Cheese, Chocolates and Watches - rarely used in the same sentence unless you’re talking about…Switzerland! It has provided the perfect settings for Bollywood’s romantic numbers since time immemorial and has always been one those most sought after exotic destinations. With postcard snow covered Alps and Heidi type farms, Switzerland tourism has always been a crowd puller.
Working holidays (working on a farm or helping around the house in exchange for free food and lodging) is a huge success in Switzerland. And with the whole ‘say no to touristy, yes to local’ approach to travel catching up, Tourism in Switzerland is definitely undergoing change along with the rest of the world. If you’re one of those travelers who’s genuinely interested in the local culture and people, here are 10 facts that you most probably didn’t know about Switzerland. They will definitely help you in your wanderings of the Swiss country.
1. The Swiss write the number 1 like the number 7. The number 7 is always written with a horizontal line crossing it.
2. Don’t go there in August. Everything mostly shuts down during the month of August in Switzerland. The Swiss usually have 4 to 5 weeks of vacation per year and take most of these in August.
3. You can purchase insurance for just about everything including “accidental sink breakage“, “bicycle collision”, etc. In fact, if you ride a bicycle on a public road or sidewalk, you are required by law to have liability insurance as proved by a sticker (vignette).
4. Z ürich has more than 1200 fountains. You absolutely will not miss the numerous fountains with crystal clear drinking water all around the city. It ranks high among the world’s most fountain friendly cities.
5. In most places across the globe, Chinese food comes cheap, especially takeaway. Well, not in cheese country, no! Here, Chinese is considered an exotic cuisine and along with Mexican, one of the most expensive.
6. Lake Geneva has, buried in its depths, more than 40 shipwrecks, including four railway cars from the mid to late 1800′s!Traffic fines for egregious offenses (speeding significantly faster than the limit, as an example) are based on a percentage of your income.
7. In order to use a shopping cart at the grocery store, you have to deposit a 1 or 2 Franc coin in a slot on top of the cart. This will release the chain by which the cart is attached to the next one. When you return the cart to its place, you will get your deposit back. Ingenious, no!
8. Almost every home in Switzerland has an identical type of mailbox. The top slot is for letters and the bottom section has a door for packages.
9. If you own any radios or TV’s capable of receiving broadcasts (over the air, via cable, via satellite, etc.) you have to pay a monthly tax (tv/radio license). It’s probably the only country where people have actually been known to vote in favor of tax increases. And some cantons like Vaud actually impose a yearly tax on pet dogs. Yikes!
Dump the Switzerland tourism packages and explore on your own. And if you’re low on cash, you can always help out with chores on a farm!
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