Switzerland Experience......Part 1:)

I am NOT a morning person and its about 7 am right now...I dont know why I just started typing on this blog........But our first week of encounter with Switzerland calls for a very interesting story!

We arrived on 12/27/06 to St Gallen, a small town on the north-eastern part of Switzerland, the German speaking part.After about 8 hrs of flight from US, we took the 1 hr train from Zurich and reached our appartment.I recall the first impressions of the city-old historic buildings, amazing architecture and very clean roads.The signs looks alien (they were in German!), people were different and I was indeed intimidated.The apartment was a typical swiss apartment-wooden floors, old yet classy furniture, everything was small, including the refrigerator! We were excited at the thought of being able to sleep!!! We rested for a day and started exploring the place.

St Gallen has two UNESCO World Historic sites-The Cathedral and The Abbey library.We visited both in the first week itself and it was breath-taking !!! Unbelievably beautiful architecture, paintings and motifs!! I dont even have words to describe its magnificence.It was in Abbey library that we saw a real mummy preserved for 700 years!! This one room library is famous across the world not only for its beautiful architecture, motifs on the roof, paintings etc, but also because it is the only library in the world that houses 2000 year old original manuscripts.It was incredibly wonderful experience for us to visit such places!

Our favourite hangout place in St Gallen is the Marktplatz in old town-Very hip and happening market place, with modern stores, small decorative streets, a cozy starbucks outlet right in the heart of the market, and most popular eateries and restaurants. Its pretty much the only place in St Gallen where you mostly find youngsters and tourists.We also once saw a team of people playing foosball live! It was so much fun!We have visited most museums, shopping malls and monuments in St Gallen by now.

I cant help but notice some stark differences between life in US and Europe.Everything here is small, including very small cars, small buildings, small food packets everything.I found it unusual when you have to buy a carry on grocery bag in a grocery store-no, it doesnt come free when you buy products even if worth 500 CHF !! Even the carts in stores have to be paid for.Most residential buildings dont have elevator and they are usually about 5 floors tall.Water is very expensive here and restaurants dont offer you water for free.Most of the population we have seen, of any age or sex, is not fat or obese-everyone is a great walker, and hence have thin and proportionate bodies :) Lot of walking everywhere, but public transportation is great.Swiss are very very hardworking and diligent people.They are also very very PARTICULAR ABOUT TIMINGS and I am not kidding !! (the bus/train to be leaving at 5.09 WILL leave at 5.09 and not 5.10 or 5.08!!! )

So our first week wasnt bad after all.However, we had our downs as well.The Swiss take Garbage disposal system very very seriously and there are heavy fines for anyone who does not abide by the laid rules.We were not only surprised by the 2 hr formal presentation on garbage disposal by the University, but confused when the professors and elite members of the welcome group also emphasised it.The process was complicated and difficult to understand.We somehow managed to follow the instructions.

Apart from that, communication was a major hassle for us.You are lucky if you find anyone who understands English.Hardly anyone spoke, or understood English.And we had no idea about German Language.Everything was in German-the signs for directions, the products in the grocery store, the instructions to instal internet and phone at home, laundry, telephone cards etc etc...It was due to this that we remained disconnected with our outside world for about a week or so.But gradually, we picked German and ofcourse,we were thrilled to learn German from the classes at the University!

Its been about 3 weeks and we have seen half of Switzerland.I remember a friend in US who is from Switzerland, told me when I asked her about this place "Expect the unexpected and be prepared for your breath to be taken away"!!!! It cant be more true!! We are awed by the beauty of Switzerland and do not have words to express the majestic views it offers.We took a scenic train which goes through Swiss Alps-my most memorable travel exprerience so far ! Incredibly beautiful !! The swiss cheese and chocolates have a reason to be popular all across the world-I have never tasted such delicious chocolates and flavorful cheese, anytime before !! A chocolate factory tour and free chocolates were enough for us to be indulgent in swiss chocolates!!!! I am looking forward to many more such trips where we get an insight into traditional Switzerland.

So as we firm up our travel plans for the coming weeks, I am sure this laptop will come handy to me on one of such mornings, when I am in a mood to write, sipping hot coffee and viewing Swiss Alps from our fourth floor apartment !!!!!