The Beautiful Game

Within minutes of my arrival in Geneva, I saw evidence of football fanaticism.
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I began actively planning my trip one year before I thought it would commence.  I read books on how to travel independently for extended periods of time.  I consulted a travel agent for first-hand information on flights, visa requirements, and likely per diem costs.  Throughout this process, places and dates shifted with the more I learned.  I tried to schedule each country's visit around good weather and with sufficient time to experience the culture and people of my home-to-be.  If that window coincided with a festival, holiday, or other public event, all the better.  However, I didn't schedule around them.  They were not inputs as to when I would visit the country, save one:  the 2008 European Football Championship, more commonly known as EuroCup.

Geneva's famous landmark, the Jet d'eau, with an added decoration for a couple of weeks.
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It happens once every four years and is only surpassed by the Summer Olympics and World Cup as the most watched sporting event in the world.  Two countries not known for their football prowess, Switzerland and Austria, have the honor of co-hosting the three-week tournament, and, luckily, I have a close friend living in Geneva, one of Switzerland's four host cities.  From the airport to the tram ride back to my friend Brittney's apartment, the madness I had been hoping for, the fever that has long been absent in U.S. soccer started to overcome me.  People were sporting jerseys and colors of all 16 nations about to battle for the sport's second most coveted trophy.  Shops and apartments proudly flew flags supporting their chosen teams.  And catcalls, friendly banter, and handshakes were on every major street corner.

...the fever long absent in U.S. soccer started to overcome me.

The 'elite' stands in the FanZone, the area where I chose to watch most of the EuroCup games.
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For one week I lived in Geneva.  During my planning a year earlier in California, I envisioned myself staying in this host city for that entire week.  I toyed with the idea of bouncing around to other host cities if a last-minute ticket meant I was needed in Basel or Bern.  Switzerland is, after all, a very small country.  Unfortunately, no last-minute tickets surfaced and Geneva was indeed my only home for the week.  However, that did not mean it was the only city I visited.  Quite the contrary.  Before arriving in the land of timekeepers, dairy farmers, and chocolatiers, I was unaware of three factors that drove me to taste different Swiss towns yet still return to Geneva for football and bedtime:  Switzerland is small; the Swiss train system is one of Europe's finest; the Alps are as magnificent a mountain range as any I've seen, which now includes the Himalayas.

Germany's first game. On screen is the great midfielder and English Premiership player, Michael Ballack.
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During the days, I'd explore nearby towns and cities and in the evenings return to Geneva for merriment in the FanZone, a municipal park that had been converted into a field of tasty bites and cold drinks encircling a stadium-sized television.  The first two destinations were Montreux and Lausanne, both French-speaking towns bordering Switzerland's largest lake, Lac Leman.  Montreux's visit was one-sided: the castle at Chillon.  In some form, this fortified residence has occupied its current ground for about 1000 years.  It wholly occupies a small island just meters off the mainland, making it an ideal spot to inhabit and defend.  Its location offers breathtaking views of the Alps and lakeside towns while its well-preserved interior can make even the weakest imagination see the past.

These markers were all over the city, making it very easy to navigate one's way between the different EuroCup areas.
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Nearby Lausanne is Switzerland's 5th largest city.  Like many Swiss cities, it presents an old town fit for an open afternoon with a fully charged camera.  It has a stunning cathedral and handfuls of hilltop vistas...so I've read.  I did not have time to see these sites.  Outside of Switzerland, if someone has heard of Lausanne, it is likely due to it being the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee and, since 1993, the Musee Olympique.  Lausanne has several interesting museums, but being that this is the only one of its kind in the world, it was an easy choice over the others.  Might also have a little something to do with my own sports fanaticism.  Through several floors and on its vast garden, the museum presents medals and torches, athletes' uniforms and equipment, and artwork and memorabilia from Olympiads past.  Although I have not forgotten the conditions in Beijing to which the world's finest athletes will be subjected, these exhibits reminded me.  The reminded me of the modern Games' purpose, to facilitate goodwill and peace through friendly competition, as well as the inspiring power of human perseverance in the face of adversity.

I love European fountains. No boring stainless steel push button. Instead an ornamental head with running water. Effective without eyesore.
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Thanks to fast, frequent trains and short distances, I could explore towns like Montreux and Lausanne yet return to Geneva to watch tournament favorites Portugal and Spain appear to live up to their hype.  Or perennial powers Germany, Italy, and France struggle to advance past the first round.  Or, sadly, tournament hosts Switzerland and Austria keep from embarrassing themselves on the world stage.  Regardless of whom was featured on the big screen or the lack of sun shining on the audience, football fever was always present.  As teams started winning, or, in some cases, just scored goals, the beer flowed more freely, the costumes became more outlandish, and the cheers and jeers multiplied in number and amplified in volume.  One day I'd be an honorary Swede.  Days later, a supporter of their group rival Spain.  I floated freely, having no country affiliation.  I danced with many and yelled with everyone, just sometimes for the "wrong" team.

A big chess game in the Parc des Bastions, one of the city's central greenbelts.
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I am big of football but a bigger fan of the mountains.  For me, coming to Switzerland and not stepping foot on the Alps would have been a crime.  To prevent me from committing this, Brittney and I ventured to the town of Interlaken.  A gorgeous small town situated between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz.  While very quaint and hospitable, it serves a higher purpose as a start point for many Alpine explorers.  From Interlaken, Brittney and I went to Lauterbrunnen via train, Grutschalp via gondola, and Murren via foot.  This was only an afternoon, but it provided us with Alpine snow, scenic valleys, and a few of Switzerland's many happy cows.  On the way back to Geneva, we stopped in Bern, the country's capital.  I usually try to get to a country's capital to see how it represents the nation as a whole.  If Bern is any indicator of the places I have not yet seen, I highly recommend Switzerland as travel destination.  Another gorgeous old town complete with canton flags and weekend markets.  Statues, cathedrals, and even the streets themselves are incredibly well preserved thanks to many centuries of neutrality.

Also in the park is the Wall of Reformation. This guy definitely made me want to fall to me knees, but more out of fear than faithfulness.
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My time in Geneva has now ended.  There will be no more FanZones for the duration of this EuroCup.  I have traded the public arena and large screen for the more modest settings of local pubs and personal televisions.  The Beautiful Game did not disappoint.  The tournament experience was what I had hoped.  It met my expectations.  Switzerland, on the other hand, did not.  It surpassed them by a football field.