Believe it or not, believe it or not, but the best place in Europe to go in the fall is Geneva.
Geneva is the third largest city in Switzerland after Zurich and Basel. He stands among the mountains at an altitude of 375 meters. This is Protestant Rome, the land of peacemakers, watchmakers, bankers and chocolate factories. Geneva is amazingly elegant. It's nice to work here, but even better to rest.
Other European cities, of course, are also quite good, although it often rains in Rome at this time of the year, it is already cool in Berlin, and queues remain in Paris even in November. But in the little old woman Geneva, in the fall, some kind of inexplicable charm opens. It is not by chance that the stars of world scenes, crowned persons and oil kings, remain in Geneva.
On the one hand, what is special about it? An ordinary European town, in which there are no museums comparable to the Louvre or the Dresden Gallery, or opera houses like La Scala or the Grand Opera. This is just a paradise for the townsfolk, a dignified, cozy and orderly little paradise.
Of course, how could he not be orderly, if this quality was carefully instilled here for as many as six hundred years, since the times of the Reformation, and gained root so successfully that adherence to order, thoroughness and regularity became distinctive traits of almost every Genevant.
And yet the autumn morning, met on the openwork balcony in one of the Geneva hotels, will be remembered forever, as one of the most beautiful experiences. Unusual landscapes of eternally young Geneva will present their charm, representing a strangely harmonious blend of nature and a purely urban landscape. They will be amazed by the pure geometric forms of the Alps darkening in the distance. Cool and fresh autumn air, which has flown in straight from Lake Geneva, will break into your lungs and make you take a deep, deep breath.
You did not know that in Geneva there is a lake? Oh, there is, and what! Lac Lehmann, the main diamond of Geneva. A huge blue mirror, sparkling in a crescent moon, stretched at the foot of the Alps. The river Rhone flows from its southwestern part, and the beauty Geneva lies along it, as well as along the lake itself. Her banks and hotels pensively view their reflection in the water, watching the yachts and boats slowly sail by, and beautiful parks, especially picturesque in autumn, when the leaves on the trees are burning with all shades from purple to gold and adorn the coast.
And only a giant fountain, beating straight from the middle of the lake, gives dynamics to this peaceful landscape. The wind, which often changes its direction, makes it look like a huge waving flag and does not allow it to freeze for a moment in stillness. The streams of water are scattered by splashes, from time to time reaching the embankment. A long pier leads to the fountain, along which, with a good wind, you can walk dry to the fountain itself, but if you are not lucky with the wind, even an umbrella will be useless.
This fountain, despite its young age, became the main symbol of Geneva and therefore is depicted on all postcards, magnets and other souvenirs. Since tourists must visit Zhe Do, the city authorities decided not to turn it off at all. Well, except during a hurricane wind. True, the fountain is turned off for the winter, but in the fall you still have the opportunity to admire it. Especially fascinates and fascinates Lac Leman at night.
In its smooth surface, now not turquoise, but dark, almost agate, lush neon advertisements are reflected, Mont Blanc lights sparkle with a thin long necklace, and Zhe Do (the second highest fountain in the world) creates a special extravaganza of colors when its streams are highlighted. And it seems that the magic light pole shot up to the very heavens, and then crumbles into myriads of the smallest fiery flowers that Luck Leman absorbs to bring them back to life again and again.
The main symbol of Lake Geneva is swans. For Geneva, it's like owls for Athens. Genevans treat them gently and reverently, and they certainly come every weekend to feed specially stocked dried bread. This lake has inspired people at all times. Shocked by the beauty of the mountain lake, which more closely resembles the sea, the artists Peder Mork Monsted, Ferdinand Hodler captured it on their canvases. And, it seems, looking at their work, that you again and again feel a slightly bitter smell of rotten foliage, the aroma of coffee and roasted chestnuts.
Yes, Geneva, perhaps, will seem to someone rustic, but it must be admitted that she is delightful, remarkably beautiful. Its streets, bridges, houses and squares are simply amazing, and you can safely give the embankment the title of the most picturesque in all of Europe. Numerous flower gardens, squares and parks with luxurious well-groomed trees are good at any time of the year, but in the autumn they are just beautiful. You will not see such amazing colors, probably, in any city of the world.
Walking through Geneva, you can go to the Palace of Nations, which is surrounded by a park that is open to visitors only on rare days, to see the buildings of the World Trade Organization, the International Red Cross, the World Health Organization and many others. And you can spend time in the Old Town, and through the narrow streets to get to the Cathedral of St. Peter - the main cultural attractions of Geneva. It began to be built in the times of the Gothic, in the 12th century, and finished already in the era of the Reformation, and this left a significant imprint on its appearance. However, the view from the towers is magnificent, for it is worth overcoming 157 steps of an uncomfortable spiral staircase.
Another undoubted cultural value of Genevians consider the Orthodox Church built by the Russians in the 19th century. The money for it was granted by the Grand Duchess Anna Fedorovna herself. This church is called an architectural masterpiece, it is in fact very beautiful - a small, cozy, surrounded by slender golden birch trees. Genevans love this little church and always advise tourists to see it.
Most likely, they like it because it is very different from the local churches, sustained in the spirit of harsh reformist asceticism. Built in the Byzantine style, with elegant domes, it looks like an intricate box, striking in its brightness and cheerfulness. No matter what they say, mutual differences always attract.
Perhaps for the same reason I like Geneva so much.
