21-22 June, GENEVA, Switzerland

The Geneva waterspout. It was originally an outlet valve for the local waterstation, then became a tourist attraction so they moved it into the middle of the lake. It is 140m high, and on a bit of lean - or that might have been me.

Interesting Switzerland facts, none of which we knew before we got here...

- It is not in the EU, so they have their own currency - Swiss Francs (the small coins are just called cents, but I prefer Jane's version - Francencents)
- They have a different plug socket to the rest of Europe.
- Switzerland has a French bit, German bit, and an Italian bit, and in each area they speak the respective language predominantly.
- It is quite expensive.

The drive to Geneva (which, it turns out is not the capital like I thought) was wonderful, and it is a real shame that the photos of Switzerland cannot capture the incredible scenery we drove though. This is partly because of the fact that all photos taken from a moving car look a bit rubbish, and because Jane is sitting on the 'wrong' side to take photos.

Geneva is a fascinating city, it is so close to France that part of the lake shore is actually French. We found out after we left that we were probably commuting between the two countries when we visited Geneva by bus from our campsite.

The south bank (where we spent most of our time) has the old city, centred on the the cathedral which is built on a hill. The north bank has the modern part and city centre, and the Palais du Nations, which is the second biggest UN institution.

We only spent a day and a half here, so we had a look around the cathedral, a market, and a very, very cool modern art gallery (MAMCO). We loved Geneva, a great mix of new and old - a couple of readers out there have expressed the possibility that they might work there one day (you know who you are) to which I say go! It's awesome and we will definitely come and visit.

Old towny buildings....

....and some more.

This is the front of Saint Peter's Catherdral. Overall a very odd building, it looked as if it was made out of bits of other churches, including this really weirdly proportioned neo-classical facade.

And this is around the side, a bit of grey stone, a white tower, and a copper steeple.

That is a big door.

As seems to be the cool thing to do nowadays when renovating your cathedral, they uncovered the remains of the earlier buildings and turned them into a museum underneath the new floor.

This is the remains of the mould from casting the main bell for the tower. The star shape was from the struts to hold the inside of the mould in shape, and you can see the curve of the bell in the upper part of the photo.

The remains of the guy who started Geneva. The first chapel was built around his remains, the next on top of that and so on until there was a cathedral and surrounding city. No-one knows who it is.......Elvis?

Original mosaic floor, the ceiling above is the new floor of the Carthedral.

The Russian Orthodox Church, I couldn't go in because I was wearing shorts. Apparently my knees were't orthodox enough.

This is were we were standing when we got directions from some old Swiss lady. She started with 'that way lies France, nothing interesting there'. So there you have it folks, the whole of France....boring. We won't be going back (just kidding)

.....what does it mean? Is the fact that all the pointy bits are poking inwards significant? Is the colour important? Why are the backs of my legs so much paler than my arms?

If you want it to do something really weird scroll up and down really fast.

Very cool - basically massive rugs.

This one is for our friend Nic in Japan - a Swan-dri kimono

Ummmmmmmmm........

There was one very, very cool exhibition where the artist played with images and reflections - so this rabbit reflects in the mirror as a guy with a hat on.

Lovely campsite, but not enough amps to boil the kettle without tripping the circuit breaker.

Yes, yes, I'm wearing a singlet - the thermometer was reading 35 degrees at this point. Look at the colour of that lake! Also, if you look carefully at the top corner of the windscreen you can see the sticker that reminds me to go right around a roundabout. When we get back to the UK I can flip it over.

We have had a request from an avid reader for 'wierdo of the weak' - and here he is. Some random dude who just decided to leave the office at lunch, whip his top off and play some hard core table tennis.

Swan Lake.