Living here on the border to Appenzell you have no idea how your last sentence disturbs me..
By the way; a foreign virgin hereabouts is a girl from Vorarlberg that can run faster than her uncle.

so i guess the kids have to be kept quiet inside the house as well or is it also against the law if they are having too much fun during that time?

One of my Swiss neighbours used the common washing machine on a bank holiday, which is not allowed.. next time I call the police!

Switzerland you are having a laugh I really can't take a rule about when you should or shouldn't mow your lawn seriously.

Sure you can. Go along the A1 from Zürich, at the junction with the A2, go North. Then East along the A3, and then back on the A1 westbound. Keep doing this until your trip meter tells you you've gone 250km, then you can stop.

But keep your speed below 120/100/80 km/h as signposted.

In my gemeinde, we cannot mow the lawn between 12:00 and 14:00. But in the gemeinde next door - 5 minutes walk - it's between 12:00 and 13:30. It'll lead to war one day.

The law's not about lawn mowers, it's about noise. You can do anything you want during the quiet times - you just need to do it quietly.

Exactly. So here is the mower minus petrol... plus a free workout.

That's what I use!

Because Schwyz is so hectic the rest of the day...

Yes, it's true and I was yelled at by an old lady from next building saying exactly the same thing --- if you don't stop I will call the police!!! Don't Swiss people know how to talk to people in a more polite way??? She could have simply said 'it's not allowed to mow on National Day'!!! Anyway, I was trying to prepare the garden for the Swiss National Day...

I hope your watch was perfectly correct about that 11:55.

Tell him to roll it up and shove it up his arse as loudly as possible and that you will call the police right back at him for shouting at you due to the fact that you can mow your lawn until exactly 12:00. Surely if it is going to be the Swiss way, then it is going to be the Swiss way?

I honestly think sometimes the locals respect us expats more for standing up to them than just folding and thinking "oh my god, I may have offended a Swiss person".

Please note that this is not a criticism of your rant becuase, hell I would most probably be ranting as well, but more rather a request for comment by a Swiss contributor.

__________________
Living it up in Gersau.

But the OP was mowing at 11:55. Clearly the neighbour's watch was wrong. Hardly a patriotic Swiss.

Cheers,
Nick

Well, I have now left Switzerland and am back in UK. See the date of the original post. It was a good experience living there, but it's not for me or my family long term. I can now mow my lawn on a Sunday without having the police at my door.

Nope, they will be knocking because you let a crisp packet fall out of your overloaded wastebin because the two week collection is delayed by another strike.

They are always around. Different styles for different folks I guess.

Nanny-stating in the UK where three foot of river is both too dirty and too deep to swim in and needs 5 million signs to tell you so and all about the horrible things that will happen to you if you do.

Here, fines and verbal abuse for inconveniencing your neighbours.

It's not for everybody here.

Yeah the UK does have its shortcomings too, very OTT with regards to health and safty. I'm surprised they haven't passed a law that requires everyone to be wrapped in bubble-wrap before venturing out onto the public highway. I will miss my staring competitions with the Swiss locals though. When I first arrived in Switzerland I thought I had dressed inappropriately or I had food all over me because people would unashamedly stare at me. After a while I would simply stare back and wait until they averted their gaze. I was amazed how long this could last sometimes.

I like it when they stare at me, I can make myself believe it is because I am wonderful to look at and it gives me that occasionally needed self-esteem boost.

I get stared at a lot, doesn´t bother me these days, I just think:"puny Humans"

Isn't it a weird idea to start lawn-mowing on 1st August


************************************************** *****************

The correct reply would have been to tell her "you will experience far more noise later today" ..... I mean, to complain about lawn-mower noise on 1st August does not really make much sense

I was inspired by the Quebecois who set the moving date on July 1st
Just kidding, I really wanted to tidy up my yard for the Swiss National Day and I was doing it in the afternoon well within the time limit and in addition, mine is a cordless li-on battery mower.

Public Holiday = Sunday. All Sunday rules apply on Public Holidays. HTH.