The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum is holding an open weekend on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 June, just two weeks before its temporary closure for a complete transformation, This will be a chance for visitors to immerse themselves one last time in the unique spirit of the museum and discover the fascinating history of the first humanitarian organisation in the world, before it closes its doors until 2013!
About the museum
On 29 October 1988, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Museum (MICR) officially opened its doors in Geneva. Over the years, the museum has touched people’s spirits and made visitors aware of the importance of humanitarian action. Since its foundation, it has welcomed some 2 million visitors, more than half of whom were from other countries worldwide, who came to visit its permanent exhibition and the 47 temporary exhibitions that have been organised over the years. In 23 years, the MICR has become Geneva’s 3rd ranking museum and one of the 20 most important museums in Switzerland, in terms of visitors received.
It’s that time of year again when the streets of Europe start to fill with the sound of music, as professional and amateur musicians of all ages and abilities celebrate the Fete de la Musique, on 21 June 2011.
With its origins in France (read more on the history), this annual festival marks the beginning of Summer and covers a wide variety of music styles, with bands playing free of charge to the public. Since the festival was first proposed by Maurice Fleuret and launched in 1982, numerous countries throughout Europe have "come on board", each marking the occasion with its own unique brand of talented musicians.
In Switzerland, each village, town or city has its own special way of celebrating the event – in Geneva, this year, concerts will run over 3 days between 17 and 19 June, while in Lausanne the event will be celebrated on just one day with over 125 concerts covering groove, jazz, metal, rock, classical and electronic music – to name but a few! In France, most towns celebrate on the day of the Summer solstice, 21 June.
There are just a couple of weeks left to enjoy the giant cornfield labyrinth which opens each year at the Ferme du Coucou in Vaud – so head on down there if you fancy a great day out with the family!Located halfway between Cugy and Bottens, this enormouse life-size labyrinth is guaranteed to provide hours of fun for you and your kids. As you work your way towards the center of the maze, the young ones will take pleasure in searching out the six hole punchers, which you need to punch your entrance ticket before it can be submitted in the competition box located at the beginning of the maze. With prizes ranging from jewelry to a free flight, it’s definitely worth finding them all before you leave!
In the center of the maze are some picnic tables, a few tents, a slide and see saw, and a barbecue for grilling your own meat. Coals are provided in the green bin but you must bring something to light them.
It is strongly recommended that you bring sunscreen, a bottle of water, and a hat as it took Know-it-all passport editor, Lisa Cirieco, and her family 1 hour and 45 minutes to find the 6 hole-punchers ( if you can do it faster let us know)! Since they were thirsty and hot and had no opportunity to buy food on site, they headed straight for lunch to the Café du Soleil (pictured below and situated a short drive away) for some delicious filets de perche and pommes allumettes (skinny fries - in size not in calories).
After lunch, you might like to head back to the labyrinth to cut some beautiful gladiolas (Fr. 1.50.-/each) and pick up some unusual and not so unusual pumpkins (Fr. 1.- to Fr. 17.-) at the self-service garden. All in all, a great day out!
Let your hair down and join in the family fun by heading down to one of the many events being organized in Geneva this Autumn by MyBubbleCity.
Set up in April 2010 by local entrepreneurs, Carole Amselem and Isabelle Marcus, MyBubbleCity is a new Association aimed at providing different types of activities for families, where everyone can have fun together.
As former business colleagues, Carole and Isabelle are close friends who both became mothers and who have a similar philosophy about enjoying life. Carole explains,
“While we both love lots of things about Geneva, we missed some of the energy that we felt from the cities in which we previously had lived - I am from New York, Isabelle from Paris. We missed the energy of a large city, not only for ourselves but also for our children. Hence came the idea of creating different types of activities that we couldn't find in Geneva, that a parent could actually participate in WITH their child. MyBubbleCity is all about having fun as a family!!”
MyBubbleCity launched its first Bubble Kids Disco in May, 2010 at the Fenomeno club in Geneva. It was a sold-out success with enthusiastic parents and children enjoying themselves on the dance floor. Bubble Kids Discos have been created with the aim of giving the whole family an opportunity to let loose in a real dance club – one which has been turned child-friendly. Describing the discos in more detail, Isabelle says,
Those of you new to the area may not have heard about the Soap Box Derby (Caisse à Savon), an annual event which takes place in various locations throughout the region.
It's probably too late for you to start building your soap box for the first event which takes place in Versoix this year on the 2nd May, so just come along and cheer the Soap Box Derby participants as they race past! Food and drink as well as some other stands are available to make it a great day out. Trial runs start at 10h and first races commence at 12h.
If you are interested in taking part in one of the next races, scheduled for 4th September, 2010 in Commugny and 19th September, 2010 in Corsier, then visit the official website at www.casv.ch. There is lots of information on how to go about building your own soap box, and there are plenty of photos from previous events to give you an idea of what is expected!
