Jet d'Eau

I have always wanted to visit Switzerland and see this famous fountain in Geneva.

I arrived in Geneva from Zurich. I was with a friend whom I met in one of the other tours I took in Zurich (more on this on my next post)  and from the main station we immediately grabbed a copy of the Tour Booklet and next thing I was already asking a Swiss guy in the station where can I find the fountain. He is a French speaking Swiss and so it was hard to communicate but when I showed him the map of the place we are asking he immediately showed me and guide us how to get there.

We are backpackers on a kinda amazing race stuff. I only have a few days to stay in Switzerland while my newfound friend have a 3 weeks to stay since he was on a business trip. He was sent by his company in Singapore for a training. Due to limited time I have, I wanted to explore Switzerland, savor and enjoy every moment of my stay.


Anyway, I googled the information on this fountain and here are the facts I have found  in Wikipedia.


The Jet d'Eau (French pronunciation: [ʒɛ do], Water-Jet) is a large fountain in Geneva, Switzerland, and is one of the city's most famous landmarks, being featured on the city's official tourism web site and on the official logo for Geneva's hosting of the 2008 UEFA Championships.^[1] It is also one of the largest fountains in the world.^[2] Situated at the point where Lake Geneva empties into the Rhone River, it is visible throughout the city and from the air, even when flying over Geneva at an altitude of 10 km (33,000 ft).

Five hundred litres (132 gallons) of water per second are jetted to an altitude of 140 metres (459 feet) by two 500 kW pumps, operating at 2,400 V, consuming over one megawatt of electricity.^[3][4][5] The water leaves the nozzle at a speed of 200 km/h (124 mph). When it is in operation, at any given moment there are about 7,000 litres (1849 gallons) of water in the air. Unsuspecting visitors to the fountain—which can be reached via a stone jetty from the left bank of the lake—may be surprised to find themselves drenched after a slight change in wind direction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_d%27Eau