World Expo...Visit Number One

Tonight Alex and I (and Geneva, of course) went to the Expo for the first time. The World Expo opened here on May 1 and we have heard mixed reviews about the experience. So yesterday someone offered us a free July ticket that they couldn't use by today so we found a babysitter and headed over there for a few hours.

If you are really interested in knowing more about the expo, here is the website: http://en.expo2010.cn/.

If all you really just want to see cute photos of Geneva, scroll down!

When the Expo opened, all the pavilions had 'green lanes' for stroller age babies, handicapped, and elderly. After a few weeks, however, these were closed due to the difficulty in controlling them. We had heard rumor from friends, though, that if you found the right security guard or pavilion staff, they would let you in if you had a little baby. Since some of the pavilion lines can be 2-3 hours (yes, crazy!!!) we decided that our trip tonight would be a 'scouting' trip to find out the best places to take the girls when we come as a family in August. We were super pleased to find that three of the big pavilions with 2+ hour lines let us in the VIP entrance...no wait! Hooray! One was the USA, another was Italy, and the third one was Russia. (Photos Below).

When we first arrived we went straight to the Joint-Africa Pavilion. It is a large building that houses small displays for about 20 sub-sahara African countries. We arrived around 5:30 and there were a ton of people just sitting around inside the building. It was a hot day and a few hundred (probably more like a thousand) smart tour group members decided to take refuge in the air-con building while they waiting to meet up with their tour groups and head home (the tour group parking lot is right by the entrance near the Africa pavilion). So it was a bit crowded but we found the Ethiopia display and got a cup of coffee and chatted with a couple of the Ethiopian ladies who were working there. (Due to excessive crowds and trying to move away from too many young chinese women wanting to snap photos of Geneva, I did not get as many photos of this pavilion as I would have liked...will definitely get more next time!).

Next stop was dinner at the African Culture Food Court. Alex had an Ostrich meat wrap.

Then on to Italy. I was more than a little skeptical about getting in the VIP line and I made Alex promise not to say we were Italians, but a very nice Italian staff let us in! And it was so worth going in. Really it was the best pavilion we saw. Here are a few cool photos. We discovered while we were inside that Milan is set to be the host of the next World Expo, which is probably why they put so much effort into this pavilion. (http://en.expo2010.cn/c/en_gj_tpl_27.htm)

Here is Alex outside the pavilion. It is made of some sort of transparent concrete that lets light in.

A full orchestra, mounted sideways on a wall in the lobby.

A huge Versace gown.

And this was a room highlighting Italian food production...an olive tree in the middle and wheat (for pasta) hanging from the ceiling.

When we walked out of the building we could see the Russia pavilion so decided to try to get in, in honor of my dad. We were prepared to inform the VIP entrance guard all about my Russian heritage, but didn't need to. One look at sleepy little Geneva and they let us right in the side door. The inside was nice and cool but a little, well, strange. I looked up the story of the pavilion online tonight and now know what was happening in there, but when we walked through we had this 'through the looking glass' feeling. Just take a look at the photos and you'll see why.

But overall we liked it and are planning on taking the girls there next time. Oh, and here is the link about the Russia Pavilion... http://en.expo2010.cn/c/en_gj_tpl_14.htm. Apparently the pavilion is based on a famous Soviet children's story. As we walked through the huge fake gardens, we looked up and saw...Sputnik. Seemed a little out of place in the garden, but it would be hard to imagine a Russia pavilion without it.

Here's a photo of the United Kingdom's really cool 'porcupine' building. It is made up of hundreds (maybe thousands?) of glass 'needles', each one containing a seed at the end of it. I think they plan on planting the seeds once the Expo is over. The photo does not do it justice!

We next tried the Brazil pavilion, which we heard was nice, but were turned away. Oh well, it was worth trying. We hadn't planned on going to the USA pavilion, but since it was next door to Brazil we went ahead and asked the American guy who was at the VIP entrance if we could go in. We had heard that it wasn't very impressive and really Italy was a hard act to follow. But it did all feel very American. From the college student greeter to the Welcome video hosted by Kobe Bryant to the array of sponsors (the pavilion was privately funded...very American I think!) who had their ads up in the final room.

By then it was late and we had to get back to the girls who were probably on their third video with the babysitter. We discovered a new rule for subway riders...balloons are no longer allowed!! Which was a bummer since we bought the big girls a nice one as a treat. So after a chat with the security manager at that subway stop we found that yes, it truly was a well-enforced policy that they were not willing to budge on, we headed back out to the street to find a taxi home.

So I would say our time at the Expo was a success and we are looking forward to our next visit!

Oh, and if you were wondering, I read online that the number of Expo visitors today was 440, 900 people.