First Impressions: Switzerland

The country is known as a neutral bystander as much as it is known for beautiful scenery, cheese and chocolate.  The country has one of the highest standards of living and was also home to Kim Jong Un at one point in time.   These were all things I had known about Switzerland prior to traveling there, and I’m thankful that I had the opportunity to add to this list of “Things I know about Switzerland”.

One of the first things that caught my eye immediately is the number of smokers there are, and I think the only reason it caught my eye is because there were people that smoked in indoor spaces!  When I arrived into the train station in Lucerne, I was immediately met with an unpleasant blast of cigarette smoke and I noticed that there were several designated smoking areas inside the train station, which I had not expected.  The train station didn’t have any doors, but some of these smoking areas were quite deep within the building so I was shocked that the placement of these areas. 

Another surprising thing for me was the number of dogs I saw indoors.  I saw them inside train stations, and even restaurants and although I do know that this is quite common in Europe, it isn’t something I could get used to.

I found myself complaining to my Airbnb host about having to pay for using public washrooms and how some of them only had cold water.  But my Airbnb host’s perspective on the topic was that it’s a business in Switzerland and the public always has access to clean washrooms, so it didn’t seem to bother her one bit.  I guess this is one of those cultural differences that people just have to accept.

I absolutely love taking train rides in Europe.  It is such an efficient and comfortable way to travel.  And in Switzerland, you are usually treated to beautiful scenery as well, so that’s always a bonus.  One surprising thing about Swiss trains though is that they do not offer complimentary Wi-Fi.  It was surprising for me because even trains in Eastern Europe often offered complimentary Wi-Fi, and I just figured that it would be standard for Swiss trains as well. However, I guess Switzerland is quite a compact country and the rides are never that long.  Plus, there’s usually beautiful scenery outside the window.

Perhaps what shocked me more was that not all train stations offered Wi-Fi.  When I arrived into Interlaken, I was supposed to send an email to my hotel to arrange for pick up, but because the station didn’t offer any Wi-Fi, that didn’t work out for me.

Of course, one thing that people always mention when they talk about Switzerland is the cost of living there.  I went into a McDonald’s to see how much a Big Mac Meal would be and the answer is CHF11.70, which is approximately $16CAD.  Compare that to $9.65CAD, which is what it costs where I live, and you realize that the price is about 70% higher.  I must say that this is in line with my spending throughout the week, as I easily paid about $50-60CAD for lunch on several days.

This post isn’t meant to be all negative, as I absolutely loved Switzerland and everything it had to offer.  Switzerland actually reminded me a great deal of Canada.  Beautiful mountains, splendid lakes, wonderful winter sports and a bilingual culture.  The two countries have these things in common, but are still different enough that I was able to learn and appreciate all that Switzerland has to offer.  Besides, who wouldn’t love a place famous for cheese and chocolate?