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This Is One Reason Switzerland Is The Best Country On Earth

An incredible 6 mile cable car trip from Zermatt to Klein Matterhorn (not THE Matterhorn).

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by Anonymousreply 165June 28, 2021 8:45 AM

[quote]An incredible 6 mile cable car trip from Zermatt to Klein Matterhorn (not THE Matterhorn).

Of course it's not THE Matterhorn. That's in Disneyland.

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by Anonymousreply 1June 10, 2021 4:59 PM

Incredible.

by Anonymousreply 2June 10, 2021 5:11 PM

Thats where I ski. The first season I wasn't comfortable with the final passage over the huge chasm to arrive up to Klein Matterhorn. There is an age limit on that telepheric. Assholes foreign skiers often don't respect it. The kids look out, panic and vomit all over everyone's boots. One douche dad had a real hissy fit and was berating his kid for "ruining" their expensive holiday and how much it cost and blah blah blah and finally I told him to shut up, the kid shouldn't be be on the lift, and if he can't afford Zermatt go home and don't come back.

by Anonymousreply 3June 10, 2021 5:28 PM

I rode that cable car in the fall of 2019, right before the pandemic hit. Zermatt is truly gorgeous (but I still prefer the Lauterbrunnen valley.)

by Anonymousreply 4June 10, 2021 5:46 PM

Beautiful Switzerland the greatest country on the planet for too many reasons to list

by Anonymousreply 5June 10, 2021 5:56 PM

Here's another reason. A beautiful drive from Saanen to Geneva Airport.

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by Anonymousreply 6June 12, 2021 7:51 PM

It's beauty is otherworldly. I was especially struck by how they treat their cows (their cows actually have a bill of rights) and how many old phone booths had been turned into book swaps. Switzerland is amazing. The only thing I don't like about it is that it's really expensive compared to the surrounding countries.

by Anonymousreply 7June 12, 2021 7:55 PM

Switzerland is beautiful and civilized because they know enough to keep the third worlders out.

by Anonymousreply 8June 12, 2021 7:55 PM

No thanks OP. That gondola would have me hyperventilating and panicked.

by Anonymousreply 9June 12, 2021 8:02 PM

I'm going to think twice before getting on one of these things again.

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by Anonymousreply 10June 12, 2021 8:06 PM

The thread title is 100% bullshit by the way. I've been to Switzerland several times, and while there is a lot of natural beauty, the postcard like scenes aren't in every fucking place. Also, the Swiss tend to be aloof at best, outright assholes at worst.

And to this day it remains the only place I've been where I paid $8 for a bottle of water and nearly $50 for a burger and fries.

by Anonymousreply 11June 12, 2021 8:10 PM

Yes, but if you live and work in Switzerland you can easily afford the prices and have plenty left over to travel the world.

by Anonymousreply 12June 12, 2021 8:21 PM

'Also, the Swiss tend to be aloof at best, outright assholes at worst. And to this day it remains the only place I've been where I paid $8 for a bottle of water and nearly $50 for a burger and fries.'

And that's how they keep undesirables out.

by Anonymousreply 13June 12, 2021 8:50 PM

[quote] And that's how they keep undesirables out.

This is really pretty true, actually.

by Anonymousreply 14June 12, 2021 8:51 PM

Switzerland is beautiful but it is boring as hell. No interesting history.

Plus they’re assholes to outsiders.

by Anonymousreply 15June 12, 2021 8:51 PM

You mean like the French?

by Anonymousreply 16June 12, 2021 8:52 PM

R15 like the USA has interesting history. LMAO

by Anonymousreply 17June 12, 2021 9:44 PM

Oh honey, R17, the US has a fascinating history. You just sound ignorant saying that.

by Anonymousreply 18June 12, 2021 9:48 PM

The US has the best history of any of the settler colonial nations, that's for sure. Canadian history sucks but Quebec's is way more interesting.

by Anonymousreply 19June 12, 2021 10:01 PM

R11 there’s no country in the world that is beautiful and picturesque everywhere, indeed they all have cities which are often not entirely beautiful; but in Switzerland one is almost always in close proximity to some area of natural beauty.

You are right that the title is bullshit. Switzerland is one of the most beautiful countries in the world visually but lacks an exciting city like London or Paris; a city with lots to do, but this is true of most countries and according to other dataloungers there are very few cities worth living in anyway. But having said that, once again Switzerland is in a great location with easy links to Paris and most of Central Europe is just a couple of hours away by train in any direction. If one lives in Geneva for example one can easily drive a few hours and reach the south of France for summer escapes or in another direction reach some wonderful ski resorts and Paris is reachable within 2 or so hours by train.

I’ve used this gondola before but I actually prefer it during ski season when the mountains are covered in snow, everything looks better in snow to me. I don’t find it scary at all, the cable car with people crowded onto it is a hairier experience particularly when it’s windy and the car shakes from side to side near the approach of the little Matterhorn but it won’t operate in very bad conditions so there’s never anything to worry about really.

by Anonymousreply 20June 13, 2021 8:09 AM

R10 you’ve got more chance of dying in a car crash

by Anonymousreply 21June 13, 2021 8:17 AM

R3 I’ve never witnessed anyone panicking like those kids you describe, lucky me I guess.

[quote] and if he can't afford Zermatt go home and don't come back.

Charming! I hate braggarts.

by Anonymousreply 22June 13, 2021 8:26 AM

I lived and worked in Fribourg for many years. Switzerland is a beautiful country. The people I found to be very private. If we went to a bar on a Friday night after work, it would always be the Brits, the French, the Spanish and the Italians that would chat away and gossip and have a good time. The Swiss would be, I hate to use this word, but they were aloof.

The country is spotless. The scenery is magnificent. The prices in the shops will make your eyes water. Unless you happen to be Oprah and you're shopping on the Bahnhoffstrasse in Zurich, for a handbag, when YOU'LL be told that you can't afford it!

The mountains are stunning. The lakes are beautiful to cross on paddle steamers. The cuisine is superb. If you get the chance to go, then go, but take plenty of cash and when you've got yourself your budget, save even more and double it, you'll need it.

I once went to the ATM to draw some cash to pay a bill. This was 10 years ago. I put my bank card in, my pin in, I pressed the button for 1,000 Swiss Francs. Sure enough, the machine gave me 1,000 Swiss Francs.....but in one note! That's an approximate $1,100 note!

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by Anonymousreply 23June 13, 2021 8:31 AM

Switzerland is oddly very provincial. It’s people very insular.

by Anonymousreply 24June 13, 2021 1:08 PM

R16, actually the French may be rude to some (never to me though and I’ve been there a few times), but the Swiss basically ignore you. It’s worse being ignored

by Anonymousreply 25June 13, 2021 1:09 PM

R25 that’s simply never been my experience. If both french and Swiss are rude to you, maybe you’re the problem in the equation.

by Anonymousreply 26June 13, 2021 1:12 PM

R26, the problem is I’m brown

by Anonymousreply 27June 13, 2021 1:18 PM

Switzerland is the wealthiest country in the world in terms of per capita financial security. Jealous, bitches?

by Anonymousreply 28June 13, 2021 3:25 PM

Not particularly R28. It's very pretty but seemed insular and the whole neutrality thing seems kind of pussy-ish to me.

by Anonymousreply 29June 13, 2021 3:27 PM

It was lovely living there, but I don't miss it.

Apart from Basel, everywhere was beautiful. You'd hop on the train or a bus and within a few minutes you were in stunning countryside. The snow capped mountains beckoning you. Rolling fertile hillsides with the clanking of the cow bells. The steep hillsides covered in vineyards.

by Anonymousreply 30June 13, 2021 3:30 PM

Switzerland's central location also makes it ideal in terms of visiting other European cities on weekends. For instance only 3 hours by train from Geneva to Paris. About the same to Milano.

by Anonymousreply 31June 13, 2021 3:57 PM

Personally I think the Tibetan Plateau is way more stunning, more to do, more interesting culture and history, and the people are very humble and gentle.

by Anonymousreply 32June 13, 2021 4:02 PM

Dog and cat slaughter are a thing there. Anyplace like that is a nasty shit hole.

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by Anonymousreply 33June 13, 2021 4:18 PM

Yeah the Tibetan Plateau, famous for its ski resorts.

by Anonymousreply 34June 13, 2021 4:28 PM

They sure loved stealing all that money in the war.

by Anonymousreply 35June 13, 2021 4:32 PM

Very homophobic place. No, thanks.

by Anonymousreply 36June 13, 2021 4:37 PM

R35 - not just that, but they were the money launderers for the world's crooks and criminals for all of the 20th century.

It is pretty - and boring as shit. Most Swiss have a stick up their ass. They only want people with money to immigrate.

by Anonymousreply 37June 13, 2021 4:44 PM

John McPhee wrote a wonderful book about how boring, peaceable, Switzerland is armed to the teeth, with explosives in the tunnels and the passes on the border to protect the country from invasion.

by Anonymousreply 38June 13, 2021 4:45 PM

[quote]They only want people with money to immigrate.

A wise choice. Nobody ever said the Swiss are stupid.

by Anonymousreply 39June 13, 2021 4:46 PM

Actually Switzerland has had a certain level of gay rights since 1942, ahead of its European neighbors. A recent referendum outlawed discrimination against gays and criminalized homophobia. Gay marriage is sure to pass in September's referendum.

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by Anonymousreply 40June 13, 2021 4:48 PM

Just out of curiosity because I don't want to immigrate but how hard is it to do so?

by Anonymousreply 41June 13, 2021 4:54 PM

Marry a Swiss gay.

To call Switzerland homophobic is laughable. Look at the statistics of discrimination (9) and attacks against gays (9) from this annual OSCE report. The lowest in Europe per capita.

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by Anonymousreply 42June 13, 2021 5:05 PM

What’s the matter horn, babEH?

by Anonymousreply 43June 13, 2021 5:05 PM

R38, it’s been said that Switzerland doesn’t HAVE an army. Switzerland IS an army.

The Kaiser went to watch the Swiss forces on maneuver and learned there were 500,000 men in their military. He was admiring their maneuvers and said to. The Swiss commander, “very impressive, but 500,000 men? What would you do if I invaded with a million men?”

“We would shoot twice” replied the Swiss commander.

The Swiss are a very tidy, peaceful people now, but most people don’t realize that Switzerland exists at all because, in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, Swiss infantry soldiers developed a method of fighting to defeat the mounted knights who then dominated warfare, and became a fearsome, nearly unstoppable force. That’s not completely forgotten in Switzerland today.

by Anonymousreply 44June 13, 2021 5:12 PM

r42 because there aren't that many Muslims. They refuse to allow large-scale immigration, unlike their neighbors.

by Anonymousreply 45June 13, 2021 5:12 PM

Where's swiss-chick?

by Anonymousreply 46June 13, 2021 5:17 PM

"their cows actually have a bill of rights"

Ours have one as well (we all share it), but they get really pissed off when you call them "cows".

by Anonymousreply 47June 13, 2021 5:17 PM

R45 and your point? The Swiss aren't homophobic, I would think.

by Anonymousreply 48June 13, 2021 5:23 PM

I’ve never known Switzerland to be homophobic. Certainly not on the scale of places like Russia or Poland.

by Anonymousreply 49June 13, 2021 5:24 PM

Or the USA.

by Anonymousreply 50June 13, 2021 5:27 PM

Most anti-GLBT attacks in Europe are from Muslims r48

by Anonymousreply 51June 13, 2021 5:27 PM

[quote] Just out of curiosity because I don't want to immigrate but how hard is it to do so?

Depends on many factors, but generally unless you have a skill that is in great demand (often a medical specialty) or marry a Swiss guy, it's nearly impossible to immigrate there legally if you're not an EU citizen. I've been looking into it for nearly two years, and haven't found a feasible pathway. You need a job offer from a Swiss company willing to sponsor you.

by Anonymousreply 52June 13, 2021 5:31 PM

University is another foot in. One can attend an American Uni there for a graduate degree, for instance, and make connections during that year. This happens a lot.

by Anonymousreply 53June 13, 2021 5:47 PM

America can learn a lot about Swiss gun culture.

Military personnel keep their guns at home during their military service.

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by Anonymousreply 54June 13, 2021 6:52 PM

[quote]Military personnel keep their guns at home during their military service.

Americans are too fucking insane for that. It would be a catastrophe.

by Anonymousreply 55June 13, 2021 6:56 PM

Most of them are kept dismantled. Occasionally, a soldier looses the plot and shoots someone up, but not very often.

It was weird getting the train to go shopping in Zurich and for the compartment to be full of soldiers going off to weekend camp with all their kit and rifles.

by Anonymousreply 56June 13, 2021 6:59 PM

[quote]Most of them are kept dismantled.

Americans would never do that.

by Anonymousreply 57June 13, 2021 7:16 PM

Immigrants are banned from owning guns in Switzerland.

by Anonymousreply 58June 13, 2021 7:35 PM

To use Jon Oliver's characterization of Belgium, which applies to Switzerland even more so (Belgium gave us more culture and history): a vile chocolate gulag with no objective reason to exist.

What "culture" exactly are they trying to preserve: yodeling? milk chocolate? cuckoo clocks?

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by Anonymousreply 59June 13, 2021 8:00 PM

Jon Oliver is a smug insufferable twat.

by Anonymousreply 60June 13, 2021 8:13 PM

[quote] a vile chocolate gulag with no objective reason to exist.

Chocolate itself is a reason to exist.

by Anonymousreply 61June 13, 2021 8:40 PM

Oliver is right about Belgium. I was there for a few days and wondered, What’s the point of this country?

by Anonymousreply 62June 13, 2021 8:50 PM

[quote] Oliver is right about Belgium. I was there for a few days and wondered, What’s the point of this country?

Chocolate, art, and architecture. Belgium is a beautiful country.

by Anonymousreply 63June 13, 2021 9:19 PM

Switzerland is rather xenophobic. Thank god they finally passed gay marriage 6 months ago. I say skip it and go to a more gay friendly country like Spain.

by Anonymousreply 64June 13, 2021 9:26 PM

My husband is Swiss, I'm a Spaniard, we're in the USA now but we're moving back to split our time between the two countries. Jealous, bitches?

by Anonymousreply 65June 13, 2021 9:30 PM

Zurich has great museums, an opera house and the Tonhalle. It's a great city.

by Anonymousreply 66June 13, 2021 9:33 PM

I love Belgium. The Coast is beautiful. The linguistic roulette wheel of driving the E40 out of Bruxelles/Brussel, we're in a Flemish area, now we're in a Wallonian district, now we're back in Flanders, when you drive along the motorway. Liege, becoming Luik, then returning to Liege, when you get in the French bit again.

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by Anonymousreply 67June 13, 2021 9:34 PM

2nd most unfriendly people in Europe (that honour goes to Austria). Beautiful landscape, but I could never live there long-term.

by Anonymousreply 68June 13, 2021 9:35 PM

What I love about Switzerland is that it seems populated entirely by Virgos.

by Anonymousreply 69June 13, 2021 9:38 PM

Anal retentive, controlling assholes R69?

by Anonymousreply 70June 13, 2021 9:39 PM

R68 You may have a point about Austrians. Vienna is one of the few cities that I won't bother going to again.

by Anonymousreply 71June 13, 2021 9:42 PM

Switzerland is hella expensive. Fortunately, their hostels are inexpensive and super clean and comfortable.

by Anonymousreply 72June 13, 2021 9:47 PM

[quote] 2nd most unfriendly people in Europe (that honour goes to Austria).

I can see that in Vienna to a certain degree (though I still adore that city and will return as much as possible); but, I found the people in the other places I've visited in Austria to be very warm and welcoming - especially in Innsbruck, but also Salzburg, Graz, etc.

by Anonymousreply 73June 13, 2021 9:49 PM

Not really r65

by Anonymousreply 74June 13, 2021 9:50 PM

I think it is easily the most disgusting place on this planet.

by Anonymousreply 75June 13, 2021 10:01 PM

[quote] I think it is easily the most disgusting place on this planet.

Why's that, R75? I've heard Switzerland called many things, but never disgusting.

by Anonymousreply 76June 13, 2021 10:05 PM

[quote]Switzerland is beautiful and civilized because they know enough to keep the third worlders out.

Have you paid attention at all to the behavior of American racist trash, you asshole?

by Anonymousreply 77June 13, 2021 10:07 PM

Yes, r77 I have. But that's not relevant to Switzerland.

by Anonymousreply 78June 13, 2021 10:14 PM

It is relevant in the sense that there's an attempt to make it only about certain people based on race/religion, rather than simply saying they don't allow any outsiders, R78.

It is so beyond idiotic considering that Switzerland is home to people of every background - who all happen to be very wealthy. That is *actually* what makes that country run. The ethnicity of the person is of no consequence if they have the money to afford it.

by Anonymousreply 79June 13, 2021 10:18 PM

They're not too keen on the green agenda either.

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by Anonymousreply 80June 13, 2021 10:34 PM

My Italian friend in Rome said if he ever moved anywhere else in Europe, he would not move to Switzerland. Yes, it's beautiful, but so is Italy. He finds the people uninviting, cold and distant.

by Anonymousreply 81June 13, 2021 10:47 PM

Going from Switzerland to Italy or vice versa is culture shock.

by Anonymousreply 82June 13, 2021 10:48 PM

I have worked with the Swiss and if fortune smiles upon me I will never do so again.

The most vile people I have ever been forced to deal with.

They can stick their mountain views up their milk-chocolately assholes.

by Anonymousreply 83June 13, 2021 11:08 PM

R83, details please.

by Anonymousreply 84June 13, 2021 11:29 PM

Without giving too much away, I worked for a prominent consulting firm in NY with Paris connections. We were contacted by a very highly regarded Swiss firm to find a consultant with ties to Parisian investors. During the course of this search two things became rapidly apparent:

The French hate the Swiss.

The Swiss hate the French right the fuck back.

Other things I learned the Swiss hate: Americans, New York, consultants, Parisians, the Swedish, the British, the Germans, the Italians, black people, Jewish people, Asian people, Indian people, etc., etc., etc.

They also hate treating the people they actually do hire like anything other than a pile of barely sentient dogshit.

After three months of them literally screaming at us on various 1 AM calls, my firm voided our contract and told them to piss up a lighting rod.

Maybe we just found a barrel of bad apples?

If so, our next Swiss client, another highly regarded firm, must have taken up offices at the very bottom of that fucking barrel, because they were even worse.

I will never work with a Swiss firm ever again. I hope they trip on their quaint quilted-apron strings, roll off their fucking glaciers and impale themselves on their yodeling horns.

Racist, snobbish, evil-tempered, greedy CUNTS.

by Anonymousreply 85June 13, 2021 11:39 PM

[quote] My Italian friend in Rome said if he ever moved anywhere else in Europe, he would not move to Switzerland. Yes, it's beautiful, but so is Italy. He finds the people uninviting, cold and distant.

Northern Italy is nearly the same scenery as in Alpine Switzerland, and the people are nicer.

by Anonymousreply 86June 13, 2021 11:49 PM

[quote] Jealous, bitches?

This will end in tears. Watch your man when he goes back to La Casa, those Swiss are known hussies.

by Anonymousreply 87June 13, 2021 11:52 PM

R85 - you forgot condescending and smug. And so anal-retentive, they make the Germans look like Italians.

I had a French friend go shopping in Lausanne. He parked slightly on a parking line. He came back from shopping and a Swiss citizen was sitting on his hood waiting for the police to come and give him a ticket.

I don't disagree with your assessment.

by Anonymousreply 88June 13, 2021 11:57 PM

I had a French-speaking Swiss acquaintance who would seize every possible opportunity to trash his German-speaking compatriots. I was a bit surprised at the beginning because I always thought of Swiss people as reserved and civilized. I later realized that this animosity is common from the FS citizens towards the GS ones because they are more rich.

Those who mentioned cows and impressed by how they are treated in Switzerland should visit India then.

by Anonymousreply 89June 14, 2021 12:02 AM

[quote]It is relevant in the sense that there's an attempt to make it only about certain people based on race/religion, rather than simply saying they don't allow any outsiders,

It is the Muslims who are the troublemakers. End of.

by Anonymousreply 90June 14, 2021 1:47 AM

Not only is Switzerland baffling having the four languages, French, German, Italian and Romance, but what surprised me was that in the German speaking part, the dialect in say Bern is different to Basel or Zurich or Schwyz etc, and some of them can hardly understand each other in conversation.

by Anonymousreply 91June 14, 2021 3:06 AM

^^ that's went they revert to high German. They all learn it in school.

Americans generally loathe living in Switzerland for long periods. There are many rules and Americans are usually loud and big self centered slobs. One has to adjust, to think of the welfare of one's neighbor as well. Its a communitarian mindset vs the American me first culture.

by Anonymousreply 92June 14, 2021 4:23 AM

R59 I’ll take chocolate, yodeling and cuckoo clocks over the crime and woke madness of the USA.

by Anonymousreply 93June 14, 2021 4:28 AM

[quote] My Italian friend in Rome said if he ever moved anywhere else in Europe, he would not move to Switzerland. Yes, it's beautiful, but so is Italy. He finds the people uninviting, cold and distant.

I’d rather cold distant people than some lecherous, smarmy, over familiar, sleazy guy (the type that approach you in some Italian cities) but that’s just me.

by Anonymousreply 94June 14, 2021 4:39 AM

The flip side to the rules is a kind of innocence and formal niceties I haven't experienced any where else. For instance for about a year I had to work very late in Geneva so by the time I drove home to Lausanne there were no parking spaces available. If I was really tired I'd say fuck it and park on the sidewalk. Those tickets were very expensive.

Sometime in the future after I'd stopped this practice I received a very formal letter from the Lausanne authorities thanking me and congratulating me for not having parked on the sidewalk for a year. My friends and I laughed like hell, couldn't believe the sweet tone of this letter., I still have it. It could not be more Swiss or more charming.

by Anonymousreply 95June 14, 2021 4:47 AM

[quote] There are many rules and Americans are usually loud and big self centered slobs.

This is so true. When I first visited Switzerland, I was shocked by what rule followers they all seemed to be. So many systems and structures there had me often thinking, "This would never work in America - everyone would be scamming the system." I found that in western Austria and southern Bavaria as well. It was refreshing, but very strange to me.

by Anonymousreply 96June 14, 2021 3:21 PM

Are the Swiss still hoarding all the gold, jewelry, fine art and cash the Nazis stole during WWII?

by Anonymousreply 97June 14, 2021 3:28 PM

There is a difference between "community-minded" and "carking autocratic busybodies" and the Swiss have no idea what it is.

If they could issue tickets for having water spots on your drinking glasses, they would.

They're so fucking anal retentive that the country used to be perfectly flat and only looks the way it does after the last thousand years of the Swiss sitting on it.

by Anonymousreply 98June 14, 2021 3:44 PM

Most desired passport on the planet.

by Anonymousreply 99June 14, 2021 4:06 PM

R95 That's sweet!

Don't get me started on washing my car on a Sunday though. I have receipts.

by Anonymousreply 100June 14, 2021 4:29 PM

Knowing what we know about writer Patricia Highsmith, it's fitting she found Switzerland her new home when she left the US.

by Anonymousreply 101June 14, 2021 4:38 PM

Why’s that [99], It’s only ranked no.7

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by Anonymousreply 102June 14, 2021 4:45 PM

I have been to Zurich and Geneva, but never to the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland around Lugano.

Is that area much different and more laid back, or are they basically still rigid Swiss people who happen to speak Italian?

To other's points about access, it's only about an hour and change from Milan,

by Anonymousreply 103June 14, 2021 5:04 PM

[quote] Is that area much different and more laid back, or are they basically still rigid Swiss people who happen to speak Italian?

It's more laid back that Zurich and Geneva. They're mountain folk. Still aloof and somewhat rigid, but more laid back for sure.

by Anonymousreply 104June 14, 2021 5:06 PM

[Quote]Why’s that [99], It’s only ranked no.7

I said desired passport, not powerful passport whatever that means. Plus when the terrorists arrive the Swiss are always set free. Neutrality has great rewards.

by Anonymousreply 105June 14, 2021 5:37 PM

R103 My experience of Ticino canton was that it was laid back. Lugano and Locano were pretty. Chiasso on the border wasn't. TSI TV is cool.

by Anonymousreply 106June 14, 2021 11:08 PM

Ihappily watched the interesting driving video above and having never visited beautiful Switzerland, windered if y'all have any panhandlers or homeless folks there and if so, is it a problem?

by Anonymousreply 107June 24, 2021 7:54 AM

Anyone ever been to Montreaux? I am thinking of going.

by Anonymousreply 108June 24, 2021 8:28 AM

Another great thing about Switzerland?

Their flag is a big plus.

by Anonymousreply 109June 24, 2021 8:32 AM

Your all just jellus Switzerland has the best scenery of all time, the bestest watches ever and the greatest tennis player of all time.

by Anonymousreply 110June 24, 2021 9:01 AM

Montreux is a lovely place to live but there isn't much to do there as a tourist. If you want to visit Switzerland for a week or two and tour around but stay in one place, Lausanne would be a better spot to find a hotel.

Panhandlers: these have come and gone over the last 2 decades. It depends on what the feds and the cantons are forced to allow, as a civil rights issue, and then are allowed to enforce, as a public safety issue. IN the last few years I don't see regular stationary panhandlers and the ROMA are gone, too.

Homeless - a number of years ago there were a few noticeable ones, in the bigger cities. Like a dozen maybe in Geneva and a handful in Lausanne. Switzerland has enough capacity in overnight shelters so that if the few homeless do NOT want to sleep rough, they can go to shelters. It is very difficult to become homeless because there is subsidized housing AND a very small minimum monthly payment for those people who cannot work for some reason. I have friends who have been in that system for years. Usually people who are placed on "disability" in their 20s after working and discovering they cannot actually work, for psychological handicaps. The life is not luxurious but it is comfortable, safe, and dignified.

by Anonymousreply 111June 24, 2021 10:52 AM

Ahem

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by Anonymousreply 112June 24, 2021 10:54 AM

R111 how do they prevent fraud?

by Anonymousreply 113June 24, 2021 1:57 PM

Switzerland was a desperately poor rural backwater with high net emigration until the late nineteenth century. (Not unlike Norway until the mid 20th c and the oil boom.) Codifying the old tradition of “bank secrecy” on a federal level along with the advent of winter sports tourism created a financial windfall, accelerated by the lack of destruction during WWI and WWII. Bankers helped various third world dictators and terrorist organizations launder money not to mention aiding Americans, Germans and French dodge taxes. This is one reason they never joined the EU. When it comes to culture (museums, opera, theater, modern architecture) Zurich is not in the same league as Vienna or even Munich, hence why Le Corbusier got out of there ASAP. Locals are incredibly provincial and hate everyone, especially Germans who come to work for higher salaries and Americans who threaten the standing of their banks. Jews like Leonard Lauder who call for accountability over Nazi assets really piss them off. (The historical paucity of Jews in Switzerland explains its lack of contribution to cultural fields; who needs intellectuals when you have cows and fondue?)Every German-speaking town has its own dialect but they don’t actually want outsiders to learn it. Universal suffrage was achieved only in 1971 but one rural canton (Appenzell-Innerrhoden) held until federal intervention in 1991. They are so smug about the constant stream of referenda on various issues, but I sure as hell wouldn’t want my idiot neighbors voting on every issue. Even Austria is more progressive on gay rights.

by Anonymousreply 114June 24, 2021 2:36 PM

Also, due to the insanity of Huldrych Zwingli and John Calvin, the Protestant reformation engulfed Switzerland with a fervor unlike that in Germany or even the Low Countries. Many beautiful old churches were completely gutted, which is why Zurich and Geneva are so pretty but austere af.

by Anonymousreply 115June 24, 2021 2:40 PM

I have Brazilian friends who work in Geneva and absolutely hate it. Boring and expensive, and the locals are nasty. They've had 10 apartments in the past five years because you can't sign an apartment lease unless you're a Swiss citizen. (they stay because they're making serious bank.)

A few years ago two Russian teenagers decided to have fun and went drag racing with Maseratis in central Geneva at 250mph. Hit and killed two pedestrians in the process. Their parents had them on a plane back to Russia before the authorities could get them.

by Anonymousreply 116June 24, 2021 2:46 PM

R113 There is fraud in social safety nets in every country. Disability status especially is prone to fraud. On the other hand, many countries and regions in countries use disability as a wealth transfer and welfare mechanism.

All rich countries generate and keep enormous amounts of wealth. It can trickle down to the broken people who cannot contribute. I'm friends with a life-long heroin addict in Switzerland who also has managed to work a part time job in a quiet back office of city government for decades. She gets assistance for the rest of a living income and has a subsidized apartment.

Look at how much it costs to house homeless in some cities and you'll soon realize that European number crunchers figured out its cheaper to build housing for the poor and let them live somewhat dignified if they care too. And this also help the unfortunate kids they pop out their vaginas. At least the kids have a chance if they grow up in neighborhood and attend school and are have a secure and safe and stable life despite their parent(s) being somewhat useless to the economy.

by Anonymousreply 117June 25, 2021 1:38 AM

[quote]And this also help the unfortunate kids they pop out their vaginas. At least the kids have a chance if they grow up in neighborhood and attend school and are have a secure and safe and stable life despite their parent(s) being somewhat useless to the economy.

In America we also have subsidized housing and the kids are little fucking hellions who turn out just like their parents.

by Anonymousreply 118June 25, 2021 2:13 AM

yeah but public elementary schools are better in Switzerland without the great divide of usa: "schools for the rich" and "schools for the poor". This carries through to the end of higher education, of course. Also true in many European countries. Switzerland has one of the better apprenticeship programs in Europe for kids who aren't heading to university. Also very wide ranging, good, public and CHEAP, technical schools after obligatory school. Its on shaky ground though because the pressure is on in all rich countries to send more kids than ever before to universities.

by Anonymousreply 119June 25, 2021 8:40 AM

in sum, Helvetia is a mixed bag, like all countries.

It's silly to list "the best country"

by Anonymousreply 120June 25, 2021 8:43 AM

Lived in Switzerland for years in all the French-speaking Cantons but Fribourg. Geneva's so international it doesn't really qualify as Switzerland but it's my favorite place on Earth. If it wasn't so fucking expensive, I would have retired there.. Lausanne's beautiful and fun when you're a student but boring afterwards and the Vaudois are almost as unfriendly as the Neuchatelois... OK the Neuchatelois du Haut (Chaux-de-Fonds) are very friendly - you have to be in such a freezing, hostile, working-class environment - but the Neuchatelois du Bas are notoriously unfriendly assholes. The Valais is beautiful and the Valaisans are nice but hate foreigners as the Alpes have been overrun by tourists for generations.

Ticino the originally Italian-speaking Canton is beautiful but has been overrun for 40 years by Germans retiring there. And don't get me started on fucking Swiss Germans.

Switzerland is the best run country in the world. Moving from there to the US, you get the impression you've arrived in the 3rd world.

But Americans beware: starting when Dubya was Prez but Obama really pushed this, the IRS started harassing Americans living in Switzerland. They pretended they were going after big fortunes hidden there but banking secrecy was relaxed in the 90s when Russian mafiosi were flooding into Switzerland with their ill-gotten gains and Interpol was after them. So instead, the IRS harasses not only US citizens who happen to live in Switzerland (and pay taxes there), they harass their employers to the point most Swiss companies won't hire Americans anymore and you can't find a Swiss bank willing to open an account for an American. Happened to me.

by Anonymousreply 121June 25, 2021 10:13 PM

The opening line of Tina Turner's wikipedia page always cracks me up:

[quote] Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss singer

by Anonymousreply 122June 26, 2021 4:47 AM

R122 she's lived in Switzerland for years. Having married a Swiss, she no doubt got Swiss nationality.

by Anonymousreply 123June 26, 2021 4:45 PM

R85 I’m based in London with similar experiences. I entirely concur. Vile, passive-aggressive, condescending cunts.

by Anonymousreply 124June 26, 2021 5:10 PM

R122 Alain delon and Maximilian schell were also born elsewhere but acquired Swiss nationality later in life.

by Anonymousreply 125June 26, 2021 5:17 PM

R121 to be fair US FATCA legislation has made financial services firms in many countries refuse to open or maintain accounts for a US citizen. It’s not just a Swiss thing. Of course, the US created this legislation that most countries have to adhere to in order to continue to participate in the global financial system but the US doesn’t reciprocate the information flow back to other countries on their citizens hiding money in the US (given the US is itself the biggest tax haven in the world).

by Anonymousreply 126June 26, 2021 5:21 PM

Only Eritrea pursues citizens living abroad for taxes as aggressively as the United States.

by Anonymousreply 127June 26, 2021 5:24 PM

Tina Turner's husband is German born, not Swiss. She applied for Swiss nationality and went through the normal process to obtain it.

I know a black Harlem born musician who was a dual national married to a Swiss. Because the IRS made life so difficult for him in Switzerland he renounced his USA citizenship. A few years ago he flew into JFK while on tour and he was denied entry. That's a typical bitch move by the USA. Makes you happy to fly back home to Geneva and tour everywhere else in the world but the USA.

by Anonymousreply 128June 26, 2021 5:30 PM

I have an acquaintance who moved to Toronto from Switzerland a few years ago. He's French Swiss and when I asked him why he moved, given that it's one of the countries from which you don't see much emigration to North America, he characterized it as "provincial, small-minded, libertarian" and that, as soon as you leave major cities and go to the more rural areas, people are not even that gay friendly. He also described it as unbearably passive aggressive place, where, if your party gets a bit louder once in a blue moon, the first reaction of the neighbors will not be to knock at your door and ask you to take it down a notch but to call the police on you.

by Anonymousreply 129June 26, 2021 5:31 PM

^^ I should also say that he was held in a waiting cell in the airport for hours before he could arrange a ticket back to Europe. The USA really is a shithole country compared to la Suisse.

by Anonymousreply 130June 26, 2021 5:37 PM

Austrians are witty, warm, and very good hosts. But if you come there as a loudmouth who doesn't speak the language, they can be reserved.

As for Switzerland: People tend to be either a bit boorish or downright snobbish. A combination of the two isn't unusual… But, it's a gorgeous country, smack in the heart of Europe with excellent airport- and train connections. Beautiful, scenic drives through the Alps to the Côte d'Azur, or down to northern Italy with its dramatic landscapes.…

For those who claim Switzerland doesn't have an interesting history: You have no idea.

by Anonymousreply 131June 26, 2021 5:55 PM

R125 Maximilian Schell and his sister Maria moved back to Switzerland - their father's country - after the Anschluss in Austria. They were always Swiss citizens.

Alain Delon moved to Switzerland to escape the French tax authorities. I saw him in Geneva a couple of times. He looked like hell and this was 30 years ago.

by Anonymousreply 132June 26, 2021 7:40 PM

Does Tina Turner still pretend that she has never encountered any racism or bigotry in 🇨🇭?

by Anonymousreply 133June 26, 2021 7:45 PM

I’ve never encountered racism in Switzerland and I’ve been many times. I have however encountered racism in Denmark.

by Anonymousreply 134June 26, 2021 8:01 PM

And Germany

by Anonymousreply 135June 26, 2021 8:02 PM

Odd, unpleasant people. Borderline autistic.

by Anonymousreply 136June 26, 2021 8:06 PM

Sure, Jan. Austistics running the most civil nation state on the planet.

by Anonymousreply 137June 26, 2021 8:09 PM

They're socially inept though. They make Austrians look like the life of the party.

by Anonymousreply 138June 26, 2021 8:12 PM

Yes, a nation that didn't grant women the right to vote until the 70s is "the most civil nation on the planet".

by Anonymousreply 139June 26, 2021 8:31 PM

It really is civil and refined r139. It makes the US look like the third world. You should travel more.

by Anonymousreply 140June 26, 2021 8:40 PM

Don't waste your breath on the ignorant, R140, for they are beyond salvation.

by Anonymousreply 141June 26, 2021 9:01 PM

For this first and foremost the Swiss should be revered.

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by Anonymousreply 142June 26, 2021 9:01 PM

Germany is another country that when you come back to the US, you see things totally differently. After being in Germany, the US looks so dirty and gross.

by Anonymousreply 143June 26, 2021 9:14 PM

What's that you say r141?

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by Anonymousreply 144June 26, 2021 9:48 PM

Switzerland is so damn clean - only Wales comes close in the anal-retentive cleanliness stakes. But it's nice, especially when you compare it to how filthy the US is.

by Anonymousreply 145June 27, 2021 5:42 AM

Switzerland's population is about 8.5 million, less than half of the NYC metro area population, most of which is concentrated around a few cities. It's not that hard to keep such a small place in order. Switzerland also voted in 2009 to ban the construction of minarets on mosques thanks to the efforts of the odious Swiss People's Party, the largest party in the Federal Assembly. They also oppose participation in supranational organizations (EU, EEA, NATO), environmental regulation, LGBT rights and public spending on maternity leave/day care. Same-sex marriage is still not allowed nor can same-sex couples adopt children, though these issues will be voted on in September.

I don't know what kind of racism Tina Turner would experience in Switzerland, she's been ill for so long I doubt she leaves the grounds of her lakeside mansion in Küsnacht very often. She did at least one interview with local news in the 2000s while she was studying for her naturalization exam, which entailed demonstrating intermediate proficiency in German (standard German, not even Swiss/Zürich German), and her German was terrible, so clearly her skin color was no impediment to jumping that hurdle. As in the USA, money generally trumps everything else. Tina was always more successful in Europe than in the US, she's like an '80s Josephine Baker over there.

by Anonymousreply 146June 27, 2021 2:56 PM

[Quote]It's not that hard to keep such a small place in order.

This is such a BS argument. Either one has a sense of civic pride and respect for communitarianism or one does not. These values are taught to Swiss kids from a very young age. Such values amonst many others promote and sustain peace and order.

by Anonymousreply 147June 27, 2021 3:08 PM

It's not an argument, R147, it's a fact. Switzerland is rich. small, ethnically homogenous and mountainous, most of its terrain can't be developed. Your assertion that only Swiss children are brought up with an ethos of "communitarianism," which is to say a political philosophy that rejects that focus on individuality that is at the center of most strains of classical liberalism, is a much bigger BS argument. How exactly does the Minarett-Verbot demonstrate "communitarian" values? The Swiss, like Americans, care only about their own prosperity.

by Anonymousreply 148June 27, 2021 3:16 PM

Switzerland it the most ethnically diverse country in Europe. You people are talking out your ass.

by Anonymousreply 149June 27, 2021 3:22 PM

Oh honey, the Swiss have nothing in common with Murica.

by Anonymousreply 150June 27, 2021 3:26 PM

The Swiss have every right not to want Muslims.

by Anonymousreply 151June 27, 2021 3:33 PM

The Swiss can fuck a hole in a fondue pot.

by Anonymousreply 152June 27, 2021 3:44 PM

Oscar winner Max Schell was HAF.

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by Anonymousreply 153June 27, 2021 3:50 PM

R148 - you ever lived next door to a fucking minaret? i lived in Tunis for a year and those fucking minarets drive you crazy. They blare away all day and every day. In Switzerland, you cannot make noise after 10 pm or on Sundays or holidays. You can't mow your lawn. So you sure as fuck can't install minarets to drive people crazy.

by Anonymousreply 154June 27, 2021 3:52 PM

Geneva is the most international city in Europe. Not London or Paris or Berlin. Geneva.

by Anonymousreply 155June 27, 2021 3:53 PM

R155 yes - all the UN organizations and most of the NGOs are based there. 25% of the resident population of Switzerland are foreigners. And that doesn't include all the frontaliers - French, Germans, Italians - who cross the border every day to work in Switzerland. There are 350K of them.

by Anonymousreply 156June 27, 2021 3:59 PM

Yes. Most international city in Europe. But you know frontaliers don't count. They're not residents.

by Anonymousreply 157June 27, 2021 4:05 PM

R157 I worked with French frontaliers almost exclusively at a couple of my employers in Geneva. When a frontalier gets into HR, they ensure that only frontaliers get hired and promoted. It's the French mafia. As for not being residents, they may sleep in France, but they do everything else - but grocery shop - in Switzerland. The border towns are depressing bedroom communities.

by Anonymousreply 158June 27, 2021 4:12 PM

Don't know any Swiss or been but it's interesting to read the descriptions of them as reserved and cold. A friend's son married a Swiss woman and he's miserable now. Said she's cold, aloof and cut off sex after second child.

by Anonymousreply 159June 27, 2021 4:15 PM

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

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by Anonymousreply 160June 27, 2021 4:34 PM

R158. Dear, frontaliers may do a lot in Geneva but they're not counted in the statistics you cited.

by Anonymousreply 161June 27, 2021 4:41 PM

R103 Lugano is beautiful. The people in Lugano were warmer than those who live in Geneva. The lake is breathtaking.

by Anonymousreply 162June 27, 2021 4:41 PM

R161 and I didn't count them. 25% of the RESIDENTS of Switzerland are foreigners. And on top of that, there are frontaliers. Reading an issue with you?

The article about the Swiss allegedly eating dogs - that's a tabloid you're citing and the quote 'construction workers particularly like it' - there isn't a single Swiss construction worker.. In the 60s they were Italians, in the 70s they were Spanish, in the 80s they were Portuguese and in the 90s they were Kosovars.

by Anonymousreply 163June 27, 2021 6:38 PM

A lot of UN employees in Geneva live in France. Its less expensive and just a few minutes away.

by Anonymousreply 164June 27, 2021 7:33 PM

I didn't know "frontaliers" was even a word. Gosh the things I learn here on DL..

by Anonymousreply 165June 28, 2021 8:45 AM
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