confirmation email number two:

We are going underground, so everyone needs closed-toed shoes.

But more on that later.

We slept in a bit, and didn't get quite as early a start as I wanted. As we can’t pre-register for a tour of the UN with just two people, it’s not like I could make firm plans for the tour anyway. So imagine my surprise when Geneva, with seemingly no effort, bent itself to my will for basically the entire day.

We walked to the closest tram station to look at the map and a tram labeled “Nations” pulled right in. Which took us to the gate at the front of the complex, not the visitor gate. We had a pleasant walk around with a shortcut through a park.

A pleasant walk through a park full of statues.

The website said the English tour was at 10:30, which was exactly when we arrived. In reality, the tour is hourly and we were in time for the 11:00 tour, so we had enough time to get through security and visit the gift shop before then. The tour consists of some of the history of the organization while visiting 3 of the meeting rooms. The Human Rights review of Ethiopia is currently in progress so we didn’t get to visit that particular room, but here are the ones we did see.

We have found the correct entrance!

Look at me all visitor badged.

The first meeting room, where the tour guide covers the history of the UN. Switzerland only joined a few years ago.

The halls are decorated with artwork from all over the world.

This painting depicts one of the League of Nations success stories.

This room has a lot of marble.

The ball no longer spins, but still looks cool. Thanks to "changes in security" we aren't actually permitted to walk the grounds.

So many lovely rooms.

Ceiling in this meeting room painted by a Spanish artist.

As are all of the walls.

I'd recommend clicking on these to see the full size versions. Each panel defines human progress in a different arena.

The last meeting room we get to visit.

We arrived back at the tram stop in time to catch the tram back to the transfer point for Tram 18. At the transfer point, I grabbed a sandwich and our walk to the station ended with the right tram just pulling up. Tram 18 goes to CERN - where else would I be excited about going underground. Ian, our tour guide is a physicist, who is a coworker’s cousin.

Because, obviously, if you’re going to tour CERN you should do it with one of the researchers working at CMS. As one will.  

Section of a magnet.

Silicon detector close up.

Strands of wiring.

Yeah, I'll pretty much touch anything you let me. This is much heavier than it appears.

He handed us over to another tour guide for the underground portion of the tour. Right now, the detector has been opened up for upgrades.

The hard hats are tracked, so if there is an incident, first responders can locate everyone.

We're underground, but not all the way just yet.

There are lots of servers here. I promise it gets more exciting.

Oh, good. Stairs.

About 48 hours ago, they opened up this portion, making this the best possible time to see the detector's innards.

Our first peek.

Just look how big it is.

And the upgrades and maintenance are ongoing.

This is the eighth wonder of the world as far as I am concerned.

Ah, the romance.

We have quite a few more pictures.

What do you think? New profile picture?

So, yeah, that was pretty incredible. I’m just blown away by the complexity (technologically and politically) of the project and how successful they’ve been. It’s amazing, and I am so thrilled to have gotten to see this.

Also, it’s traditional to have a beer on the patio at 5:00, so of course we did.

Almost 5. Beer soon.

Just amazing. I am so glad we were able to do this.

And, obviously, the tram back was waiting for us when we were ready to leave.

How do you even follow up seeing one of humanity’s greatest technological achievements? How about a 7 course tasting menu at Michelen star restaurant? With a view of Lake Geneva and live music filtering in from the next room? Well, I guess that will have to do. Our table was right at the window, so we got to enjoy night’s slow descent while eating an amazing meal Bill will surely detail in his post. I would have a hard time picking a favorite course. The veal was amazing, but so was the foi gras. The muscle who’s shell was actually a biscuit? Maybe the chocolate course?

The view from our table.

All in all, quite a good day.