"SWITZERLAND -TRADITION AND TECHNOLOGY " a Switzerland Travel Page by robertop

Before visiting Switzerland, I had,
out of my readings and opinions of different persons,some stereotype -ideas about this country and its people,i.e:
- neutral,very rich,somewhat isolated country
- the Swiss are either bankers correctly dressed in old fashioned black suits or farmers breeding cows
- cheese,chocolate,watches main
industry
- impressive mountains and landscapes
- record numbers of tunnels and wide network of railroads
- a mix of different nationalities and official languages spoken
-everything decided through popular referendums,which are very often held
- high living standards but one of most expensive countries of Europe

Some of the ideas mentioned above may look at first too onesided
or even a bit hilarious.But these were some of my ideas about this country and its people,originated from sources which were either simplifying things to cliches or more or less false.
My visit there in 2002 confirmed some ideas and eliminated some of acquired misconceptions.

As soon as we passed by car the German-Swiss border,we saw a country a bit different from the rest of Europe. Gasoline proved to be a little cheaper than in other countries visited,the road fee valid one year gave you unrestricted access to all roads across the country, which are in excellent condition.Not all gas stations were opened day and night,in smaller localities these were closed by the afternoon and selfservicing through automats was the only solution.Not far from the border we stopped at the Rhine Cascades in Schaffhausen, and learned to know a nearly perfect organization of a touristic site,starting with strictly controlled parking ,to exciting boat rides to the area in the heart of the cascades or traditional restaurants built in locations allowing optimal sightseeing of the cascades.It seemed everything was well calculated,to benefit the incoming tourist.We finally reached in the afternoon the house in Lausanne of our friends who were to be the hosts for our Swiss experience lasting for more than two weeks.A quiet street with nice villas ,in line with traditional and modest looking Swiss architecture,in vicinity of a small forest.No fences between the properties,perfect understanding between neighbours.Although the neighbours of our friends didn't know us,they greeted us warmly when we came there,shaking hands and wishing us a nice stay.Tolerance and friendly attitude towards foreigners,this proved to be a quality of the Swiss we deeply appreciated.As well as respect towards your neighbours.Our friends told us ,that when they moved to this house they had to do some refurbishing of the house,using inclusively noisy and loud equipment.In order not to disturb their neighbours they made the works only in the morning and afternoon hours.They even sent a letter to each neighbour,apologizing for the inconvenience caused because of the works,stating the days and timeline when works will be done and expressing their belief that they will have a good relationship with the neighbours in the future.
In a year when forest fires caught and destroyed so many forests in Europe,the Swiss did not have any such fire at all.But education to preserve nature is made from low ages at school and those who want to have a grillparty in the woods go only to special sites equipped with everything needed,a free service to taxpayers from the state,in exchange for keeping the woods clean and free of fire.The President of Switzerland,thanked to the citizens in a radio message,for their efforts and attitude to keep nature clean and prevent any forest fires.
I could mention many other facts which I learnt and experienced,but I think the above can give you a hint about how these people are and you'll be attracted to discover the country by your own.

After this stay in Switzerland,where you travelled by car starting from Lausanne about 3000 km around,some of my preconceived sterotype ideas were confirmed,
other proved partly or totally false,i.e:
- although neutral,Switzerland is not
isolated,having close ties to the EU especially,even if a possible membership is not favoured currently in referendums held
- it's a rich country,but people even if rich don't like to show publicly their wealth,this is proved by the way they
behave,their houses,the tolerance showed to the poor which still exist
- Switzerland is expensive,therefore also tourist come from abroad in relatively smaller numbers(most coming from the UK,Germany,US).
But many Swiss prefer to make holidays in their homeland,thus assisting the turnover of domestic travel industry
- it is far from being true that Swiss economy limits itself mainly to agriculture,watch industry,chocolate;
technical know how is high and the IT -industry,highly proficient research
activities in top sciences,being only some of the branches in full development and contributing to a prosperous economy
- a sort of isolationism in a rather good sense,is that quality and security standards for any products sold in Switzerland are narrowly regulated and extremely strict rules govern them,those not complying cannot be sold in this country;the offer of products might be not so big than in other western countries,but notwithstanding if it is about food products,a Tv set,a computer or a car,both domestic and foreign suppliers need to strictly comply to the Swiss standards,clearly regulated for each product; ecology plays a big role in these standards.
- the three main parts of the confederation german,french and italian,although keeping distinct features and certain administrative and cultural autonomy,cooperate well together; language spoken of the region where they live,has to be learnt by those coming to settle there.;practically there are three countries in one,another France,
another Germany.another Italy,but in many respects so different to the mentioned countries and all are linked together by being part of a whole,the Swiss confederation.
- besides mentioned groups,which speak partly dialects,some 20 % of the population are of muslim/arab origin.
- traditions are well preserved,
ancient feasts continue to be celebrated;while modern life has influenced much the Swiss society.traditions did not disappear and are upheld.
- winter sports mainly are a much prefered leisure activity for many Swiss,sites for performing these being well equipped and at high
standards.
- arts are flourishing,the education had in school makes them be very receptive what means domestic and foreign culture
Of course,as any society,the Swiss one also has its limits ,butwe admired their desire to get better living standards for the people,to try to establish more tolerance and to give people the chance to live better by working not only hard but with high productivity.