On-Time Trains, Clean Rivers And The Alps Everywhere
Switzerland is famous for the Alps, chocolate and watches but after spending time there I realized it’s the little everyday things that really define the country. Here are the clues that tell you you’re unmistakably in Switzerland.
By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Travel Editor
Sure, the Alps are nearly always in view even if you are in a city and the trains run time, but it can be easy to get wrapped up in things and occasionally lose track of where you are, especially if you are on vacation.
So in case you zone out from all the activities – skiing, biking, dining, wine tasting– here’s PubClub.com’s list of the:
Top 10 Ways To Know You Are In Switzerland
1.) You see the Alps from almost every angle. Switzerland is one giant postcard, and most of that is because just about everywhere you look, you see the Alps. They seem to be staring down at you, watching your every move. PubClub.com likes to think of the Alps as a Swiss guardian angel, keeping an eye on you and making sure you’re having a good time.
2.) The trains and trams run on time. if a train is scheduled to depart at 11:03, it pulls away from the station precisely at 11:03. That’s a good thing. Because the trains and trams arrive on time, too. It must come from centuries of making all those watches.
3.) You’re on a train and at your destination before you’ve settled into your seat. The country is so small, by the time you get on Facebook to tell all your friends what you are doing and gawk at the passing scenery, you are pulling into your station stop. In Switzerland, you can go from one side of the country to another in two hours.
4.) You see people walking in ski boots and holding skis in the cities. Seriously, where else in the world could this happen?
5.) You stop skiing to take a long – very long – break for lunch. In Switzerland, unlike America, skiing is an experience, like going for a scenic walk. They don’t rush through it. They are as likely to have as many glasses of wine with lunch as they are ski runs during the day.
6) You see people walking everywhere. The Swiss like to walk. They walk along a field by the runway at the Zurich Airport. They walk up and down stairs instead of taking the escalator (those apparently exist only for the benefit of tourists). They will think nothing of putting on snowshoes to walk up the side of the Alps just to get a drink of schnapps at a little hut at the top of the hill.
7.) People are drinking schnapps in the bars as ski resorts. There’s even schnapps in coffee drinks, which is quite good after a day on the slopes.
8.) People speak with different accents in different parts of the country. In the south, you hear Italian, in the west it’s French and elsewhere it’s kind of German. You can tell where you are in Switzerland by what accents you hear the locals speaking.
9.) You see people swimming in the rivers and lakes in the cities. In the States, you would assume they fell in, but in Switzerland, the water even in the cities is so clean people go swimming in the rivers and lakes. Oh, and you can drink out of the fountains in the cities, too.
10.) The people are well dressed as if they just emerged from a business meeting are or on their way to a cocktail party. The Swiss have a great sense of style. Even in casual settings they look as if they just stepped out of a fashion magazine.
BONUS! There are actually people eating fondue in restaurants. Tip: Don’t drink beer with fondue. It’s bad for the stomach. Instead, wash it down with wine.
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Kevin Wilkerson is the founder of PubClub.com, an award-winning journalist and nightlife expert who has covered destinations, events and nightlife for more than two decades. While working as a newspaper reporter, he received an Associated Press award for investigative journalism.
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