A Humorous Guide to Switzerland

Spring has finally arrived in Switzerland . The last few days have been warm and sunny and nature has quickly reacted to the change in weather. In spring time , the leaves on trees are springing and early flowers blooming. On a stroll around town I stumbled upon some of the most common Swiss spring flowers and captured them with my camera. Enjoy! "Primel" aka Primroses "Blaue Krokus" aka Blue Crocus "Gelbe Krokus" aka Yellow Crocus "Gänseblümchen" aka Daisy © 2012 IRENE WYRSCH "A HUMOROUS GUIDE TO SWITZERLAND" ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Zurich by Antje Warmbrunn  / pixelio.de We did it! Zurich was ranked #2 of world's most livable cities by a  Travelers Digest  article in 2012. The website has gone inactive in 2015 but a more recent survey, the 2018  Mercer Quality of Living Survey  confirms this good ranking. Not surprisingly, the high quality of life and safety of Zurich were responsible for this appraisal of Switzerland's largest city. What made me laugh was the short remark at the beginning of the entry about Zurich: " Especially great for bankers who are addicted to chocolate "! If you actually consider visiting or moving to Zurich, you should not forget that Zurich is also world's most expensive city  but Switzerland generally provides above-average salaries! © 2012 IRENE WYRSCH "A HUMOROUS GUIDE TO SWITZERLAND" ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Coffee break - birgitH  / pixelio.de If you hear the term ' coffee nation ' you probably think of Colombia, Brazil or Ethiopia. Yet, it was none of these countries that was at the center of a report about worlds coffee trade and consumption  published by a Swiss television station. Instead, the involvement of Switzerland in coffee trade all over the world was highlighted. Remember, Switzerland is not even close to growing coffee beans, the climate is simply not warm enough. Yet, three quarter of worlds trade with coffee beans takes place in Switzerland. All the coffee beans exported from Switzerland value more than all chocolate and cheese exported from Switzerland together. If there's so much coffee coming through Switzerland you probably expect the Swiss to be a coffee drinking nation. And you are right. An average Swiss drinks 9kg of coffee a year! Only the Finnish and the Norwegians drink more coffee. I imagined that Swiss coffee consumption would go down...

No Thieves in Switzerland - Dieter Schütz  / pixelio.de Switzerland recently has had the honors to be included in the top 10 of world's safest travel destinations by Travelers Digest (the site has gone inactive in 2015) . Although it is definitely nice living in a safe country where street crime is almost non-existent, I was a bit bummed that Switzerland didn't make any of the more attractive top 10 lists. I mean who wouldn't want his country to feature one of the Top 10 Adventures for Thrill Seekers Top 10 Best Airports of the world Top 10 Best Cities to Live In Top 10 Best City Skylines Top 10 Best Places to Watch Sunsets Top 10 Best Wildlife Viewing Top 10 Countries with the Most Beautiful Women The alps, great paragliding locations, bobsledding, snowboarding or river rafting in Switzerland are not considered thrilling enough I guess. I would claim though that Zurich Airport is one of the nicest and most organized airports in Europe. It's tough to...