The thing I love most about Switzerland is its "green" ideology. Car hating, public transport loving, recycling, are all part of everyday living as opposed to those things being the thing that the crazy hippy chick who has a pile of compost in her garden does!

England is getting a bit better in those things but is still about 30 years behind anything that the Swiss have to offer and so I think the Swiss should big up themselves for their environmental awareness. The local W I (women's institute) have had a week of protests and have left packaging at the doors of supermarkets. Something Swiss would do automatically, here is seen as a quaint pass time of middle Englanders, a break from making jam.

The city of Zurich. Having grown up in a small town I think it is the perfect size. To compare it with a U.S. city I like Boston as much as Zurich. They seem similar to me. You can find anything there and it isn't too crowded, like London or NY.

Galatea, yes - recycling is fairly widespread (in the Swiss-German region) but I would say in the others, they chuck everything away.

They'll also sneakily dump trash here and there (and once there is one chunk of non-standard rubbish, it quickly becomes more!).

Given the Swiss love for cubes and cigarettes, they're not totally green. Seeing the queues into Zurich of cars, public transport, whilst popular is not the defacto choice for many.

Oh Lob... please dont shatter my illusions...

Now smoking... what is it with the Swiss and fags? I was shocked when I first arrived to see the amount of smokers, in a country that seems to take personal responsibility for their health, smoking seems so irrational.

Maybe a new thread is in order regarding this "keeping up appearances" attribution of the Swiss persona... Seen to be a good recycler but happy to dump trash just because someone else did thing is an interesting concept of the Swiss psyche.

often the first impressions of folk when they arrive in Zurich is the graffiti and the fact that so many folk smoke and dump the fag-ends on the tramstop floor, for example

Lang Strasse!

I love being sent a bill, rather than having to pay up front. Its a sign of trust.

daved

I'll add what I LOVE about Switzerland in the few months that I've come to know this place.

I love the public transportation. I never liked driving and now I don't have to.

I love that there are so many forests and fields everywhere to take the kids on an adventurous nature walk.

I love that there are so many FUN places to go that the whole family can enjoy. Recently we discovered Atzmannig and Pradaschier and had a wonderful time.

I love that in just a short drive there are so many gorgeous places to go. So far Schinyge Platte is top on my list of beautiful places.

I love how people are friendly and always greet you when you pass on the streets.

I love that the country cares and recycles a lot.

I could go on and on...

It's wonderful isn't it?

I remember spending about CHF1500 on a new baby travel system. We walked out of the shop with the lot, brand spanking new, they even threw in a small gift. Two weeks later, the bill arrived.....where else would that happen?

1- Natural beauty
2- Privacy ( I like that Swiss keep themselves to themselves and mind their own business)
3- Transport system (could do with 24 hour trams)
4- Respect for nature and environement
5- Less Crime/Violence
6- Standard of living. I work less for more.
7- Reasonably safe from international conflicts
8- Civic sense of the Swiss
9- Others

I agree with all your points except the concept of privacy. You name is on your door. You are registered at a particular address. Commit any minor infringement and the police will be on your doorstep having being called by your neighbour who saw you from their balcony walking on cracks in the pavement. Thats not what I call minding your own business.

dave

I have lived in London, Denver, Amsterdam and now Zurich. In comparison to those places I like....

Public Transport
Good roads
Cleanliness
Peaceful
Mountains
Location - easy access to everywhere in Europe
Salary
My neigbours - yes they really are lovely people!
Lack of violent & car crime
High quality of public services
Hot spring baths
Lakes
Sunshine (Denver better for this)

Swimming Pools ! Lots of them ! 50m long ! Lidos !

I lived in Frankfurt, which is a major city and there was not one 50m pool....

dave

Heya all
For me it is DEFINATLY the chocolate ( chocoholic here ) but as mentioned also the cleanliness , nature so close and everywhere , people greeting on the streets ( though they do look at you funny if you accidently spit out hoi intead of gruezi ), being so close to sooo many other countries, and the way that everything just seems to work perfectly etc .....
kt

Yes true I was thinking more in terms of gossiping and stuff. I guess they gossip with each other about me and I just don't know. The neighbours and friends don't just turn up unannounced. Anyway I take back the privacy part

Don't for a second believe there's no gossiping. The neighbors do. Lots.

We did that with a car! When we left the garage they handed up the payment slip and told to pay it in the next 30 days when we had some free time.

During the cold season, my kids would often misplace a glove, a scarf or a hat somewhere. Even after a couple of days, we would often find the missing item hanging on a fence or wall nearby. Someone had found it, picked it up, and placed it where it could be found again.

Twice, I had lost a set of keys. A couple of days later, the police called me to report that someone had turned it in. The key had a number that allowed them to find me.

My wife once misplaced her purse at a playground. When returning for it a couple of hours later, she found an old Swiss woman anxiously looking around for the owner of the purse. She had stayed there, for how long we don't know, to wait until the rightful owner came back.

That's something I respect about this place.

Wow! I'm always both surprised and pleased that I can do that with car repairs - but the whole car?! You picked the right garage to buy from (at least from that perspective!)

Wow Oldmanc feels the way we do about Switzerland. We just love it all but dont smoke and so are really grateful that smoking has been banished from most restaurants and the trains! We live most of the time in the Alps and just love the way everyone is so laid back and friendly. It "Bonjour" here but the same thing. Imagine saying "hello" to people you pass in England?! We are off to South Africa for 4 months now and when we get back it will be SNOW!! Love the hiking and being able to get around but LOVE the snow! We are ancient but learning to snowboard! Great fun but scary. Love the stores, love the train journeys, LOVE the cows and their bells (never thought the ALps would be so noisy!) Just got a car so we are still learning to drive on the "wrong side" and in South Africa no one takes any notice of pedestrians crossing the road so I am having to make myself concentrate on that aspect here! Love Zurich, so much so that we fly to and from there and take a train to Lausanne, etc. instead of flying to Geneva. Also love the bread and cheese and put on punds while we are here! Love this forum, even if I don't say much!
Off to the spring in SA - may tune into the forum from there although we dont have ADSL (or even electricity) where we live!
Hilary