Adventures in Switzerland: Part 1
A prelude
I am sitting here with my husband at our gate at the Flughafen Zürich. I enjoy saying Flughafen - it’s one of several German words that I’ve learned while here.
Our time in Switzerland flew by, like I knew it would. I loved every minute of my time in this beautiful place. I can’t wait to share the details and pictures from each day’s adventures. I kept a journal and took many pictures - most of which are on my Nikon camera. It will take me a few days to begin posting about each day we spent in Switzerland.
Until then, I thought I would share some random thoughts that I collected during this past week. Enjoy!
It was quiet everywhere we went, and I’m talking about everywhere you would think it would be noisy - like the airport, the main train station, the city streets, public transportation, and busy restaurants.
The cleanliness of the public bathrooms (or washrooms as they call it in English) was a breathtaking experience. I joked with my family when FaceTiming with them that I could have eaten off the public washroom floors. Yuck, I know, but you get the point.
I felt safe wherever we went, both inside and outside of the city.
I am impressed by the multilingualism of Swiss citizens - like at least three languages depending on the canton they live in and other languages required and taught in school. The country has four official languages: German, French, Italian, and Romansh.
The Swiss chocolate was delightful and rich. I am still not finished with a Cailler chocolate bar that I bought last Sunday. I could only eat one or two squares a day (also because I indulged in other desserts throughout the day and week). I am bringing back about half-a-carryon’s worth of Swiss chocolate for our family.
My favorite Swiss dish was rösti. I had a vegetable raclette rösti and it was so, so good. It was made of grated potatoes, with vegetables, and then cheese on top, which was baked in a dish. Did I mention how delicious it was?
The area around the main train station always gave me anxiety when I had to cross the streets near it. You have to watch for the electric trams on rails, cars, buses, and bicyclists going in both directions. It is a busy area and you have to pay attention. While there are pedestrian lights, the electric trams have the right of way. Also, the pedestrian light only stays green for a very short time. You cannot leisurely walk across. As soon as the pedestrian light turns yellow, a car might honk at you to move you along before the pedestrian light turns red.
Everyone I met was friendly.
The church steeples with the clocks always took my breath away. I admired each one I saw. The three most famous churches were near our hotel and all beautiful to behold.
I loved the arched wood doorways and windows with wooden shutters.
Tchüss!
