Take the train dude

You know that pet bone you pick with your partner all the time? The one your friends roll their eyes and refer to when they talk about you? Car vs Train travel is fast becoming one that we add to our "repertoire" as it were. Here's my case for why train travel is better ....

1. Liberation from the GPS! No anxious searching for the right street, no standing on one leg to get a satellite signal, no going round and round in circles just because "Tom" says so. Try it, it'll add a few minutes to your lifespan.

2. Catching up on your reading. A few hours of uninterrupted me time with the latest Vogue, Conde Nast Traveller, National Geographic and of course the latest Newsweek. Perhaps with a warm cappucino and chocolate bread. Heaven!

3. No parking hassles. True story - We were in Basel last weekend for a show, we parked at an underground parking lot at a nearby Migros. The show left at 5.30 pm, and we head to the car. Only we couldn't get inside! All the Migros entrances were shut, as it was closing time (naturally), luckily we caught the last guy working in the basement through the machine at the entrance! And it cost us an arm and a leg for the two hours we'd parked there.

We could have saved ourselves the trouble by taking the tram/bus to the station and back.

4. Its better for the environment. This one should probably be on top - . The same 150 miles travelled by train would have released half the CO2 that the car did.

5) Daydreaming! Settle back into your barca lounger on the little strip of beach at the back of your mansion, be an intrepid adventurer dashing to dark and dangerous corners of the earth, or be Beyonce.... all without worrying about getting flashed by a radar!

So if you still think Swiss train travel isn't that comfortable, I leave you with a 2 minute snapshot of travel in a local train in Mumbai. Anything will seem better after this!

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Hopenhagen 2009 - Be a thought leader

The Guardian has established a "Reader Leaders" section, inviting readers to weigh in with their indepth views on Copenhagen, climate change and the state of the green revolution

Here's my article...

The Copenhagen Summit forges on, despite Climategate. Brave attempts have been made to reestablish credibility and redirect energies to achieving positive outcomes, especially by drawing focus to pledges made by leading developing world countries (China,India, South Africa) to cut carbon emissions.... Read More Here

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Geneva in the spotlight

If you happen to travel to Geneva this week chances are you'll see a lot of what look like soup or fondue pots in the windows. If you are not a local, like me, you will probably assume this is a traditional, albeit eccentric, way of welcoming the Christmas. You would also be dead wrong.

The soup pot is called a "marmite" , and is the quirky symbol of Geneva's "independence". That's right - four centuries ago, the Genevois proudly staved off attack from the forces of Savoy, made in the dead of night, probably by three times the number of people that lived in town at that time. That day is proudly remembered today, The Fetes des Escalades is in it's 75th anniversary in Geneva. The celebrations include costumed street parades at various places in Geneva, children's events and other festivities and an running race through the city centre. (Detailed information)

The festival finishes out what has been a great month for Geneva. A few weeks ago, it was one in only three cantons that voted against the Swiss People's party's vote to ban minarets. While most right wing supporters wrote this off the to the large proportion of foreigners composing the city's population, it was clear that people here thought differently, and weren't afraid of saying so.

Geneva was top of the mind again at this year's Lyon Festival of Lights, where one of the most evocative and avant garde displays was created by a Genevois, Robert Nortik. The Geneva based actor, filmmaker and artist devised the brilliant display, projecting scenes from Fellini's La Dolce Vita at a 360 degree radius around the square at Place des Jacobins. I'm not an art film conossieur, perhaps his choice of this film will become clearer in the next few weeks - I can vouch for the visual imagery of the display - it is powerful and seeps into your subconscious.

What struck me also was that despite the obvious abundance of talent, the Festival des Arbres Lumieres in Geneva currently on, is but a pale shadow to the vibrance and sheer scale of the display at Lyon, just a few hours away. There is clearly a case to be made here for a more vibrant city, one that is open to artistic endeavour and evolution.

While it is clear then that the people of Geneva are proud of their history, tradition and the essential character of their culture and values, it is not so certain however, whether they are able to see the way forward for their city as clearly.

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