Switzerland is strange, but funny

I observed a few things which I have never seen anywhere else. I am not starting here an article about the typical Swissness, or how Switzerland is being different than anyone else – believe it or not, whoever dares to say this must first of all travel the world to see that it is all about the mix, which is indefinite. Thus, I would never arrogate to write such thing, but keep it to “points to be amused of, observed in Switzerland”.

The traffic jam of the well-behaved. If, on a swiss highway, two lanes merge into one because of construction or any other reasons, drivers would already start just using one lane way before the actual lane merge. And as of politeness, one can not just drive past all the well-behaved, there is a snowball effect, ending up in a traffic jam and in a one lane use, while for hundreds of meters there are two!

Cleaning does not stop from nature. We were driving down a small cement road where suddenly the car in front of us stopped and would not move. After a minute, we were wondering what the reason might be, in the middle of farms and cowland. I could not believe when I saw a street cleaning machine crawling up the mountain, grasping some leaves and hay. Ridiculous – that is waste of money, energy and insulting the farmers and poor cows in the living space.

An honest tax department? I went through the paper work to unregister from Switzerland.  After completing my 2012 tax declaration and trying to sort out what I had paid and was what still open on communal, cantonal and federal level; I started giving a shit about it and thought: Mister Swiss Fiskus would know anyway. And how they did! This young, good looking and friendly tax accountant (go and find that first of all) searched back several years and figured out that I must have paid too much and now, the federal department would owe me money – but as all the departments seem to like each other, he would even get it back for me! First laughing about it and offering to invite him for a coffee if that happens to be true, that sum would have easily turned into an upper class dinner. But no, professionalism and swiss conservatism goes beyond flirting. I took my bag and sneaked away - with the money.

Me, a tourist in Switzerland?

What I have to tell you today is probably not going to be much different than of what you can read in a Tourist Guide book about Switzerland, but still I want to write about my impression of my first proper holidays as a tourist in Switzerland.

Let’s start from the beginning of the beginning, which is, as often a story – a sleepless night granting an upgrade. Unfortunately nothing romantic nor exciting, but the usual “Andrea a la bourre”, procrastinating the most important thing, in this case PACKING.

Packing at night, getting up early and luckily being able to count on my companion joining me to Munich. Having an upgrade to Thai Airways (Because my flight from Turkish Airline got cancelled and I refused to wait 12h at the airport to wait for the next one) from Bangkok to Munich, I have to say that I was granted a very smooth arrival in Munich. The Intersolar, every year crazy big, too long distances to walk and odd looks given to all those women who bear the high heals while running kilometers between the halls. Me, rather in the Flip Flop Outfit (what else coming from Laos, where proper shoes are found like cheese in the desert – not impossible, but who cares?) Almost sleepless nights continue as meetings hunt each other, followed by receptions, handshakes and smiles. Once this theatre survived, a comfortable train brought us from Munich directly to Zurich. I was also excited that my best from Lao accompanied me and I hope I gave her an authentic picture of Switzerland and some unforgettable memories. Arriving in Zurich, there it was: Warm, comfortable weather, lakes and still snow covered mountains. A glorious arrival, topped with a first initial meal of amazing food, with an amazing price of course. Welcome in one of the most expensive countries in the world.

The days were already quite packed and I thought from the beginning: Take it easy, do not overbook yourself, but there was no choice: People overbooked me, not having enough time for any of my friends, including my family has been tearing down the energy. I probably did most of the things a tourist can dream off when visiting Switzerland, but I did not have enough time for my dearest. To give you an idea of crazy Swiss days, here a few thoughts and anecdotes.













Lazy as we have become (except good Dada), we took a cable car up the hill, to hike in mysterious fog and in the middle of nowhere, somewhere, only accompanied by the sounds of cowbells (but no cows visible). Looking for the place where Christian’s accident happened, we found it covered by snow and difficult to access, but that was ok. Suddenly, as the sun was rising towards lunchtime, all clouds started disappearing and then you found yourself in the middle of a beautiful valley, surrounded by 2000-3000m high mountains. It’s like being in a simple dark cinema, where, within a few minutes the screen is turned into a 360 degree, 3D, life size show, lit by the sun. A beauty surprise which could not be topped. A picknick, a foto-shooting, a visit at the local cheese making place and a few good laughs with the mother of the Alp serving us a Kafi met Schnaps (very sweet instant coffee with liquor) and homemade Cherry Pie. Later the afternoon, walking down the hill (just 1000m), would make us remember the day not only with beautiful picture but also merciless muscle pain - for several days, each step we made.

The journey was topped by an Open Air Festival, in Interlaken, one of the most famous and visited tourist locations in Switzerland. Surrounded by Rock Fans, we enjoyed “die Aerzte” and other bands.

Big hugs were distributed to my old and closest friends at a “Frauetreff” in Zurich. If someone would have wanted to describe us, he would have said : “A bunch of crazy hens cackling around”, I have to say, an amusing and nice way to have an update.

Another sports adventure: Sailing!!! Wow, spending words about it, is not worthwhile, but the pics shall do it.

Time with family, never enough, but having the opportunity to go to a mountain hut was fantastic. On the edges of the Pilatus, this little simple hut (in Lao quality a very solid and professional house) hosted parts of my family and friends for a few days with all the goodies of simplicity found in remoteness: Fresh mountain air, source water as cold as freshly unfrozen ice, a century old wooden oven keeping us warm in the morning and night, as well as all kinds of sounds of the nature from animals, rain, storm and wind. The intensity was also given by my sister’s two kids, with whom I spent fantastic moments of joy and laughter.

We were blessed with another sports adventure: Wakeboarding. How fantastic was that, I would have never imagined that. Also, somehow, I just felt like using the waves to jump – an there I went, Andrea jumped, I flew (at least for a fraction of a second), I thought as next, I will have growing wings.



With almost NO people on the lake (because everyone thought there might be a thunderstorm), the mountains in the background, the adrenaline in the blood, together with people I love, it felt surreal. Can that be – am I dreaming? For the sake of giving proof, here some pictures.



The evening was topped with a cold beer, fresh fish from the lake and Aelpermakkaroni – while of course watching the sun go down, just a minor detail to highlight the kitsch and perfectness of the evening.

These words show many the "activity-side" of my holidays. Besides these adventurous moves, there were always in between little moments of total tranquility and contentment. I could see and feel where I had been coming from, while being comfortable with. I was able to spend time with people I love and without any constraints, I could let it go and enjoy. I knew, I only had a few days and I think only little could have been done to enjoy more.

Found

This little quote I found while cleaning my mess on my desktop. I do not remember when I had found that, why I did not post it earlier, but I guess it does not matter - it's been valid throughout.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn...'t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."
Mark Twain