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Jared Bloch
Get your Swiss certified antique diving gear here!
Camo panties; in case you're caught with "your pants down"
Geneva, Switzerland – A trip to the opening of the Military Surplus Exhibition and sale at Palexpo today found the following must have items: antique scuba set complete with respirator, air tanks and inflatable vest; Swiss army issue chocolate; camouflage panties; and my favorite a full array of replacement parts for military issue bicycles.
Jared Bloch
Bike visit
Geneva, Switzerland – As a sometime bike mechanic and general fan of two-wheeled vehicles, I was thrilled to walk into Planet Charmilles last week to find an exhibition on the history of bicycles. The exhibit titled Le Velo, Deux Siecles d’Histoire, or The Bicycle, Two Centuries of History, showcased 30 bicycles dating from 1817 to the present.
In 1817, the German Baron and inventor, Karl Drais von Sauerbronn forever changed the geography of footpaths and horse tracks when he invented the Laufsmachine or Running Machine in English. It was so called because it resembled the side view of a horse cart which the rider straddled while propelling himself by his legs; the notion of gears and pedaling was yet to be incorporated.
Jared Bloch
How hard is it to buy an inexpensive, used and reliable car in Geneva?
If you have taken an international job in Geneva, chances are you may have shipped a vehicle to Switzerland, under the special tax free provisions for international organizations and the diplomatic corps.
If however you are purchasing a vehicle in Switzerland, or otherwise do not qualify for the above exemption, you are faced with seemingly daunting Swiss regulations regarding the inspection, or so called ”expertise” of a vehicle prior to registration.
Jared Bloch
The view from my bike
There is nothing finer than going to your best friend of 20 year’s wedding, unless it going to his wedding and catching up while riding motorcycles around aimlessly.
I wake up again as we are arriving to Milwaukee and see whitecapped waves breaking on Lake Michigan.
Jared Bloch
Laid over, tipped bike, a sad sight
One of my favorite aspects of living in Geneva is the visible presence of two wheeled vehicles in the streets on my way to and from work. And one of the most pathetic sights to my sense, is that of a motorcycle or scooter laid over in the street; even the expression “laid over” is too passive a voice to describe the visceral response a “tipped” bike elicits in me.
My first reaction is to lift a motorcycle that has been laid down, but like an injured pedestrian made to lie still, I worry that a cracked turn signal or some other injured extremity may fall off if moved unnecessarily.
Jared Bloch
Bicycle, bike, lost inocence - Photo ©Jared Bloch
I have been an avid cyclist for 20 years, ever since I discovered that I could beat cross town buses to work in rush hour traffic. In that time, I have had exactly 2 bikes stolen, and I remember each incident perfectly, and the feeling of having been punched in the stomach and slightly sick at finding my transportation, livelihood and meditative machine missing from its resting place.
That was the feeling I encountered last week with my wife and daughter after finishing dinner with friends at their apartment in the Delices neighborhood. We had ended a great evening of food and board games when we went to collect our bikes in the foyer of their door code building.
Jared Bloch
View of Geneva from the Lake
When I first came to Geneva, I arrived with three suitcases and a passport. My first weeks were spent walking from a rented room to my office, in typically cold and wet January weather.
While I lamented not having a car during those first ear tingling winter days, I soon found that Geneva was small enough to accommodate a carless existence. And by my second month, I began questioning the need for a vehicle altogether.
