For decades before arriving in Europe you casually dropped your fresh orange juice from the Whole Foods or Ralph's ice bin into your cart, at a low, low price.

Here, this was not available until now:

The COOP "flagship stores" (I only checked the Sihlcity Mall, Zurich) now have a DIY squeeze-stand set up, and for 3 bucks for 1/4 liter (1/8 gallon??) you can buy freshly squeezed juice...what a feast!

Notice to COOP+Migros: You need Soja "protein shakes"- this is completely missing in Europe: almond flavor, for example.

Also: At bars, order a "San Pelegrino" Chinotto. Don't buy the Migros-bottled Chinotto, that one tastes just like coke. The San Pelegrino is high-end, made from a larger quantity of bitter oranges, is not mass-marketed, small bottle, must-try.

Hiking Recommendation: The Ebenalp (train till Wasserau ,short trip into Appenzell from Zurich.) has a cool alpine restaurant built at altitude into the vertical rock wall. Check out the bathroom, on the right, normal bathroom, on the left - sheer rock wall. Go up by cable-car, then descend, maybe swim at the blue lake at the bottom, stop by the "Alm" (swiss farm house) for a milkshake from freshly-extracted milk, served in a glas. This trip now has an integrated ticket with return/cablecar much cheaper than if you would buy separately. Meet some Appenzellers, they claim to be the smartest of the Swiss. (Quote: "We are physically smaller, but much faster than the slow Bernese")..Ok, to be fair to the Bernese, one of the Swiss Magazines had a long article explaining that the women of Bern are truly the premier Swiss species. Notice to males: Watch the long-haired female "Schweiz-Aktuell" anounncer to see what I mean. Hear her speak..

Geneva Visitors: Check out the Calvin exhibition. Cool puppet like displays where he jails girls for dancing. (Duuh!) (At that time Geneva had a "Consistory" where religious authority would ponder whether what you were doing was ok, dancing = no-no). There are also "period" lever-operated display cases with puppet-plays illustrating religious controversies of the time. These were like electronic games of those times.

Geneva fountain. Go near it, look up, and ask, "Is the water pushed up this high by water that follows or by its own force?" The following is NOT recommended, but the daring will climb over the spike fence, approach this truly heavy-gauge jet, and try to push a hand into it. Does not work, the water is at such a high pressure, the hand is instantly ejected. At slightly higher ejection speed, water is used for cutting metal. Careful now..

If you are planning on more than 3 Alpine trips this summer the 1/2 fare card may make sense. You may want to get the credit-card version if you are here longer. The new super-low fares with "half-tax" require a credit-card, and your US card will wipe the savings out due to the fat currency conversion fee. Example: Zurich-Luzern for 8 bucks if booked via credit card with half-tax card.

Notices: Pizol 5-lake hike still closed, (construction) only 2-lake hike is available, check for rail-special startup-date.

Notices: Trift-Glacier hanging bridge is complete and open now, heavily featured on Swiss TV. (See in original post at very top).

Hey sandiegan, maybe you can use your superior knowledge to create your own website?

Novel Sliding Technology for Returning to Lift on Pizol (works for 3-4 more weeks)

Alright, Southland commuters, after visiting Bear Lake, Wrightwood reservoirs, and driving 7 hours to Mammoth , time for you test the knife-cut-coldness of nearby Swiss Mountains-lakes, w.o. walking so much on the way back. Get the Railaway ticket to Pizol (about $40 from Zurich), including return and Pizol-cableway + Postal Bus transfer.

About one hour from Zurich, to Bad Ragaz, up toward the famed 5-lakes hike, via Pizol Bahn Pardiel + Lift Laufboden. 30 Minutes into the hike, in blazing hot sunshine, you reach complete, large, thick, snow plains. Put some snow under your cap and down the back of your t-shirt.

There is a marked white-red path, leading you to the viewpoint above the Wildsee, paint-like blue, glacier-fed, with snow on some banks. Watch for large groundhogs freezing in motion as they see you, and at the lake-front, elegant, 2-inch blue-crystal spiders checking out the strange visitors.

You can either descend to the Wildlake, or stay high and then descend to the Schottensee. If you want to do the full hike instead of returning, google Pizol first as the sequence has changed due to construction of the Wangs gondola. If you do want to make immersion experiments, be sure to do at least 5 limb tests before doing a half-body immersion. Here is how the Swiss describe themselves doing this: "Eeech bi enneklaahed" (Ich bi inneglaid). (I lay within it) Don't overstress your circulation.

If you return directly, like me, enter the large, fully covered snow slopes with ski-tracks next to the steep path. Place your backpack (w.o. breakable objects) on the snow back-up and sit on it, taking the shoulder-straps for control. Lift your legs, lean back and push yourself off with your hands. (Despite mid-July heat, if you use your hands a lot they will turn red and become almost frostbitten!)

Note that there are some stony ledges interrupting the ride, but you won't go faster than about 20 mph, if necessary slide off the backpack if you can't brake, any snow getting into your pants will dry within 30 minutes in the heat. This saves about 20 minutes of walking, you have to transfer slopes twice. Always slide with your feet forward, for protection from the rock lines.

There were people with very heavy, large hiking boots and ski-sticks who were also able to slide down the long slope.

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Drink suggestion: If you're the type who picks up a 6-pack of Starbucks Glassbottle mocca or choclate at the supermarket, don't leave Switzerland before doing this once: On Sundays, with everything closed, go to your Sprunglis (in railway stations) and buy their "high-end" cooled, thick-glass choclate drink. It lists in gold letters the specialty beans from which it was made, it is truly rich, and with very little sugar....not to be missed. (Oh, right, it's $ 6.50, that prevents habit-formation....) Also, you should at least once buy the "Luxemburgerli" - refrigerated mini-pastries, they have 12 intense flavors and will make a combi pack for you. I recommend pistachio and sour-cherry. Don't ask how much the small bag costs, but it's worth it.

I am exhausted just reading your posts....are you on meth? Where do you get it around here?

13) Swimming in the summer: Caution: If you are in the habit of making Scripps Pier / La Jolla crossings, or long Malibu swims, the lake Zurich water here has no salt,(less buoyancy=more work) and you need to time your crossing to commence just as the two large lake ships are leaving, so you are a quarter through the lake as they just pass you, it's a long swim.

When the Lake of Zürich has salt in it, then global warming has won and Switzerland will have an ocean. Isn't it self-explanitory that a lake in Switzerland is not going to be salty? Just struck me as a strange thing to point out.

Well, salty is not, but nice nevertheless, at least if the weather is acceptable and water and air not too freezing
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The Sprüngli chocolate is a refreshing change indeed. Money aside it's also not sweet enough to become a habit to me. Guess both points make me a member of the plebs.

Good lord man, it's like combining an unnecessarily long textbook with a very dry tour-guide booklet.

Although on the other hand I have lived in SoCal and people seem to be in a bubble there so maybe a detailed guide on how to survive (and hopefully enjoy) their move/stay in Switzerland is a good thing.

The Oeschinnen Lake (Kandersteg) is a must-see. It has about 5 water falls, the most spectacular is recessed and can be reached only after progressing through some uncharted territory following a narrow elevated trail protected by a rather low wire. (Hike left side of lake from restaurant) If you slip, you fall into the lake. However, it is worth seeing the waterfall, there are huge-horned mountain-rams nearby. Boat rental is also available, and although a mountain lake, it is not too cold to swim in summer.

Yours truly has left your spectacular snow slopes behind, for the old accustomed sensations of sand mixing with suncreme on underarms, putting fresh bathing suits on using a towel standing in a beach parking lot....drinking from huge, ice-filled cups, yes, cruising for a parking space in beach-lots, saltwater in eyes+mouth, sunglasses covered with small water spots, quiet AC cooling your car in November, delicious post-swim exhaustion: shuddering then heat from the sun...waiting at the beach shower....driving largely one way again, with huge car separation...supermarkets vast and empty...luxury short-term suites for $ 54 incl. tax...groceries being weighed and bagged for you with the offer to bring them to your car...and vast physical space again....you guessed it ...back stateside...mmmh!....good luck..

Final note to Swiss-police and legislators: 10 policemen testified with masks against the Schengen agreeement. We now know they were right.
What can be done ? Study how the US uses loitering laws. The Langstrasse in Zurich and the Paquis in Geneva are prime entertainment districts, yet their businesses suffer because of loitering. (Standing in groups near the entrance of a business such that patrons feel uncomfortable entering the area). Same goes for Gare Cornavin at night in Geneva, as well as for the small plaza after the underpass. Areas must be designated were the young arriving immigrants can party and play. But, if you let this happen in front of your businesses, customers will stop coming.

Good luck in crowded Europe...

Freedom of assembly, anyone?

I had this dream where I was standing in a Swiss forest and attached to a nearby tree was a pair of headphones. When I put the headphones on, sandiegan's voice was trotting out soundbites of information on life in Switzerland. Unsure whether the voice was computer generated or not, I put the headphones down and wondered if anyone else would find the information useful. But there was nobody else around. Then I climbed into a flying apple.