Switzerland

[Kevin_Wadsworth]

If you are every looking for a summer vacation destination, I'd highly recommend Switzerland. I'm travelling for work, but have had a bit of time in the evenings to hike/drive/train around. The country is beautiful, and the weather in summer is spectacular. While it's 95 degrees back home, today the high hit 70 degrees with sun.

I'm not sure I could recommend living here, however. A house that looks like it would be ~$200,000 back in Columbus would be ~$1.9 million here. And food is 2-4 times higher in price as well.

[django1]

Nice job...

[ben9732]

My wife and I have been in Switzerland only in the fall. Would not mind living there at all. We are not sure if we like the Costa del Sol or Switzerland more. A friend of ours just bought a home in the Costa del Sol. Unfortunately, we are not that good of friends .....

[persisting1]

A friend of ours just bought a home in the Costa del Sol. Unfortunately, we are not that good of friends .....

I hate when that happens.

[eljay]

If you are every looking for a summer vacation destination, I'd highly recommend Switzerland.

+1.

I've been to Switzerland several times - primarily visiting Canadian friends who live and work there - and I love the country. Aside from the cost of real estate:
- day-to-day costs (in Swiss francs) are ~1:1 to the Canadian dollar;
- the cities and scenery are beautiful;
- the roads and rail systems are top-notch;
- the people I've met are reasonably friendly (especially if you make even a modest effort to speak German or French or Italian); and
- it's centrally located to Western Europe (a great "base of operations" for travel).

I'm very seriously contemplating it as a retirement destination. :cool:

[Kevin_Wadsworth]

I don't know about day-to-day costs. I just had a one-person pizza, glas of tap water, and small bowl of ice cream for dinner for $50 USD. That's quite a bit steeper than what I am used to. Gas is also $8 USD per gallon.

Still, it's been a nice trip. The work has gone well and the evenings are well spent. I took a 2-hr hike after dinner up the couple-hundred meter hill outside of town to tour the old castle ruins there. That's a bit nicer than a walk around my neighborhood.

[eljay]

I don't know about day-to-day costs. I just had a one-person pizza, glas of tap water, and small bowl of ice cream for dinner for $50 USD. That's quite a bit steeper than what I am used to. Gas is also $8 USD per gallon.

Whoa!! :eek: I always found prices to be within a couple of bucks of what I would pay at home.

Gas is more in Switzerland, I agree - although in Canada it's currently ~$1.28/liter, or ~$5/gallon - but the country is small and driving distances are shorter. If I were living there, I'd be driving a smaller, more fuel-efficient car, so the overall cost of driving (for me) would not be significantly different.

Anyway, that's neither here nor there. Glad to hear you've enjoyed your trip. And, yes, the scenery really is something. :)

[Kevin_Wadsworth]

I paid $18 for a McDonald's "value" mean today. :)

I also ended up with a free day and so took the train to Alpnachstad and hiked up and down Mt. Pilatus. 3.5 hrs up, 4.5 hrs down (different route) and an hour hiking up top.

I thought I was a good hiker, but it turns out there is a not-so-subtle difference between "hiking" and "hiking up a freaking mountain". I suspect that after 8 hours on a plane tomorrow, I might have to have them get a wheelchair... :geezer:

[eljay]

I also ended up with a free day and so took the train to Alpnachstad and hiked up and down Mt. Pilatus. 3.5 hrs up, 4.5 hrs down (different route) and an hour hiking up top.

Fun stuff, though, eh? :D

Last visit, my buddy took me hiking up Niesen Berg with a couple of his Swiss friends. Four hours up, a late lunch at the top...and the funicular back down. :) One of the most enjoyable things I've ever done. :cool:

(Sorry if this is coming across as thread-jacking. I'm just happy to be compare thoughts and experiences with someone who's recently visited a country I've enjoyed visiting. :) )

[ben9732]

I think the translation of Switzerland is "freaking mountains".

[django1]

Fun stuff, though, eh? :D

Last visit, my buddy took me hiking up Niesen Bergwith a couple of his Swiss friends. Four hours up, a late lunch at the top...and the funicular back down. :) One of the most enjoyable things I've ever done. :cool:

I guess you didn't meet Inga then?:D

[eljay]

I guess you didn't meet Inga then?:D

No, I didn't. :( But I have fantasized that I did! :D

[chessman]

Grendlewald was beautiful when I was there. Highly recommended.

[Kevin_Wadsworth]

Fun stuff, though, eh? :D

Last visit, my buddy took me hiking up Niesen Berg with a couple of his Swiss friends. Four hours up, a late lunch at the top...and the funicular back down. :) One of the most enjoyable things I've ever done. :cool:

(Sorry if this is coming across as thread-jacking. I'm just happy to be compare thoughts and experiences with someone who's recently visited a country I've enjoyed visiting. :) )

Nice pictures, eljay! They look similar to what I took (minus the snow on top of the mountain). Unfortunately, the DSLR camera I recently purchased stopped working 2 days before the hike, so I only had my camera phone. :(

On the plus side, that saved me a couple pounds in the backpack!

Having a hard time adjusting to 90+°F weather back home today. But I do like have ice cubes available for a soft drink.