Musings about Switzerland

Visiting a new country is always fun. Especially to visit countries that are somewhat similar to your own, but still different in all its small ways. Being a Norwegian in Switzerland for a few days did at least lead to quite a few interesting observations. The first one was about the people. The are really welcoming and make sure you find and get whatever you need. During a day sightseeing downtown Zürich there was also an impression of a relaxed and laid back atmosphere, but with very well scheduled plan underneath it all. Even to the degree where even the bus and tram schedules are planned to the tenth of a second! Another thing that is worth mentioning about the people in Switzerland that differs from Norway is the hospitality in any café or restaurant. If the place seems full, people are more than willing to let you share their table and makes sure everybody get room. They even start to chat a little bit with you.

Since we are on the delightful topic about the cafés and restaurants, it seems natural to mention the swiss cousine. First off, compared to Norwegian prices, the food and drinks in Switzerland are also relatively cheap. Many of the dishes are the same, but some dishes and candy really stood out as different. We got to try some very, very, very delicious and good candy called Luxembourgers. There is no such thing in Norway, and you can't even take them home, because you have to eat them fresh. The box went down quickly! And there is of course all of the other swiss chocolate. Tastes really, really good as well. Yummy! :o)

And to wash it down there was also a typically swiss soft drink in 3 flavours; The Rivella. I tried all three of them, but the red one was definitely the best one. Reminds me of the good old "bruspulver" we had as candy when I was a kid back home in Norway. Quite a few bottles were consumed during the trip. As for the food, we also had one evening with some traditional (?) swiss dish. Melted cheese and potatoes. This was very good and tasty as well. The only downside was the smell of cheese in the room the next day... Again, to combine the hospitality of our hosts and the food, we also had a great dinner at a "top notch" restaurant in the top floor of a high-rise building. That is the first time ever I have seen an elevator go directly into the hallway of an apartment! Quite interesting. And the house also had a really good view of the town by night :o) Going out was also an interesting experience. Got a few good beers, and we had a national championship in Fussball! And sad to say, the norwegians were absolutely demolished by the swiss team this particular night. I guess more practice is needed... And another HUGE difference between Norway and Switzerland is that in Switzerland it is still allowed to smoke inside of bars... This gives your clothes a funky smell, in addition to sore eyes and throat. I don't think we pay attention to it that much in Norway anymore, but I was so glad at that point that Norway did forbid smoking inside in bars.

Well, back to some of the buildings and houses in Switzerland. There is quite a blend of new and old all around. Downtown in the larger cities there are quite a few modern houses, but I just can't figure out the fascination for the "strong" colors. I have never seen any so brightly colored houses in pink, green, yellow, blue etc. One house we saw at some point even had stripes of paint in a half-way pshycidelic pattern. Go figure...
Mixed in with this you could also see quite a few old castles and towers scattered around on the various hilltops on the way to the alps. Even in the alps there were quite a few of these older buildings. The one thing I really liked though, is the more "traditional" older houses in the alps. Our village did have quite a nice atmosphere, and the house we stayed in was very interesting. An old house in the mountain like that was just to nice for words. And not to mention all the extras we eventually discovered. First off there was the big world inside the world with all the Märklin train sets and the model town. And even if some of these houses are really old, contain stables (some even with live animals like ponnies and cows) some had a private bar in theirs!! And to even top it off, there was the private flipper game. All houses weren't as well stocked like this, and even here in the smaller villages in the swiss alps, there were those that obviously wanted the new combined with the old. Some of the houses were of a more modern design, but in my opinion they kind of ruined the area, giving a feeling of misplaced Lego bricks.

The weather in Switzerland may be as changing and unpredictable as in Norway. But I have to say, when it was nice, it was really nice. Being in the snowy alps in sunshine was nothing but beautiful. Such a wonderful day to do skiing and snowboarding! Probably one of the best days in the hills for years. In the alps we also noticed another special breed of humankind. The germans. My oh my. Gone where the hospitality and politeness.
They were constantly pushing and showing in the lines, complaining about the food, and the fact that they didn't get as much as they wanted for an even cheaper price. They should definitely have tried the prices in Norway :o)

All in all, it was a great trip and it was very interesting to observe all of the small differences. So as the saying goes; "Same, same, but different".

Werner