By Emma Alexander ‘26
We begin our journey bright and early in Ithaca! Our bus left Ithaca around 10 AM to head towards JFK. From there, it was a six hour flight to our first stop of the tour, Geneva, Switzerland! After a long day of travel, we started off our trip with our first rehearsal at the Holy Trinity Church. The stained glass was absolutely gorgeous!
After rehearsal, we had some free time, so we decided to check out Lake Geneva. The lake is one of the largest in Western Europe, and spans across both Switzerland and France. We stopped to take pictures, and then continued onwards across the bridge to this beautiful park with some of the prettiest flowers I’ve ever seen! In the park, we passed multiple groups of about two dozen individuals dancing together to music, which was a great way to start the trip.
After the park, we had some time to walk around Old Town, where of course we had to stop for chocolates! After eating those within five minutes, we continued on deeper into Old Town, where we passed a beautiful carousel and entered the Terrasse Agrippa-d'Aubigné park, which gave us some great views of the Old Town area. Here we also saw some cherry blossom trees, which reminded me of home! On the way back to the hotel, we also stopped in Letu Books, which is a book store entirely dedicated to the arts! Inside, they had books in both French and English on everything from chair designs, to theatrical sets, and expressionist art. Of course, I had to take a picture of the typewriter they had for sale! The day ended with a lovely group dinner!
Bright and early the next day, we ventured out to explore Geneva! As a serial roadside-curiosity lover, my first stop was the Broken Chair monument outside the United Nations. This chair is symbolic of the human rights campaign against landmines. After visiting the chair, we headed across the street to see the UN Alley of Flags! We looked, but couldn’t seem to find the U.S.
After the Alley of Flags, we headed over to the Geneva Botanical Gardens, which we explored both inside and out! We also attempted to find a geocache for a good hour before coming to the conclusion that someone had likely stolen it (although I was still able to find one in Austria!). The botanical gardens also had a small zoo with some adorable animals!
After the botanical gardens, we headed over to the Museum of Art and History. The museum had a vast variety of artwork on display, and is currently exhibiting an exhibition on clocks and music boxes. Afterwards, we grabbed some really amazing cheese fondue from the oldest cafe in Geneva. Bill Clinton apparently dined there a few decades ago!
We also stopped at the gravesite of Frank Martin, the composer of the Latin mass we sang throughout the entire tour, to pay our respects. Overall, it was a jam-packed day before our concert in the evening, but it was a great way to kickoff tour by exploring the beautiful city of Geneva!