While I enjoy going on tours, I normally plan my travel many months in advance, and enjoy spending time anticipating the trip, and learning a bit of the language. So it was a change of pace to suddenly go on a business trip to Switzerland. They mentioned it on Tuesday, I booked my flight on Wednesday, and few on Saturday. I barely had time to pack, much less practice any German. And the next thing I knew, I was in Zurich.
Now that I’ve tried the trams, it is easy to get around, but it’s still unfortunate that the hotel is away from the center of town – it makes it impractical to stop back in the hotel during the day.
I keep being surprised and sometimes a bit amused by the little details that are so different from at home, in spite of the fact that Zurich is a sophisticated, modern city.
• Cleanliness: Everything is clean. Everything!
• Doors: I seem to subconsciously think that handles are for pulling, but in Switzerland they are often for pushing instead. And of course the German word for ‘push’ doesn’t register until I stand there pulling like a fool.
• Cost: Wow! It’s expensive here! I’m not sure if it is just a factor of the exchange rate, but costs are astronomical. One of the hotel guests had his trench coat cleaned, and it cost about $50!
• Wine: This is a great system once you figure it out. If you want less than a bottle, instead of ordering a glass you order by the ‘dec’ (deciliter). 1 dec is a skimpy glass, and 2 decs is a generous glass.
• Rules: In Zurich, people follow the rules. Pedestrians are expected to wait until they have a green light – you don’t cross against the light, and you don’t jay walk. But there are frequent crosswalks, and drivers are expected to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk, even if they are in the middle of a street with no traffic light. And unbelievably, it all works. As a pedestrian, I feel a lot safer crossing the street in Zurich than I do at home.
• Bathrooms: Zurich takes the prize. I have not encountered one dirty bathroom. They probably prefer to be known as the chocolate capital of the world, but I’m tempted to call it the bathroom capital. (p.s. I finally found one less than pristine facility, but I had to look hard, traveling half-way up a mountainside, to a ski resort, where people clump in and out in ski boots and track in a bit of slush).
• Public Transport: This is incredible. I’m a little odd in that I love the NYC subway, but even I have to admit that the Zurich system is head and shoulders above anything else I’ve ever seen. Clean, quiet, reliable and easy. I can get lost on the streets at home within a mile of my apartment, but so far the tram has been so well marked that I’ve always ended up in the right place.
• Hair: Zurich has a lot less hair dye evident than NYC. Most people over the age of 40 have a mousy brown or pepper and salt effect. I went to a concert and couldn’t figure out why the entire audience seemed old, and then I realized that I was making assumptions based on the hair color. But in general the look is more natural, with less makeup, too. The men often wear their hair somewhat long and unkempt, as if they get a haircut once a year when it hits the shoulder, and don’t trim or even brush it in between.
• Promptness: it’s easy to see how the Swiss get their reputation. Our day trip was scheduled to leave at 9:00, and started at 9:01 exactly (I’m still not sure if they actually left someone behind, because I heard the driver and guide discussing a missing person a few minutes beforehand). The trans run on a schedule, and you know exactly how long a trip will take.
• Streets: I find it a bit confusing that some of the streets don’t have curbs – its hard to tell what is sidewalk and what is street. L And since the tram tracks also run in the street, I’m not sure what keeps people from getting run over. L Yet it seems to work. Even horn blowing is at a minimum – just a discreet little toot once in a while, or a single clang if the tram needs a car to clear the way.
• Honor system: this could be a corollary of following the rules. You purchase a tram ticket before boarding. No one checks to see that you have it, but passengers do not seem to try to get a way with not paying.
• Germs: While Zurich is much cleaner in general than anywhere I’ve lived, there is less of a focus on germs. Hot Buffets, for example, do not keep food properly hot, and I can’t help wondering if it’s been sitting around long enough to incubate food poisoning. And I did, in fact, pick up some sort of stomach bug. The jury is still out on the towels in the restrooms. There is a modern version of those old towel rollers. In the new version, every time you use it, you seem to get a fresh section of towel, which is then automatically retracted after you are done. I’m not sure if its simply unreeling a huge long towel or if it is somehow pressed before it comes around again…but it looks fresh…
Now that I’ve tried the trams, it is easy to get around, but it’s still unfortunate that the hotel is away from the center of town – it makes it impractical to stop back in the hotel during the day.
I keep being surprised and sometimes a bit amused by the little details that are so different from at home, in spite of the fact that Zurich is a sophisticated, modern city.
• Cleanliness: Everything is clean. Everything!
• Doors: I seem to subconsciously think that handles are for pulling, but in Switzerland they are often for pushing instead. And of course the German word for ‘push’ doesn’t register until I stand there pulling like a fool.
• Cost: Wow! It’s expensive here! I’m not sure if it is just a factor of the exchange rate, but costs are astronomical. One of the hotel guests had his trench coat cleaned, and it cost about $50!
• Wine: This is a great system once you figure it out. If you want less than a bottle, instead of ordering a glass you order by the ‘dec’ (deciliter). 1 dec is a skimpy glass, and 2 decs is a generous glass.
• Rules: In Zurich, people follow the rules. Pedestrians are expected to wait until they have a green light – you don’t cross against the light, and you don’t jay walk. But there are frequent crosswalks, and drivers are expected to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk, even if they are in the middle of a street with no traffic light. And unbelievably, it all works. As a pedestrian, I feel a lot safer crossing the street in Zurich than I do at home.
• Bathrooms: Zurich takes the prize. I have not encountered one dirty bathroom. They probably prefer to be known as the chocolate capital of the world, but I’m tempted to call it the bathroom capital. (p.s. I finally found one less than pristine facility, but I had to look hard, traveling half-way up a mountainside, to a ski resort, where people clump in and out in ski boots and track in a bit of slush).
• Public Transport: This is incredible. I’m a little odd in that I love the NYC subway, but even I have to admit that the Zurich system is head and shoulders above anything else I’ve ever seen. Clean, quiet, reliable and easy. I can get lost on the streets at home within a mile of my apartment, but so far the tram has been so well marked that I’ve always ended up in the right place.
• Hair: Zurich has a lot less hair dye evident than NYC. Most people over the age of 40 have a mousy brown or pepper and salt effect. I went to a concert and couldn’t figure out why the entire audience seemed old, and then I realized that I was making assumptions based on the hair color. But in general the look is more natural, with less makeup, too. The men often wear their hair somewhat long and unkempt, as if they get a haircut once a year when it hits the shoulder, and don’t trim or even brush it in between.
• Promptness: it’s easy to see how the Swiss get their reputation. Our day trip was scheduled to leave at 9:00, and started at 9:01 exactly (I’m still not sure if they actually left someone behind, because I heard the driver and guide discussing a missing person a few minutes beforehand). The trans run on a schedule, and you know exactly how long a trip will take.
• Streets: I find it a bit confusing that some of the streets don’t have curbs – its hard to tell what is sidewalk and what is street. L And since the tram tracks also run in the street, I’m not sure what keeps people from getting run over. L Yet it seems to work. Even horn blowing is at a minimum – just a discreet little toot once in a while, or a single clang if the tram needs a car to clear the way.
• Honor system: this could be a corollary of following the rules. You purchase a tram ticket before boarding. No one checks to see that you have it, but passengers do not seem to try to get a way with not paying.
• Germs: While Zurich is much cleaner in general than anywhere I’ve lived, there is less of a focus on germs. Hot Buffets, for example, do not keep food properly hot, and I can’t help wondering if it’s been sitting around long enough to incubate food poisoning. And I did, in fact, pick up some sort of stomach bug. The jury is still out on the towels in the restrooms. There is a modern version of those old towel rollers. In the new version, every time you use it, you seem to get a fresh section of towel, which is then automatically retracted after you are done. I’m not sure if its simply unreeling a huge long towel or if it is somehow pressed before it comes around again…but it looks fresh…
