Under the sign of the Swiss quality.
It so happened that our friends decided to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their acquaintance and sign. And since they had been living in Switzerland for more than 8 years, it was decided to celebrate the celebration at their place of residence in Lachen, the canton of Schwyz. Needless to say, in the German-speaking part of this country, we met mostly German speech, respectable pensioners with gray hair and backpacks over their shoulders, briskly pacing along clean, well-groomed sidewalks and rapidly rushing in modern transalpine trains somewhere about their old man's business. I especially remember one such "frau" who, having boarded the train, immediately put on glasses on her nose and took out some simple knitting, outwardly resembling either a sock or an irregularly shaped mitten, and looking in our direction over small pieces of glass, tried in vain to make out from which such a distant country these tourists arrived. Finally, by way of conclusions known only to her, she told her "sockless" friends, who also looked at us not without curiosity, that our language belongs to the Romance group and tourists are most likely from neighboring countries : )
So, defining ourselves as "tourists from the near abroad", we set off from Zurich, where our plane landed, to Schwyz, where an excursion to the cheese factory awaited us. Here, perhaps, I will make a small digression and say a few words about the flight from Kyiv to Zurich. As it turned out, trying to save money on the flight and buying tickets with transfers in Frankfurt, we were very lucky that the connection between flights was about 2 hours, because the airport in Frankfurt is a huge multi-level structure, and we must pay tribute to the Germans, very competently organized. But given that we walked from Terminal A to Terminal B for more than 25 minutes at a rather brisk pace, I recommend everyone to think a few times, do you have enough time between flights? Fortunately, we did not observe any delays, queues and other essential attributes of the Boryspil airport, so every time I am surprised at the ability of Western employees to organize this process. What can we say about electronic registration, e-ticket and automatic checkpoints....
A few more words about the transport system in Switzerland. First, she really walks like clockwork. And if, according to the schedule, your bus / train / ship leaves at 12-39, then at 12-40 you run the risk of not being able to catch it, however, the Swiss are particularly punctual and seem to have time everywhere. The Swiss themselves joke about this like this: "There is no need to idealize Swiss punctuality. The Swiss can arrive earlier in just two minutes or be late by one" : ))) Second - out of habit and without knowing the language, figure out how to get from point A to point B pretty hard. We were lucky here, because the groom, who met us at the Zurich airport, told us how to use ticket machines, what tickets are available, what zones they apply to, and where the time is written until which this pass will be valid. Subsequently, having unknowingly missed several trains, we ourselves bought tickets within different zones and moved freely around the country. And third. Switzerland is a very expensive country. And since we had to move a lot, we spent a fortune on moving. For example, to get from Zurich to Schwyz (a distance of 40 km), we paid 60 francs for two, which means 546 UAH in hryvnia. The Swiss themselves explain this cost by the complexity of building a transport link, because. Switzerland is a mountainous country and in order to lay normal roads, it is necessary to dig tunnels, as well as bring roads to piles and bridges, which requires a significant investment.
Having visited an excursion to the cheese factory, we were imbued with the secrets of cheese-making art, where we saw how fresh cheese is made right in the workshop. According to the story of the owner of the cheese factory, it turned out that they get cheese by fermenting milk with special bacteria that are obtained from the stomachs of calves. Having sympathized with the poor animals, and having tasted the national dish - vegetables with melted Rocklett cheese, we headed to Lucerne. We spent two days in Lucerne at the NH Hotel, a very decent European 4* hotel with all amenities, not far from the city center. The standard continental breakfast included muesli with different types of nuts, pastries, cheese and cold cuts, eggs, potatoes, sausages, fresh juice, tea, coffee and some fruit. A walk through the night Lucerne on foot was remembered for its beautifully illuminated old streets, friendly passers-by and dinner at an inexpensive establishment. For dinner in Lucerne - a medium-sized pizza, beer and a glass of tea, we paid 23 francs (209 UAH). I must say that all subsequent “snacks”, whether it was a sandwich with a bowl of soup, pizza or tea and cake, stubbornly did not fall below 20 francs, which we actually have already come to terms with.
The next day we dedicated to climbing Mount Pilatus (height over 2000 meters), the trip back and forth on the suspension railway cost us 66 francs (600 UAH) per person. The view of the Swiss Alps did not disappoint - it was definitely worth it! The rest of the time we wandered around the city and ended the day with a boat tour of Lake Lucerne.
In the morning of the next day we went to Lachen, where the marriage of our friends was to take place. The wedding, which included a painting at the local municipality and a buffet of champagne and light snacks, was more than modest by our standards, but more than familiar to the locals. And hand-baked pancakes with caviar and a loaf with a towel from the parents brought their own zest to what was happening.
Saying goodbye to friends and learning from them about some of the traditions, customs and way of life of the Swiss, we headed to Zurich, where another day and a flight to our homeland awaited us.
We arrived in Zurich late at night, and the doors of the Atlantis Guest House were closed. The hotel did not make a special impression, but it was quite suitable for a European "troika" and an overnight stay for one day (the cost of such a room cost us 119 Euro / day). The hotel is located on the outskirts of the city, but very close to the railway station.
So our journey came to an end. In Zurich, we followed the route of all tourists, as the tourist map suggested to us, rode a water bus, took many sunny bright photos (fortunately, the sky gave us 4 sunny days for the entire trip and a temperature of 25 degrees) and headed to the airport.
At the airport, we collected souvenirs and gifts from the MIGROS store with all the remaining money. Approximate cost of goods: Swiss chocolate - 9 Fr, Cheese (250-300gr) - from 2 to 7 fr, souvenir magnets - 4-9 Fr.
This was the end of our 4-day trip, and with it our acquaintance with Switzerland, the country of mountains, lakes, cheese, chocolate, watches, fast smooth roads and smiling respectable people!
