A Humorous Guide to Switzerland

Switzerland is famous for its mountains, chocolate, watches and cheeses but have you ever wondered if there are any famous Swiss people? In sports Roger Federer is well known and loved all around the globe, Henry Dunant founded the Red Cross and had great impact on world health, Julius Maggi changed the kitchens of the world with his Maggi sauce, and Sepp Blatter was the (very controversial) head of FIFA. There are more Swiss people, e.g. scientists and scholars, who have or are well known for their achievements. However, I believe the most famous Swiss person has never actually lived but rather leads a fictional life in many books and television series all over the world: Heidi . The Creation of Heidi Heidi was created by Swiss author Johanna Spyri  and two books covering her adventures and life in Switzerland were first published in 1880 . As a young orphan Heidi is sent to live with her grandfather, the Alp-Öhi, who after some initial resentment takes to the girl and gr...

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...

Rotzloch - a town in Switzerland Funny Place Names all Over the World All over the world, there are cities and villages with names that strike us as funny. Places such as Sexi (Peru), Middlefart (Denmark) or Hooker (USA) make us smile or even giggle a bit. Especially, when you actually get to visit one of them. I once actually drove through Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu (New Zealand) which is one of the longest names any populated place on earth has. Sometimes, it is the sound of the place name that sounds funny to foreign ears but most of the time it's the either the literal meaning (as in Climax (USA)) or the similarity to a word in another language (as in Bitsch (Switzerland)) that tickles our sense of humor. Funny Place Names in Switzerland There are plenty of collections of weird and unusual place names from all over the world but there aren't that many lists of places with funny names in Switzerland - at least none in Eng...

Spring in Switzerland is an interesting season. Some years we get lucky and live through months of beautiful sunshine, blooming flowers and trees and just a few rain showers. Other years we are not as lucky and most spring days are cold, gray and rainy. This year - as in most years - it seems to be a mixture of both. But even if spring at times seems gray, there's always the hope for a good summer! Spring Season in Switzerland However, there are also some highlights to look forward to this spring in Switzerland: April Fools Day :  when Swiss children (and even serious Swiss newspapers) tell made up stories. Will you fall into the trap or can you spot the lie? Easter : fun holiday that Swiss people spend eating lots of chocolate bunnies and eggs. If you want to be more creative you could try to bake your own version of Easter Bunnies . Don't forget to brush up on your Easter vocabulary with this Easter dictionary as well! Sechseläuten :  this Zurich spring festival in ...

icicles - J örg Brinckheger  / pixelio.de  It's winter. I know, some of you might be waiting for spring with a bit more sunshine, green leaves on trees and colorful flowers. For those of you who thoroughly enjoy Swiss winter, I've put together a Swiss German winter dictionary might come in useful during your winter holiday in the Swiss mountains. Swiss German Words for the Winter Season chalt (cold) Chälti (coldness) Chuehnagel (frostbite on finger or toes) gfroore (frozen) gfrüüre (to freeze) Glattiis (black ice) grau (grey) Iglu (igloo) iigschneit (to be snowed in, stuck in a place because of snow fall) Iis (Ice) Iisräge (ice rain) iischalt (ice cold) iischneebele (to cover someone with snow) Iiszapfe (icicle) Näbel (fog) näblig (foggy) Schnee (snow) Schneeflocke (snowflake) Schneeflöckli (small snowflake) schneie (to snow) Schneeball (snow ball) Schneeball-Schlacht (snow ball fight) schneebele (to play in the snow) Schneeflocke (snowflake) S...

Winter can be hard on parents (I suppose). In summer kids keep themselves occupied outside, riding bikes and building tree forts. In winter, however, options can be a bit limited. Especially since in most parts of Switzerland snow is a passing occurrence and winter days are usually just gray, wet and cold. Activities for Kids in Swiss Winter I tried to remember what kind of activities my mom came up with while growing up and realized most things can still be done today. Have a look: Zoo : visit the zoo in Basel or Zurich . Some animals are even more active in winter such as penguins. Visiting Indoor housing is great for warming up! Alpamare : visit Switzerland's most popular water park . Slides, hot pools and more will keep you busy for a whole day! Sledding : Switzerland has great sledding slopes where you can take a train or gondola up the mountain and sled down at your own pace. Rigi and Bergün are my favourites! Public pool : almost every town in Switzerland has a...