< Things You Now Know About Switzerland//Part Two >

 

1::As I said before in part one that Switzerland is a very pricey country...even the Mcdonald's is no cheap place. If you travel here and need a cheap meal don't count on Mcdonald's to do the trick. Expect to pay at least double and there is like half the menu size. Though it's more pricey, most of them are really nice and rather fancy Mcdonald's...one near our house has some awesome leather benches, really fancy seating areas and it has a little playstation area for kids. Wha what? I don't recall such nice Mcdonald's in the States however I would rather have cheap prices over a fancy joint.
2::You will hardly see a cop car, they don't typically patrol the streets looking to see if you drive over the speed limit or anything else...speed cameras are all around the cities and highways. There are some places the cameras always are and then there are portable cameras that are places in areas for a short time. So when you pass by speeding any amount over you get flashed that moment and then receive a ticket in the mail. This system I have personally found to suck. If you go over for 2 seconds you get a high ticket and there are no refuting tickets here. So not fun and not really helpful...if people know where they are they just avoid speeding at that area.
3::As you can see above in the picture, the Swiss flag is red with a white cross in the middle. The Swiss flag is square but can also sometimes be found rectangle, but not as often. When I was planning my wedding I used some Swiss flags and one of my friends saw one and she said "Oh so thattt is what the Swiss flag looks like" never having seen it...so it turns out people still don't know what the Swiss flag looks like. So now you know.
4::There is an amazing train and bus system here in this country. Great for locals as well as tourists...however like everything else in this country it's pretty expensive. However they do have a few different deals for locals to make it slightly cheaper. I LOVE riding on the train, I wish I could do it more often. When I was an Au pair, I was given free access to the trains and I loved being able to hop on the train in my village and go anywhere in Switzerland I wanted. I wish now I used it even more while I could for free.
5::According to Jachen's knowledge..so it should still be the same...driving age here is 18, drinking beer and smoking is age 16{wow super young} and everything else ie hard liquor is 18. Crazy, no wonder so many people smoke and drink here...they started so young. YUCK.
6::the majority of Swiss people are old. Not sure the correct average age but my guess is around 50-60? There are a ton and you will see a lot of them healthy out walking or riding bikes. TONS of old people ride their bike, it's pretty cool to see.
7::speaking of bikes, when kids are elementary age they are taught in school how to rid bikes on the street. I think that is a great thing they do here. That is one reason you see many many bike riders here, because they all learned at a young age how to rid on the streets properly.
8::there is also swimming lessons in elementary school. They will go to the local pool. how cool.
9::Switzerland is a very very clean country. Sometimes you will see some trash out on the streets, but hardly. I don't know who is in charge but sidewalks and streets seem always to be swept and nice looking. Also buildings just seem to be nicer.
10::a lot of stink going on in Switzerland because there are lots of farms with cows or pigs etc. There are some smellier times of years, like summertime when manure is spread over the hills. But a lot of roads drive right through farms so often you will smell stink. When we lived in the house up in the mountains we smelt it more often, but not really down in the city where we live now.

So there you have it, 10 more things you now know about Switzerland.
You can read Part One, here...and more will be on it's way another day.
Above picture I took in Luzern, Switzerland. One of my favorite cities to visit anytime of the year.
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