A Humorous Guide to Switzerland

In the mood of a recent post about hiking in Switzerland  I thought it fitting to introduce a basic Swiss German hiking vocabulary. Indeed, in Switzerland it is customary for hikers to greet each other when crossing or overtaking another hiker. Now, you can definitely hike in Switzerland without knowing any Swiss German but I think it's still nice to be able to greet the people you'll meet on the trails with a local greeting, wouldn't you agree?! How to Greet a Hiker in Switzerland Grüezi - formal greeting, polite greeting, is used for strangers, can be used any time of the day Guete Morge - good morning Guete Tag -  good day Guete Abig - good evening Hoi - hi, hello, informal greeting for friends or young people in general Hallo - hi, hello, informal greetings for friends or young people in general Hoi zäme - hello all, informal greeting for a group of friends or young people How to Converse at Lunch Hour Chances are you'll be sharing your lunch or picni

Yellow trail markers - Joujou  / pixelio.de It's summer in Switzerland and that means the hiking season is upon us. If you've ever spent some time walking or cycling outside in Switzerland, you must have seen noticed the classic yellow markers showing you the direction, the time it takes to reach your destination and the type of trail you'll be hiking. These are part of a national network of hiking trails. Hiking Trails in Switzerland Thanks to a long and old tradition of hiking in the valleys and mountains (and the flatlands), an extensive network of hiking trails all over Switzerland was developed over the decades. Currently, there are over 60'000km of hiking trails cover all of Switzerland. Almost as many km as roads since Switzerland only counts with 71'400km of roads! Most of the hiking trails are located in the mountainous cantons of Grisons, Berne and Valais - including some challenging alpine hiking trails. However, there are always plenty of hik