Expect more colour this summer on Geneva's lakefront
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Food and souvenir vendors and ice-cream sellers along the lakefront in Geneva will soon be working from bright new stalls that will replace the drab ones they have used for years. The issue of what the new huts would look like was a hot political potato in Geneva for six years but the first 20 stalls have arrived in the city to a remarkable lack of opposition, notes the Tribune de Genève. The cost: CHF2.2 million. The new ones look like crates when closed, but the sides open up to provide shelter from sun and rain.
The five huts to be used as food stalls will have solar panels that will provide enough energy for their electric needs, estimated at 1,300 kWh for each one.
Map of new stall locations: click to view larger
Leman Expat Fair, Morges
Morges, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Lake Geneva area has numerous business and social clubs and networking groups for the English-speaking in international population that welcome newcomers, but every autumn the region is home to two events, each of which pull in a few thousand visitors, which make it easy for new arrivals to learn more about the region.
The family-centred indoors fairs, held on separate Sundays, introduce visitors to primarily English-language services and shops in the region, from clubs to insurance and banking advice, including a host of products. The Leman Expat Fair in Morges Sunday 27 is the first of these, with 100 exhibitors in the intimate setting of the Beausobre Theatre. The second is Expat Expo, with 180 exhibitors at Palexpo, Geneva’s large exhibition space near the airport.
Both offer free admission and plenty of giveaways. Check their web sites for details, as well as the GenevaLunch events pages for times and locations.
Ed. note: GenevaLunch will be at the Leman Expat Fair Sunday 27 September. We are unlikely to be able to join Expat Expo because of a date conflict, but we support the efforts of both groups to reach out to as many members of the international community as possible.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Petty larceny, with pickpocketing high on the list, has been rising in Geneva: 1,597 arrests in 2006; 1,794 in 2007 and 1,955 in 2008, according to police figures, possibly in line with a nationwide increase, but comparative figures will not be available before 2010, reports AFP. The news agency notes in an article on Geneva crime that the number of cases of bodily harm have doubled during this period, with figures covering everything from slaps to serious injuries.
Updated 10 April 13:10 London, England and Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Mars has become the latest chocolate maker to go green with its products, making a commitment ” to spend tens of millions of dollars annually certifying that the cocoa used in the $10bn of chocolate products it sells every year is sustainably sourced by 2020,” reports the Financial Times. Mars claims to be the world’s largest end-user of chocolate. The company joins Cadbury (whose European head office is in Rolle, Vaud, Switzerland), the largest chewing gum and sweets maker in the world, which has a significant chocolate business. Cadbury announced in March that it would increase direct Fair Trade buying from farmers, spending £45 million in the next 10 years to “to secure the sustainable socio-economic future of cocoa farming in Ghana, India, Indonesia and the Caribbean where the cocoa farming industry is facing increasing challenges.”
