Hello,

I work for the BBC Sport website and during Euro 2008 I will be writing a blog as I travel through Switzerland and Austria. I'll be honest, I don't know all that much about the two countries and I'm currently looking for ideas of interesting things to do and see during the tournament.

I'd love to watch a game with some people who live in Switzerland and find out a bit about life there - either from an ex-pat or locals perspective.

I'm also keen to find out what the Swiss are doing to embrace the tournament and whether you think it will really take off.

Also, do you know of any other message boards or forums that might help me get in touch with the Swiss themselves or fans heading to the tournament.

All help and ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Fletch.

Hi

You'll find a good mix of ex-pats and Swiss on this forum so I think you've come to the right place.

I'm not sure if anyone was lucky enough to get tickets through the lottery, I know that most of the people that I spoke to didn't, so I should imagine that most ex-pats will be crammed in to the bars or in the various viewing areas being set up.

As far as what the Swiss are doing to embrace the tournement, I believe that a lot of them went on a hospitality course to learn how to be pleasant and smile

If the BBC have any free tickets then let me know

"Schwein Steak mit Rosti" is a must!!!


You have tickets?? If you can get me a ticket i would gladly watch a game with you and fill you in with various random information about CH!!!!

Form an orderly queue everyone. Me first

Hi Fletch! Take a look at this site:

http://euro.zuerich.com/de.cfm/ the official Zurich site for the games (it's also in English). I know there's to be a huge public viewing area right in the middle of Zurich (probably same for the other host cities) with all traffic being banned and detoured via god knows where before, during and after matches. I think that unless you're a real football freak and are already having palpitations, most people I know are taking it in their typically Swiss stride - loads of tourists, loads of noise, loads of traffic jams to be coped with, the Swiss team won't win anything anyway.
Sorry - but you may guess I'm not really looking forward to it - huge hassle, gets in the way of everything else.

My apologies to others on this forum - but footie just doesn't do anything for me at all!

1. Eat Alpen Magronen -- a mountain macaroni oven-baked dish.
2. Do the raclette or fondue. *urp*
3. Attend a yodelling concert.
4. Try all the expensive handmade chocolate brands.
5. Buy as many of the Euro 2008 souvenirs as you can carry from the supermarkets here (including socks, umbrella, raincoat/poncho, shopping bag, first aid kit, underpants).

P.S. If you want to know about expat women fans of football, give me a ticket and I'll gladly attend a match with you (preferably with Italy, Germany, France, Switzerland or Portugal playing) and ply you with Rivella, the Swiss soft drink.

I will ply Paul with beer!!

Any Swiss wrestling or cow fighting going on in that period?

I am an expat who will be travelling to Salzburg to watch a game there. Otherwise, will be watching in pubs or public areas in town, unless I can somehow get tickets to a local match.

Man, if you do actually have BBC tickets, I wish I had posted as soon as I saw this thread, rather than eat lunch.

I will ply Mr Fletcher with Swiss beer -- Klosterbrau or Feldschloss or even BioBeer. Ha ha.



P.S. Paul, try to catch a game of Schwingen (sounds alarming, huh?) and Curling if you can.
Curious things, those.

I can put you in contact with a Basel FC season ticket holder who's a Swiss national, he maybe able to point you in the correct direction.

He's a bit crazy but all Basel fans are, I went the other week with him, all I heard was schon, schon.

Then the odd song about the ****e from the lakes in Swiss-German.

2nd Question do you speak german? It will help you to break into the footie circles in Basel.

Why don;t you contact the clubs directly and ask for the supporters club e-mail addresses? I'm sure there would be loads of swissies biting you hand off to get on TV/Radio

Well I might be tempted to sleep with him ............ erm maybe not.

You might also want to look at http://map.search.ch/index.en.html you can zoom in on various parts of Switzerland and if you click the Euro 2008 box then it even shows you where all the outside viewing areas are.

What you will find interesting and I don't know if this applies to national team games for the Swiss, is that the mix in the crowd is more like 60/40 m/f, unlike the UK in which most games are male orientated.

Which means when the Swiss play the bars seem to be less overloaded with drunken males.

I was quite shocked the other week when I turned up to watch Basel play. Plus there is a v high proportion of season ticket holders.

As a Everton fan, ex-ticket holder it shocked me also the prices are a lot lower over here, but I suppose it makes sense the league being what it is..

Other things noticeable are firecrackers seem to make their way into the ground so at times you can't see the game being played.

Grounds are spotless and supporters are encouraged to pick up their rubbish before they go home.

Games to look for are Turkey playing either Germany/Switzerland which will lead to riots probably. I'll let you work the rest out.

And put me down for tickets aswell but I would only be interested in watching Switzerland play, being the good expat type I am

Where do I queue ?? besides behind all the earlier posters

Erm and can you have a word with Lawro, about the LFC bias on the website, about time he gave the toffees the respect they deserve.

Cheers

For activities you can never experience in the UK how about
- Do your laundry in a shared "Waschküche"
- Avoid dog turds
- Secondary smoke in a pub or restaurant
- Try to find more than one brand of anything in a supermarket
- Buy a can of beer at Migros

Joking apart, I would recommend doing things like:
- Bring a pair of walking boots with you, check out the extensive network of public footpaths and take in some of the countryside and spectacular mountain views. for example: http://www.rebgasse.com/reblog/?cat=7
- to meet a lot of expats together, come running with the Hash House Harriers: http://basel.harrier.eu.org/
- If you're in Basel, check out some of the museums and galleries - e.g. the Beyeler, Jean Tinguely, Kunstmuseum; also experience being able to walk between three countries within half an hour via the Dreiländerbrücke.

Cheers,
Nick

btw, I have a contact at: Euro 2008 SA

If this would be useful to you Paul.

I'm working for UEFA during the EM, Paul, so if I can help with anything I very gladly will

Well apart from knocking out every kind of naff "Euro 08" product like euro frozen hamburgers, apples with a logo on, portable BBQ's, parasols, etc etc they have even managed to get Mars to rename the Mars Bar to "Hopp"
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x512by_mars-hopp-suisse_webcam

I reckon they are pretty enthusiastic about this tournament, I've still got the hump about Engerland not qualifying and haven't yet decided who I'm going to back.
Nick.

I am backing Germany - my official homeland of 2008!