Wow - I had to count and realized that it was 27 years ago! Maybe a pitcher of water would have been free when I first came here, but no one ever dared to ask for tap water in a restaurant because it really wasn't the done thing. The Swiss are much more relaxed about these things now then they used to be.

One thing that I've noticed is that I usually get a free glass of water in the German speaking part of Switzerland when I order coffee but not in the French part.