the snow....the babes... the sun...the babes...the proximity to the Sth of France...and the babes....

ps Re: the Garlands...try either Jumbo... or Hornbach... and also Shilliger garden centre...

1.   The spas!  Check out  Swiss spa  association for details...

2.   Yodeling and alpen horns... yes,  really...

3.   Swiss art  and art museums 

4.   Authors, particularly Durrenmatt!

5.   Documentarians

6.   Nature

7.   Natural remedies

8.  Health insurance coverage for everyone

9.  The  basic social premise that no person should starve to death or be homeless.

10. Last but not least, the many excellent, righteous, and truly  funny Swiss who help keep me sane while living here...

1. Distance (ideally located plus it's so easy to reach each district of town)

2. Respect of laws (if you have own business, you are sure in tomorrow)

3. "swiss" mood (did notice, that swisses and foreigners who are living here for a long time are so single-minded, they love to work, responsible.

4. men  

Missed the most important one, the "Vignette" for 40 CHF.

you can drive across switzerland 100's of times with this ... so agree...

Drive to Paris and back and back again...and i think the tolls would be about 40 euros...

Swiss vignette is a bargain

The view from my Garden! - whole of lake Geneva!!

David,

Actually, I like the contrasts and the variety of things you can do, depending on the season and money you have in your back pocket.

But the sticker is very cool...

Efficiency

Wile changing trains in Lucerne a couple of months ago I bought a hot dog found a seat and dumped my bags and being a modest sort of guy went on to the platform to eat.

Being a sensible sort of chap I stood next to door watching the clock

Being a f...g useless p..k I got the time wrong and when the doors closed I calmly pushed the green button and to my amazement watched the train pulol out of the station.   All I had with me were my keys to an appartment in Lugano and a 3/4 eaten hot dog.  No money no ticket

At this point my experience of travelling took charge.  I look for an official - none.  Ticket offficer - closed (already 20h30).  Travel centre - same.  Finally I find a platform cleaner who only speaks Italian but by by talking loudly and clearly he is made to understand. 

He takes me along dimly lit corridors to a romm full of ticket inspectors who give me that witherijng look reserved specially for stupid English travellers.

But then they spring into action.  Which train I give full details carraige where the seat was and description of the person seated opposite me.  They know who is on the train and phone him on his mobile.

Less than five minutes later phone rings they have everything

But then the next question where are you going: Lugano no good station closed.  Bellinzona I suggest helpfully aklso closed by the time the train gets there.  Arth Goldau? I mumble gradually working back to the train's next stop.  Also closed.

Then the trained Englishman's of haute culture takes over.  There is a bar at Arth Goldau which serves a reasonable pint of Eichhof.  Could they leave it in the bar.  Quick checking of timetables - yes there is a local train that will get me there before the bar closes and half an hour (ie 2 pints) before the next direct train to Lugano arrives.

One of the inspectors who is going that way comes with me on the train in case there is a ticket inspection.  And to check that I find my baggage.  

The end of the story I arrive in Lugano an hour later with two pintas inside me.

The moral - do not go travelling with me

Of course as a true expat Swiss basher I should have complained that they could have given me a cup of tea.     

If this thread continues I wiull post a second story about Swiss police efficiency

1. The fact that my neighbours greet me instead of avoiding eye contact.

2. People walk at a reasonable speed.

3. Motorists are quite considerate of cyclists, compared to the road wars I left behind in London.

4. Shops close on Sundays.

5. Cheese, lakes and mountains - obviously.

I like the very civilised Swiss (and probably other continental countries) way of being greeted when you meet people waiting at lifts, by shop staff etc etc.  It p****es the hell out of me when I go back to the UK and shop staff not only don't greet you, they treat you as if you are interrupting their day.

And the lakes, mountains, chocolate, punctual trains, skiing,   as everyone has mentioned.

And the fact that the key cutting shop in Meyrin just puts a sign up at lunch to say back at 2pm, leaving his little kiosk open withh all the merchandise there for anyone to steal - which obviously they don't.  Back in Reading, it would take about 15 minutes to be completely emptied!

now 35chf at Denner if you spend over 100chf :-)

yay, you have just made my day!

OK I have left you all alone to put up what you like since 1pm and not one of you has put up one single kiss arse comment which is still total true:

GLOCALS & the Swiss ex-pat community - Absolutely brilliant well organised and great members - hats off especially to those who organise and those who keep me thinking and laughing.

@ Charlie "the snow....the babes... the sun...the babes...the proximity to the Sth of France...and the babes...." I haven't noticed "the babes", not with my partner, they say that love is blind, she's says it better be if I want to keep my bits 

The little quirky things I do not understand.  Why are the metal newspaper distrubters always chained and padlocked to a railing?  Nobody steals the newspapers so there must be a thriving scrap metal market.

I find point 2 intriguing.  Can you elaborate?

Thats sooo true. If it wasnt for glocals i wouldnt stay in Geneva for more than a year :)

Anw.

I like the fact that i can walk outside at 2pm and not melt.

I like that i can go anywhere in Europe for a long weekend

I like that i can have pets in the flat (my parents didnt let me do that in Cyprus)

I like the markets and all the things to see

To be continued...

Personally I love that with the current snow fall the crate of beer I leave in the Garden stays at the optimal drinking temperature. Freeing up space in the fridge for cheese!

No I am not telling anybody where I live and giving you all source of free beer.

I  also like the fact that Swiss don't appear to use emergency police phone lines for weird complaints, unlike some in the US and the UK.  As in the woman in Kent who used 999 to report that her snowman had been stolen....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-11908583

i like the fact that when i stupidly forget my i phone on the table in a crowded cafe, and remember 1 hour later , go back to find its exactly where i left it :-)

Apparently,  there is.  My small local Denner store was robbed of all but two of its shoping caddies a few months ago.,  However, it's now changed the 'parking' system and the thieves haven't returned.

I've also heard of metal plaques and fittings being removed from churches -- as in the UK, for example.

All that apart, I've grown to appreciate Switzerland's cities and larger towns for their character and charm and manageability.  Visiting a metropolis is grest but I wouldn't want to live in one again.  

my list is endless but I'll try to make it short.

1. The stunning landscapes; after 3 years and hundreds of train journeys, I am still staring out of the train window with amazement during my daily Lausanne-Geneva commute and my Geneva-Milan week-end trips.

2. Tied with the previous one, I see the mountains from my balcony.

3. Cheese and chocolate.

4. The fact that when I run like crazy to catch my tram (quite often) most of the times there is a random person just walking by who goes pressing the green button to keep the tram there for me.

5. The excellent doctors and health system.

6. The fact that today I forgot a shopping bag with 200chf worth clothes in a shop, and when I called after 3 hours they told me someone brought my bag to the staff.

7. The airport so close to the city centre and so quickly and easily reachable by public transport.

8. The fact that yesterday night I was stuck for a while in the traffic because of a broken tram on the way and the tram driver, after opening the doors far from the stop to let go out the people who wanted to walk, at some point told us "I am proud of still having you people on my tram. I have good news: we are moving soon. I apology for the troubles that just happened to you and I wish you a wonderful week-end". I was mad but this made me smile during the whole way home.

9. The nice bars by the lake and the Rhone where I love drinking wine watching the water.

10. The old town, its atmosphere and its cosy cafés.

11. The open-air swimming pools (during summere obviously!); never seen such well maintained public swimming pools.

12. The fact that when the timetable says 8h03, the bus arrives at 8h03 (snowstorms excluded!)

13. Efficient, clean and on time trains (again, snowstorms excluded!)

14. The fact that I have never been afraid of walking on my own home at whatever time in the night.

15. The unique combination small super-efficient / international town; I will never get bored of meeting new expat friends and learn about their interesting lives.

Skiing accident 1.30 Sunday afternoon:-

- Ranger / medic

- snow mobile to cable car

- escort to foot of mountain - ambulance waiting with paramedics waiting around a stretcher trolley

- ride to hospital with English speaking paramedic

- arrive at hospital - doctor and nurses waiting for me. Seen immediately.

- consulation / x-ray / diagnosis / leg brace / crutches / instructions / directions

- catch bus home at 4 pm - 2.5 hours after accident!! 

It would have taken at least that long simply to get seen in the UK.

my list:

- small queues at the Post office

- lovely cafes for brunch (all time favorite: O Calme, during summer time)

- great bircher muesli

- everything is really close and the public transportation system works really well

- in 30 minutes max you can get anywhere in Geneva (on foot, of course, by car you should be somewhere... else, surrounded by lots of cows, most probably) 

my list stops here, I'm afraid (only lived here for one year)... anyone knows a place famous for chocolate cakes?

Diana

I haven't been here that long but here are some things I love

-The christmas lights in Geneva, they are so beautiful

-The fact that on a clear night you can easily see the stars and constellations from the lakeside, in fact from almost anywhere in switzerland. I have spent many late nights out, enjoying the fact that I can easilly see them

-I think Switzerland has one of the best and friendliest couchsurfing communities in the world. I had a great time travelling around switzerland and going to some events.

-People always advise me to take care when walking on ice and snow. When I eventually did slip and fall, and get really bruised, someone actually helped me to my feet (i lived in icy countries for all my life, sliped many times, first time someone helped me up.)

-How kind and open people are. How people are not afraid to start conversations. I remember going for a run in a small swiss town and having a older, handicapped man remind me how lucky I am to run and encouraged me to continue. I think that beautiful and kind to remind a person how lucky they are to blessed to have good legs.

The list is endless but I'll try to make it short too.....

1. Live

2. Laugh

3. Love

You can do all three in Switzerland, all the time, any time, and no-one judges you.

(as long as you pay these little orange bills obviously.....)