Quirky things about Switzerland

Art! Art! Art Everywhere!
When in Switzerland, you will find creativity at its best.

If they can ramp up an old shoe to something like this, well do I have to mention how creative Switzerland art look like?

Flowers at the windowpane

And be ready to be mind-blown by the wooden houses with blissful flowers adorned on their window panes.

Go on and on around the winding cobblestoned alleys of Brienz to treat yourself to the popular traditional wooden houses decorated with flowers.

Forget about the wooden houses, even the modern houses have their window panes or balcony decorated with flowers.

Colored Window doors!

Whether it is wooden house or modern house, you would find window doors in interestingly colored traditional patterns.

Excellent public transport system
Ohoo! This is my favorite part of travelling in Switzerland.Trains are perfectly timed to catch the next connecting bus or worse next connecting boat cruise.

Everything in your hand
A one stop solution for any worries regarding Public transport - SBB App.

We loved this app and anyone would love it too. Read ''Travel at your ease with Swiss travel pass and SBB App''

Time

No doubt that they are the finest manufacturer of clocks. They value time.

All public transports were on time throughout the duration of our trip! Not even delayed in seconds.

Organised

The best part about this country is that everyone is completely relaxed and no one is in a hurry ever. Even in the busiest hours, you would see office goers wait for the passengers to get down before getting in.

When you are crossing a zebra line (irrespective of the color), you would find the person driving the car stop for you to cross. No rush-push! No hurry! Just Chill!

Can you imagine such a thing in India?

Flowers, an untold affair

They love flowers. No No! It’s not just love. Imagine it in a superlative degree!

You would find a bouquet shop in every street having some exquisite collection of flowers. 

  

Hiker’s Paradise

Home to more than 200 mountains(over 3000 meters height), Switzerland indeed is a hikers paradise.

Read about my spine chilling journey of climate change in Morterarsch glacier.

You can do any hike all by yourself as the sign boards are perfectly placed and there is no chance for you to get lost in the woods. 

Best Water Management in place

Every town/city in Switzerland has a lake. Yeah from Zurich to St. Moritz, every city has their own lake.

St. Moritz town surrounding its lake

Studies have proven that Switzerland water is of highest quality that you can drink water from any tap.

Switzerland indeed a dreamland!

When a dense fog, which blanketed the view of the Spiez castle and its surroundings, moved its way, looking out of the world, we couldn’t but marvel at the scenery painted in front of us. Of course this dreamland threw us lot of surreal scenes like this at every nooks and crannies.

PS : This was the view outside Spiez Rail station

Another one from Brienz! When your railway station looks something like this, do you ever need a vacation from this place?

Divided by language, United by Nation

To know what Multilingualism is to Switzerland, one must visit Switzerland and experience it. 

To those, who aren't aware of the Switzerland's multilingualism, here’s a pictorial depiction.

You would find German part of Switzerland speaking German, while French part of Switzerland speaks French and yet living in perfect harmony with each other, despite the difference in language and culture.

You won’t find them mixing up English, when they talk to their peers. And almost all citizens are well versed in at least two languages. 

This peaceful co-existence among different language groups is indeed a pride factor for Switzerland.

Souvenir? Swiss cowbell ! 
Thinking of souvenir to take it back to your country, look no further! Cow bells hanging everywhere at different sizes can make it to be the best souvenir you can buy.

DDLJ fans out there? I know I know! You can't leave without buying it right? 

Chocolates anyone!

Sometimes in life, all you need is a little chocolate to lift your mood right? Is this the reason behind Switzerland's happiness quotient?

If you have plans to buy chocolates for taking it back to your country and you are staying anywhere near the border of Austria, I would recommend buying it in Austria as the price of chocolates were less than half that of the price of chocolates in Switzerland.

Happiness Index in Switzerland

As per 2018 Happiness Index issued by United Nations, Switzerland holds the fifth position in the world.

Well! Happiness seemed contagious in Switzerland.

Feel at home in Switzerland

Be it the conversation we had with the co-passenger we met in our first train or the smiling attendant in Interlaken Ticket counter who answered all our questions patiently(for four days!), everyone was so polite and made us feel at home while guiding us.

These are the few things I observed on our trip to Switzerland. Have you ever visited a country and wondered how much different they are from your own country?