Visit to the United Nations in Geneva

See also this link: http://www.unog.ch/

Waiting to start our UN tour

Yesterday, Tuesday 22 March, was World Water day, and also the day that the ZIWA Swinging Sixties group visited the UN offices in Geneva. We numbered over 40 ladies in our reserved seats on the 8.03 train from Zurich, and several others joined us at our destination. Experienced chairlady Vreni Riedler once again managed this feat of organisation. The ladies enjoyed the chance to catch up with friends old and new on the train journey.

The flags of the member nations

In Geneva we took a bus to Appia and walked along from there to the UN HQ buildings. Security was in operation and we went through airport-style X-ray checks for ourselves and our bags. At the same time, we were getting word of the terrible terrorist attacks in Brussels, which was very sad. However, once inside the UN building, we were greeted by three guides, and Vreni took charge over the division into two English-speaking and one German-speaking groups. The three groups took slightly different routes through the Palais des Nations and heard different comments.


The UN Organisation

Our ZIWA ladies of several nations

Our guide, Ji, took us upstairs to inspect the board listing all the organisational components of the UN.  We learnt that the General Assembly meets on the second Tuesday in September when each member is allowed to speak for 15 minutes. The UN currently comprises 193 full voting members of the General Assembly and two observers: the state of Palestine is hoping to join, and the Vatican City wishes merely to watch. We saw an image of the 195 flags. The GA votes on topics such as security and the budget, and a two thirds majority is required. The Security Council has five permanent and ten elected members for each two-year term.  They are responsible for peace-keeping missions in the event of conflict - surely an ongoing requirement. Currently the Secretary General is Ban Ki-moon, who is due to step down shortly, and he was preceded by Kofi Annan, who also stood for a nine year term.

Room XX, the Hall of Human Rights

Other branches of the UN organisation include the Secretariat, the Trusteeship Council and the Economic and Social Council. The International Court of Justice is located in the Hague. The UN functions in six languages - English, Chinese, Spanish, Russian, French and Arabic, but the day-to-day working languages in Geneva are English and French.

See more about the organisation structure at this link: http://www.un.org/en/about-un/index.html.

The UN family also includes special agencies such as the International Labor Organisation, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, UNESCO, Unicef, the World Health Organisation, the World Bank and several others who all have their own budget. UN offices are located in New York, Geneva, Nairobi and Vienna.

The Hall of Human Rights and the exhibition hall

Our Chinese guide Ji led us over the bridge from new to old

After the introduction to the UN organisation, we looked into the Hall of Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room where informal conversations were taking place. All formal meetings here are filmed live. It is possible to take a seat in a meeting by reserving in advance.

The art exhibition was impressive

Then we crossed from the new building, over a bridge with views of the grounds, to a large marbled hall known as The Hall of Lost Footsteps. This imposing room featured an exhibition of art works submitted by the member nations. On World Water Day we saw huge paintings, quilts and collages relating to water and other subjects. The old part of the building was founded in 1946 when there were 51 member states. There is a ceiling sculpture by the Spanish artists Miquel Barcelo and was a gift from the Spanish nation.


Room 18 Conference Room

Our third stop was to view a conference centre from the balcony behind a glass screen. We heard something about the organisation of meetings held in Geneva in several small conference rooms with a similar layout. When conferences between warring nations take place, it can be difficult to arrange the seating. In the past, Geneva has hosted meetings of the Afghanistan peace talks, El Salvador, Egypt and former Yugoslavia, as well as meetings involving Iran and Iraq, India and Pakistan and North and South Korea, for example. The member states sit in the front rows and behind them may sit their guests. Geneva employs many translators, some of whom work for the member states and some for the UN itself.

A view into the conference room

The UN budget is based on Gross National Product of its members. The US is the largest with 22 percent of the contribution, while the smallest member pays 0.004 percent. Special projects also have an ad hoc budget allocation. We noticed that the UN building is still relatively low-tech compared to modern high-tech companies.

Cafe de Paris Chez Boubiez
See this link: Chez Boubier

After the three stops on our tour, we met the other groups in the foyer, and after a brief visit to the gift shop, we took the bus 8 back to Cornavin station. From there it was a few steps to the well-known and traditional Cafe de Paris Chez Boubier. We managed to squeeze in all 48 ZIWA ladies for a lunch of the signature, and only, dish of entrecôte of beef accompanied by a sizzling butter sauce, along with French fries and a green salad. By now we were all very thirsty and starving after our busy morning. Thanks again to Vreni for putting it all together.

Julia Newton, 23 March 2016

Wine discovery - Spanish wines

Vinothek Ugarte http://www.vinothek-ugarte.ch/

Another pleasant afternoon with the ZIWA Wine Discovery group and this time a first for many to learn about Spanish wines. Vinothek Ugarte is an old friend of ZIWA's and today they hosted a group of 11 wine lovers in their newly renovated wine shop in Zurich Wollishofen, just a short walk away from the station. Usam Ugarte and Belen Largo, the co-managers, made us feel very welcome. We sat at a table prepared for tasting six Spanish wines - one cava, one white and four red wines - and got ready to make notes. Usam poured out generous tasting samples and Belen explained their origins and methods of production in some detail. We were also tempted by tapas selections.

Wine number 1: Extremarium Brut Reserva, DO Cava, Penedes. Belen explained that Cava (Spanish for cave) is made in the traditional champagne method with a second fermentation. The four grape types used were Xarello, Parallada, Macabeo and Chardonnay. First the wine is fermented in a cave, and then bottled. The bottles are stored vertically on the stopper and turned, allowing the sediment to drop to the bottom. Then it is frozen allowing the stopper and sediment to be removed, before adding the final cork. It is left two years to mature. In a genuine Cava, the bubbles rise from the bottom of the glass. This cava tasted of its mineral origins in a wine area in the north-east of Spain and everyone thought it was delicious.

Wine number 2: Terra Prima White 2014, DO Penedes. This wine comes from a small winery near the sea and the vines are grown on old mining soil. It contains grape types Xarello and Riesling. It is a young wine from a dry, mineral area of northern Spain  and tasted well rounded.

Wine number 3: Piedra Lagar 2013, DO Ribera del Duero. This wine is made from the tempranillo grape. We learnt how to aerate it in the glass by swirling the wine around and waiting a while. The climate in 2013 was unusually irregular which affected the grape production. We heard that there was quantity rather than quality in the grapes that year; this is a young wine for everyday drinking. It was light and pleasant with little tannin.

Wine number 4: Pasas November harvest 2013. DO Jumilla. Our second red was manufactured from the Monastrell grape, also known as Mourvedre, from a late harvest which gave it a certain sweetness. A good market has been developed in the Jumilla region, using 30 year old vines. This wine had six months in oak barrels, and has a 14 percent alcohol content. It should be drunk soon. It was my personal favourite and we ordered a case!

Wine number 5: Syrah Val d'Alferche 2012, DO Somontano. This wine was based on 100 percent Syrah grapes and had its distinctive flavour - full, heavy, dark with a taste of licorice. It was aged in oak in an area of Spain just under the Pyrenees. This wine will keep well up to five years.

Wine number 6: Caliza Marques de Grinon 2010, DO Dominio de Valdepusa. This heavy dark wine  was made in a small region in Toledo, central Spain. It contains grape types Shiraz and Petit Verdot. It tasted strong and dry and would be good with food. The wine could be kept until 2020 and will age well.

After this fascinating lesson in wine production and Spanish wine styles, we learnt the very reasonable prices of each one. Ugarte also stocks other wines from Germany, Austria and Portugal for example as well as spirits and liqueurs such as Pisco, and sherry. It is well worth calling in to see their range of products, and the wines will be delivered promptly. So don't wait! Visit their shop or website now. See link above.

 Julia Newton, 18 March 2016.