It’s great to be back in Switzerland, specifically Geneva which is a big focal point for the science community, with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN having generated so much interest recently.  It’s a relatively well-known fact that the big underground loop of the LHC crosses international borders; the buildings above the surface are a real cross-border effort too.

On that subject, it’s interesting to see that since my last visit in the summer of 2008, Switzerland has joined the Schengen zone so moving in and out of the country is friction-free.

As well as re-discovering the city – including the HQs of big global organisations – and the beautiful views around this corner of Lake Geneva, I dedicated a day to the area around CERN, with a guided tour of the facilities and obligatory trip to the gift shop being part of the day.  I also took a moment to look at the newly freed-up border!