We’re checking out today and heading to Zurich, but before leaving our B&B we thought we would have a proper look around. We found that they do the ‘Sleeping on straw’ here. If only we had known, we would have gone for that option. This is a scheme they have going in Switzerland where they rent out sleeping space in their hay barns during the summer season and the cows are in the fields. We had discussed this, but with the swine smells of the last place we agreed that we would need to be selective where we did it, as we didn’t want to be sleeping in a pigsty (figuratively speaking). But this one looked pristine. Fresh hay bales laid out in a dorm-like configuration around the walls, in an elevated loft above the barn, with a bathroom and toilet attached. Mattresses available for those that don’t want to sleep directly on the straw. Exactly what we were looking for, what a shame we didn’t know about it until we were leaving.
We’re retracing our steps today going back the way that we came. Small farmlets, green pastures, sprinkled with chalets and farm buildings, winding our way through small villages and farming communities. As we went through the towns we noticed that there were a lot of kids heading home at 11:40 with their flouro sashes. Do they have two hour lunch hours as well? Or perhaps they have half days on Wednesdays.
Our first stop in Zurich was the train station and the tourist information office to try and find somewhere to sleep tonight. The train station has 54 platforms, 1000s of train movements everyday, and the 1000s of people that go with that. There was a market going on inside one end of the station, as there is every Wednesday, and weaving their way through this crowd are the large tractor like street sweepers. With a flashing light and a toot of the horn they seem to take delight in running down the unsuspecting. Up until now we have seen the cleaners working their way through bus, train, and underground stations with a broom and a bucket, making minimal fuss, minimal bother, and minimal noise. Today we even saw street sweepers cleaning the side of country roads with a bush type broom. So why do they suddenly decide here to go automatic on us. The operators seem to get particular pleasure from their jobs.
It was at this station that we had it reconfirmed that the Swiss were out to get us. It didn’t seem that we could do anything right. If we sat down we got yelled at “You can’t sit there!”, if we stood in one place we got yelled at “You have to move!” It felt like you can’t do anything without being told by someone to do something else. This yelling isn’t done by policemen (we’ve seen hardly any of them), it is done by Joe public, and Joe public is a scary man (or more often a woman) who is quite at ease yelling at you from either 300 meters away, or directly into your face. After getting scared out of your wits, you realize that it isn’t just you, they do this to anyone and everyone. The Swiss don’t need a police force, they do a perfectly good job of self regulating themselves. Whoever says that Germans are rude, haven’t met the Swiss.
The guidebooks would have you believe that ‘the Swiss are the friendliest people in the world’. From our experience this couldn’t be further from the truth, well at least in the cities. Maybe their country folk benefit from the elevation of their habitat and perhaps the hemp that they share with their ducks.
But back to the train station, we haven’t seen as many army personnel in any country as we have here in Switzerland. This is particularly noticeable at the train station where we consistently saw large groups of them, in transit, on the way home with family, on duty, off duty, all with the obligatory kit bags and rifles over their shoulders. It seems ironic for a neutral country to be bristling with a military presence to defend its neutrality.
In case you were wondering, we did find somewhere to sleep for the next couple of nights, and after checking in we headed out again to have a look at this fine city. First was a tram ride into the city, and greeting us on the tram was the sign that said, by graphic means; No smoking (fair enough), No empty pockets (you have to pay for your ride), No shoes on seats (fair enough), No guitar playing (is yodeling OK?), and No sawing seats?????!!!! (does that really need to be said?).
Once in town our investigations started with a ‘short harbour’ boat cruise. It all started well enough finding our way aboard and sitting down, and then a woman stuck her face in ours and barked in the deepest voice that you can imagine “Coffee!” Her manner, decibel rating and tone (amongst other things) were the first things that made us question whether ‘she’ was really a ‘she’ (the jury is still out on that one). After all her intent was mild enough, she just wanted to know if we wanted a coffee. Our response in the negative seemed to please her, as we didn’t see her again. But then if ‘she’ wasn’t enough to put us off the coffee, the price did. 13 Swiss francs for a coffee (approx 17 NZD). This is one very expensive country where diesel is more expensive than all grades of petrol.
The cruise was very pleasant passing down both sides of the lake looking out at the expensive looking houses. We made the observation that a lot of it looked like it could be Mt Eden (with lots of established green trees around), put on the side of a lake with mountains as a backdrop. The area around here has a lot of history and some truly fantastic old buildings, but this wasn’t being shown to its best today with the grey sky and threatening rain.
But not to be put off we followed this up with a riverboat cruise that went up the canal/river. By this time it was getting dark and the lights of the city were coming on. The spires and steeples, the twin domes of the Grossmunster were all alight. This was truly magical. Also lit up was the Frauenbadi, a women’s only swimming baths on the river that was built in 1888 to protect women bathers from ‘prying eyes’. Even today this is a women’s only baths, except at night when it becomes a Barefoot Bath and men are invited.
We’re retracing our steps today going back the way that we came. Small farmlets, green pastures, sprinkled with chalets and farm buildings, winding our way through small villages and farming communities. As we went through the towns we noticed that there were a lot of kids heading home at 11:40 with their flouro sashes. Do they have two hour lunch hours as well? Or perhaps they have half days on Wednesdays.
Our first stop in Zurich was the train station and the tourist information office to try and find somewhere to sleep tonight. The train station has 54 platforms, 1000s of train movements everyday, and the 1000s of people that go with that. There was a market going on inside one end of the station, as there is every Wednesday, and weaving their way through this crowd are the large tractor like street sweepers. With a flashing light and a toot of the horn they seem to take delight in running down the unsuspecting. Up until now we have seen the cleaners working their way through bus, train, and underground stations with a broom and a bucket, making minimal fuss, minimal bother, and minimal noise. Today we even saw street sweepers cleaning the side of country roads with a bush type broom. So why do they suddenly decide here to go automatic on us. The operators seem to get particular pleasure from their jobs.
It was at this station that we had it reconfirmed that the Swiss were out to get us. It didn’t seem that we could do anything right. If we sat down we got yelled at “You can’t sit there!”, if we stood in one place we got yelled at “You have to move!” It felt like you can’t do anything without being told by someone to do something else. This yelling isn’t done by policemen (we’ve seen hardly any of them), it is done by Joe public, and Joe public is a scary man (or more often a woman) who is quite at ease yelling at you from either 300 meters away, or directly into your face. After getting scared out of your wits, you realize that it isn’t just you, they do this to anyone and everyone. The Swiss don’t need a police force, they do a perfectly good job of self regulating themselves. Whoever says that Germans are rude, haven’t met the Swiss.
The guidebooks would have you believe that ‘the Swiss are the friendliest people in the world’. From our experience this couldn’t be further from the truth, well at least in the cities. Maybe their country folk benefit from the elevation of their habitat and perhaps the hemp that they share with their ducks.
But back to the train station, we haven’t seen as many army personnel in any country as we have here in Switzerland. This is particularly noticeable at the train station where we consistently saw large groups of them, in transit, on the way home with family, on duty, off duty, all with the obligatory kit bags and rifles over their shoulders. It seems ironic for a neutral country to be bristling with a military presence to defend its neutrality.
In case you were wondering, we did find somewhere to sleep for the next couple of nights, and after checking in we headed out again to have a look at this fine city. First was a tram ride into the city, and greeting us on the tram was the sign that said, by graphic means; No smoking (fair enough), No empty pockets (you have to pay for your ride), No shoes on seats (fair enough), No guitar playing (is yodeling OK?), and No sawing seats?????!!!! (does that really need to be said?).
Once in town our investigations started with a ‘short harbour’ boat cruise. It all started well enough finding our way aboard and sitting down, and then a woman stuck her face in ours and barked in the deepest voice that you can imagine “Coffee!” Her manner, decibel rating and tone (amongst other things) were the first things that made us question whether ‘she’ was really a ‘she’ (the jury is still out on that one). After all her intent was mild enough, she just wanted to know if we wanted a coffee. Our response in the negative seemed to please her, as we didn’t see her again. But then if ‘she’ wasn’t enough to put us off the coffee, the price did. 13 Swiss francs for a coffee (approx 17 NZD). This is one very expensive country where diesel is more expensive than all grades of petrol.
The cruise was very pleasant passing down both sides of the lake looking out at the expensive looking houses. We made the observation that a lot of it looked like it could be Mt Eden (with lots of established green trees around), put on the side of a lake with mountains as a backdrop. The area around here has a lot of history and some truly fantastic old buildings, but this wasn’t being shown to its best today with the grey sky and threatening rain.
But not to be put off we followed this up with a riverboat cruise that went up the canal/river. By this time it was getting dark and the lights of the city were coming on. The spires and steeples, the twin domes of the Grossmunster were all alight. This was truly magical. Also lit up was the Frauenbadi, a women’s only swimming baths on the river that was built in 1888 to protect women bathers from ‘prying eyes’. Even today this is a women’s only baths, except at night when it becomes a Barefoot Bath and men are invited.
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