Pages

11 May 2011

Things Swiss People Like

Let's just get all the obvious things out of the way: dairy products, chocolate, yodeling, hiking.
A quick note about dairy products, though. As you can see by the photo snapped conspicuously on a grocery checkout line, cheese is definitely the favored milk product. The variety for sale, even at a gas station, was impressive. We hope the man above was having a dinner party, but with Swiss people you can't be too sure. Another favored lactose indulgence was cream dolloped onto meringues. That one sort of surprised us.
The Swiss flag. Almost every home hangs the red and white banner of patriotism in their front lawn. Cars place them in their windows. People wearing white-crossed baseball caps or shirts aren't necessarily tourists. It's the only square flag in the world, aside from Vatican City's. So, maybe the extra affection comes from its uniqueness.
Swiss people really like their national flag as well as the flags of the cantons and municipalities. Most often, all three are displayed together - along with any other one that signified the town or the family or the body of water. There were a lot of flags.
Large Chess Boards. At first we thought this was a one-off sighting in Bern. I'm used to couples dueling under the shade of park trees, but never standing up like this. It reminded me more of Mel Brooks' History of the World Part I than Washington Square Park.
But then we saw it again outside Luzern. Leave it to the Swiss to take one of the ultimate low-impact hobbies and make it a bit more physical. Now, if it were an enormous checkers board, it would have deserved its own post.
.5 Liter Bottles of Wine. It was rarer to find a full bottle of wine (750ml) than a 500ml one in Switzerland. In cafeterias, they were thrown into ice alongside beer. At highway rest stops, they were next to the Red Bulls in the fridge. It was nice to be able to buy two and try out the different types - also, one bottle is never really enough for two people (like us), but two is a little too much. So, these allowed us to strike the perfect balance. The downside: not necessarily wanting to have more than a glass at lunch and lugging the rest back down a mountain in your backpack. Waste not, want not.
Rare cars. The Swiss franc is doing very well and its pretty darn evident in a line up of parked cars. Most of the times, the rare cars we saw were classic BMWs, Bugattis and Maseratis. Sometimes, though, we saw something like the vehicle above. We had absolutely no idea what it was or where it came from, but there it was in Switzerland.
Paragliding. This is the thing that Swiss people liked which we got the most joy out of observing. On a Saturday or Sunday morning in the mountains, there were so many in the sky that I was half-expecting David Attenborough to begin a tale of great human migration.
We parked right next to a paragliding school and watched them land one after another, completely mesmerized. The landscape is just begging for the activity and Merlin coined it "a truly Swiss sport." I think he's right: it enjoys the natural splendor of things in a completely incomparable way. It's risky, but gentle. It involves gear, but not competitiveness. On Mother's Day, we saw at least one mom land with her husband and grown-up children cheering her on.

Honorable Mentions

Rösti aka fried, shredded potato aka Hash Browns. Sometimes they were served alongside a main course. Sometimes, with melted cheese or an egg on top, they were the main course. It was on every menu, ordered often and in great abundance in vacuum packs at the grocery stores.

Swiss products. Again, their economy is doing pretty well these days. Chain stores like COOP and Migros sold groceries that were almost exclusively Swiss. If it wasn't from Switzerland, it was labeled as such. Even menus would specify if meat was from any other country. For example, the horse meat in Gruyeres was from Canada - oddly enough.

Swiss Army Knives. Some of the window displays were absolutely comical. There's simply no way some of the combinations for sale could ever fit in someone's pocket. Of course, each had the much-loved Swiss flag on it.

10 comments:

  1. NOW LIFE IS WORTH LIVING WITH THE HELP OF EDWARD JONES FINANCE {Jonesloanfinance@yahoo.com}

    Hello Every One, My Name is Trevor Cohen live in Texas and life is worth living comfortably for me and my family now. I really have never seen goodness shown to me this much in my life as i am a struggling Dad with three kids and i have been going through a serious problem as my son encountered a terrible accident last week, and the doctors states that he needs to undergo a delicate surgery for him to be able to walk again, and i could not afford the bill for his surgery then i went to the bank for a loan and they turn me down stating that credit score was bad, from there i run to my father and some of my freinds but they could not help, then when i was surfing through the net i came across a loan lender EDWARD JONES who provides loans at an affordable interest rate of 2% and i have been hearing about so many scams on the internet but at this time, in my desperate situation i had no choice than to give it a try and surprisingly it was all like a dream, i received a loan of $85,000.00 and i payed for my son surgery and thank GOD today he is okay and can walk. I could in turn start something profitable with the remaining amount and i said to my self that i will shout loud to the world of the wonders of GOD to me through this GOD fearing lender EDWARD JONES and i will advise anyone in genuine and serious need of loan to contact this GOD fearing Company via: Jonesloanfinance@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Are you tired of seeking loans and Mortgages, have you been turned down constantly By your banks and other financial institutions,We offer any form of loan to individuals and corporate bodies at low interest rate. If you are interested in taking a loan, feel free to contact us today, We promise to offer you the best services ever. Just give us a try, because a trial will convince you.What are your Financial needs?Do you need a business loan?Do you need a personal loan?Do you want to buy a car?Do you want to refinance?Do you need a mortgage loan?Do you need a huge capital to start off your business proposal or expansion? Have you lost hope and you think there is no way out, and your financial burdens still persists? Contact us (infoloanfirm8@gmail.com)

    ReplyDelete
  3. My name is Mrs Aisha Mohamed, am a Citizen Of Qatar.Have you been looking for a loan?Do you need an urgent personal loan or business loan?contact Dr James Eric Finance Home he help me with a loan of $42,000 some days ago after been scammed of $2,800 from a woman claiming to been a loan lender but i thank God today that i got my loan worth $42,000.Feel free to contact the company for a genuine financial service. Email:(financialserviceoffer876@gmail.com) call/whats-App Contact Number +918929509036

    ReplyDelete
  4. My name is Mrs Aisha Mohamed, am a Citizen Of Qatar.Have you been looking for a loan?Do you need an urgent personal loan or business loan?contact Dr James Eric Finance Home he help me with a loan of $42,000 some days ago after been scammed of $2,800 from a woman claiming to been a loan lender but i thank God today that i got my loan worth $42,000.Feel free to contact the company for a genuine financial service. Email:(financialserviceoffer876@gmail.com) call/whats-App Contact Number +918929509036

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear Sir/Madam,

    Do you need a quick long or short term Loan with a relatively low interest rate as low as 3%? We offer business Loan, personal Loan, home Loan, auto Loan,student Loan, debt consolidation Loan e.t.c. no matter your credit score.

    * Personal Loans (Secure and Unsecured)
    * Business Loans (Secure and Unsecured)
    * Consolidation Loan and many more.

    Contact US for more information about Loan offer and we will solve your
    financial problem. contact us via email: markthomasfinanceltd@gmail.com

    Whats-App no +919667837169
    Company Name Ronnie Finance Ltd
    Dr. Mark Thomas

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good day everyone, i am so glade coming back to this great forum to testify about the help i received from Carrol Walker. I was in desperate need of a loan in other to be free from debt and financial bondage that was place on me by my ex husband. It was really bad that i have to seek for help from Friends,family and even my bank but on one could assist me because my credit score was really bad. So i was browsing with my computer and saw some testimonies from people Carrol Walker assisted with a loan, then i decided to contact him on his email{infoloanfirm8@gmail.com}, then i received a mail from them and i did all that was asked from me. To my greatest surprise they transferred to my account the loan i requested and now i am so happy clearing my debt and have also started a business with the remaining amount to take care of myself and family. If you need a loan do contact the best loan lender of all time Carrol Walker on his email: {infoloanfirm8@gmail.com}

    ReplyDelete
  7. My name is Samuel, I was in love with my wife and we were married for eight years with a son his is Liam,I loved my wife so much she had access to all my bank account and even my cash app which my accountant agreed to and said it was a great idea, then it took my wife and my accountant two month to get hold of all my properties,all accounts but I had a cash app which they knew nothing about,I was thrown out of my own house was sleeping in a hotel for weeks she also took possession of my son could only see him once a week then I found out she was in love with my accountant all these while so I went online and I came across a Russian private investigator who help me get all my properties and my accounts back even my company back how he did these I don’t know but I gave all the information he asked for and followed all his instructions and now I’m happy my life’s better now.
    Thanks to premiumhackservices@gmail.com
    I just said I should share my own story here
    Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  8. FOR RECOVERY OF STOLEN BITCOIN AND RECOVERY OF LOST FUNDS FROM SCAMMER. I truly testify about Wizard Charles that indeed they are honest and truly the best to be contacted for any cyber fraud solution mostly when it comes to funds recovering cause I made a huge mistake that almost ruined my life and that of my families whereby both my credit score and funds amounted to $346,000.00 Dollars were gone simply because I wanted to invest with a broker who made me believe I can become a multimillionaire within 6 months not knowing it was just only a way out to fraud me but all thanks to. Wizard Charles You can as well hire him Hackers. Email: ( wizardcharles1@gmail.com )  WhatsApp: +971 55 274 0754

    Visit website to read more about them :  https://wizardcharlesgrouphackers.com/.n/

    ReplyDelete
  9. DO YOU NEED A PERSONAL/BUSINESS/INVESTMENT LOAN? CONTACT US TODAY VIA WhatsApp +19292227023 Email drbenjaminfinance@gmail.com

    HELLO
    Loan Offer Alert For Everyone! Are you financially down and you need an urgent credit/financial assistance? Or are you in need of a loan to start-up/increase your business or buy your dream house. GET YOUR INSTANT LOAN APPROVAL 100% GUARANTEED TODAY NO MATTER YOUR CREDIT SCORE. WhatsApp:+19292227023 Email: drbenjaminfinance@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MONEY TO BINARY OPTION SCAM OR ANY ONLINE SCAM WHATSOEVER?.DO YOUR DESIRE CREDIT REPAIR[EQUIFAX, EXPERIAN, TRANSUNION? WELL, YOU HAVE FOUND REDEMPTION IN ASORE CORP.



    Asore Corp is a group of multinational Hacker's, an affiliate of Evil Corp. We make sure by all means necessary that our clients get the best of services on a��PAYMENT AFTER JOB IS DONE BASIS✅. Rather than send money and trust a criminal to fulfill your deal, you can make sure the job is done before WORKMANSHIP is paid for. You'll get excellent customer service.

    That's a 100% guarantee. Our Cyber security Technicians are on standby 24/7 to receive your job requests.



    ⚠️ BEWARE OF FRAUDSTARS looking to hoax.

    if you have been a VICTIM, contact : ✉️cyberprecinct@gmail.com for directives.

    Here, it's always a win for you.



    ��OUR SERVICES��

    ➡️Binary Option funds recovery

    ➡️Social media hack

    ➡️Recovery of loan scam

    ➡️Credit repair (Equifax,Experian,Transunion)

    ➡️Email hack

    ➡️College score upgrade

    ➡️Android & iPhone Hack

    ➡️Website design

    ➡️Website hack

    And lots more.



    DISCLAIMER: Asore Cyber Corp accepts no responsibility for any information,previously given to anybody by clients on as regarding the job. Asore Cyber Corp will not distribute contact information collected on any hacking job other than in the Asore corps Hacker's listings themselves, and will not sell contact information to third parties.



    CONTACT INFO:

    �� asorehackcorp@gmail.com

    cyberprecinct@gmail.com



    Copyright ©️

    Asore Cyber Corp 2021.

    All rights reserved.

    ReplyDelete