Switzerland
I had always been fascinated on how Switzerland became what it is today; how a country with not an inch of a coastline and is remotely located in the middle of the Alps had came to be one of the wealthiest nations in the world. Had I taken my economics class seriously, I may have a better understanding of how things really worked out for them.

The very moment I set foot on Swiss soil, I fell in love. Squeaky-clean environment, fresh air, complex but rider-friendly and timely-up-to-the-minute public transport network, mild wintery weather, friendly and disciplined people, great cheese, great chocolates; heck, even McDonald’s tastes better here. With a perfect place like this, what’s not to love?

Well, people always argue about the cost of living. I say the hell with that! If this is the living comfort that I would get, I won’t really mind paying double. Compared to Manila, it’s like paying fifty bucks a night for a cheap motel when you can actually get an overnight 5 star accommodation for eighty bucks a pop. I’m a firm believer that there is no such thing as free lunch and that you can only get what you pay for but then again, this country defies all that as, based on my limited experience, it provides you the most bang for your buck. (Either that or I’m just getting ripped off every waking day in Manila.) Definitely something that looks good to be true, but hey, Swiss cities wont consistently top the list the most livable in the world for nothing right?

Also, the language barrier turned out to be no biggie since most of the basic conveniences have English labels. There are also tons of concise guides that you can pick up at any tram station that contains every bit of imaginable information about the country. What if all else fails? It is perfectly fine to ask help from anyone. Swiss people are well mannered and surely will be very willing to help you out. But of course, you would prefer to be self-contained, wouldn’t you? Key is proper preparation a.k.a. Google.

Zurich

Zurich is the main economic center of Switzerland and is considered to be the wealthiest city in Europe. It is also referred to as the cultural capital of Switzerland; Berne being the political capital (I guess, much like Makati and Manila) and is located on the German speaking part of Switzerland. It was also named as the city with the best quality of life in the world for 3 straight years (2006 – 2008).

For personal reasons, it has become the Hub of my European adventure. Great city with budget Swiss air flights that serve all of Europe. Zurich

Being in Zurich, you can’t help but wonder if it really is a significant European financial center. Thing is, life in Zurich is so laid back that you can’t help but compare it to living on some remote province. Shops close at 8 pm, and are closed on sundays and holidays, people retire to their beds at around 10 and there isn’t really a lot of red light districts compared to other European cities. I guess that’s what makes Zurich the city with the best quality of life. You get to have all the benefits of living in a big city, less the hustle and bustle. (Why do I get an imagery of a decaf with that?)

The only thing that I don’t really like about Zurich is the lack of those places or things that would compel you to visit the city; something like Eiffel Tower for Paris or Statue of Liberty for New York or the pizza in Italy. Well I guess it can be categorized as an off-the-beaten-path destination. You’ll never know what you’ll find unless you give it a try.

Oh yeah, another thing that I would definitely put in my Zurich hate list are the very prompt snow ploughs that immediately jumps into action to clear the streets and sidewalks at the very first sign of snow build up. Come on man; let me enjoy my snow!

Lucerne

The famous dying lion monument is carved on one of the rock formations in this city. It was to honor the hundreds of Swiss Guards that perished defending the king of France on the Tuileries Palace from a mob of revolutionists. The monument even caught Mark Twain’s awe, referring to it as  “the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world”.

The city per se looks like something that was cut straight out of a fairy tale book with the lake Lucerne and the Pilatus mountain masterfully painted on its backdrop.

Berne

The political capital of Switzerland, I only got to see the Zytglogge clock tower that supposedly goes cuckoo every hour, but never went cuckoo when Iwas there waiting for it go cuckoo. Tough luck!

Lugano

A city on the Italian speaking part of Switzerland that directly borders Italy.

Fox Town, the biggest outlet shopping center in Switzerland is located in this city. Unfortunately, most of the shops there are high-end brands typical of the Swiss shopping scene (Boss, Navyboot, Gucci, etc) and still are priced out of reach. But they also have middle-class-consumer-friendly brands like Pepe jeans, Esprit, Nike, to name a few, that are almost giving away everything. (Pepe jeans denims for 10 EUR? Gimme all of that!). Oh yeah, they also have a TNF outlet. Not bad at all!

Geneva

Perhaps the most famous of all Swiss cities; Geneva is located in the French speaking side of Switzerland and is one of the cities that borders France. Geneva is ranked 2nd to zurich on the list of cities with the best quality of life in 2007.

Geneva is famous for conventions that sets international laws for humanitarian concerns and has notable landmarks like the CERN, Flower Clock and the United Nations.

The Bottom Line

Switzerland is a tiny but very wonderful country that has everything on it. It’s teeming with beautiful places and amazing culture that jumping from one city to another seems like getting on the other side of the world (all of which, just a train ride away.) One thing that adds to it’s allure is the laid back living which is a very welcome relief when you are used to getting stressed in Manila.

Would I go back here given a chance? Why not?

**Images of coat of arms are sourced from wikipedia

I guess I watched too much sleepy hollow and vampire movies growing up…

A couple of days into my first (and hopefully not the last) tour of Europe, I am still in a different state of awe. I just can’t seem to believe that there’s actually a place on earth that meets or actually exceeds my idea of Utopia. To say that it kicks ass is definitely an understatement. I had been to places but never had I been to a place teeming with heritage and history preserved over time that it makes every waking day like a trip to the museum or something where every corner is a masterfully painted canvass, just a sight to behold. Period

Well, I guess I’m spending too much time overanalyzing it and probably need to shut up and just soak it all up and of course be thankful that I’ve been blessed with an opportunity to experience this side of the planet.

So enough with the talk, here’s a quick rundown of what’s in store for me the next few weeks and hopefully make as much blog entries as I can.

Switzerland
Zurich - Financial Capital of Switzerland. will be the main hub of my trip and will be flying out and back each time I visit another city.
Bern - Political Capital of Switzerland
Lucerne - A famous city at the foot of mount Pilatus
Lugano - City bordering Italy and where the biggest (or probably the only) outlet in Switzerland is. Shopping time!

France
Paris - By default

Italy
Rome - By Default
Vatican - By Default

Greece
Athens - By Default

Bottom-Line:
The next few weeks will be a busy one and neither sleet nor snow can get me grounded!

Today is my first day here in Zurich for my month-long euro trip and man did this day flew fast. I got up at 9:00 in the morning, went to lunch at around 12:00 noon. Headed straight to the Zurich Hauptbahnhof / Central Station to get a month-long sector 10 Transport pass. Went back to the apartment to rest for a bit but fell asleep instead (again). So, I just got up from my accidental slumber to realize that it’s already 7:00 p.m. Oh man, what just happened?

Hmm, I guess fatigue caught up on me, you see I am not really good at traveling; be it on a plane or bus or whatever, I just can’t seem to do the “sit back, relax and rest” kinda thing. ( Translation: I was up the whole awfully looong trip; fidgety, restless and well, cranky.)

Don’t get me wrong, I love flying (honestly, I still do dream of being a pilot 10 years after I realized that being a Filipino, I am more likely to be a deckhand on a cargo ship than a flight attendant, much less a pilot) and would say yes to flying whenever. It’s just that I can’t get myself to just sit and shut up on one place.

So what do I have here, I guess to get things started with my Euro-trip series of posts here’s a little chronicle of my flight from Manila to my first ever euro city, Zurich (Amsterdam not counted!):

NAIA 2008-12-27-08:30:00:000000 (Local Time)

Oh man, imagine how “fulfilling” it is to actually arrive early at the airport (my flight is at 11:45 am) and to break your long-standing streak of being late on flights! Oh yeah!

While in the cab on my way to the airport (with my mom), I had been thinking about what to do with my spare time after getting cleared to board. Things like grab a couple of magazines, coffee, watch planes on the tarmac (I love plane spotting!) came first on the list.

Upon arriving at the airport, there was already a long line for the initial baggage check and it took me around 30 minutes to go past that point, but that’s cool, I have all the time in the world to do this anyway. When I finally got past that point… What in the world?! Two horribly long queue of hundreds of stressed people welcomed me at the KLM check-in counters.

Found the separate internet checkin counter but holy cow, you still have to go thru the horribly long queue because they only have 2 manual (read: manual) weighing scales for all 7 checkin counters. So much for the “early at the airport thing” that it took me more than an hour to complete my check-in. Worst thing is, my mom was waiting alone outside the airport for my call. (I asked her to go with me to the airport so she can bring home some of my stuff in case I go over KLM’s mediocre 20 KG baggage allowance.)

Tempers were flaring during the check-in ordeal that there was this big black lady making a scene and tried to physically hurt an attendant. Good thing some people got off their toes quickly to restrain the lady. Funny thing is, her husband was just watching doing nothing, and yes, he’s much smaller than her so that’s probably it.

NAIA 2008-12-27-10:45:00:000000 (Local Time)

Finally got on the boarding area and was just waiting for the boarding call. There were complementary broadsheets, which is good, so I can save my magazines for the long flight.

NAIA 2008:12:27:11:45:00:000000 (Local Time)

The plane should be taking off at this time but there was a P.A. of a delayed boarding because of a blah blah blah. I already went thru hell to get this far, I don’t think it still can get any worse.

KLM BOEING 777-300ER 2008:12:27:12:45:00:000000 (Local Time)

Finally, plane is taking off to amsterdam and yes, it’s the start of a looong 13-hour flight. Good thing I was seated on an exit row so I got some extra legroom. The flight itself was uneventful. I wasn’t able to sleep, as usual and painfully endured every minute of the flight.

The plane itself is nice and new though, a welcome change from the usual aging 747s on my previous flights. In flight entertainment is good, the plane has personal monitors (yeah!) I got to see  The Incredible Hulk, which is very lame by the way, and the Pineapple Express, a pot-full of comedy that kicks ass. Tried to play chess with an AI but gave up after losing the first 100 attempts at easy level, yeah I know, I suck. Food sucks though.

AMSTERDAM SCHIPHOL AIRPORT 2008-12-27-18:05:00:000000 (Local Time)

Despite the delay in NAIA, the plane actually arrived ahead of schedule. And Finally! My first encounter with a european city! How was it? Well, people are nice, they also have a pair of eyes, a nose, two ears, one mouth etc. Yeah, they look rather normal to me he he.

Thermometer reads -2 Degrees Celsius but it sure feels like -50 because I was the smartest guy to check-in his coat for not wanting to carry tons of stuff on board (Hey, that’s what I call courtesy to other passengers by not competing for that measly overhead bin space)

Anyhow, since I enjoyed my inflight meal so much (Ugh) I was starving to death. I immediately grabbed something to eat and here’s what my first european dinner looks like:

The picture quality is a bit off and it sure seems something else, but for the sake of those who can’t get what it is; that’s a nice piece of meaty 8 oz fillet mignon with a bottle of beer and a bottle of Evian.

AMSTERDAM SCHIPHOL AIRPORT 2008-12-27-19:50:00:000000 (Local Time)

Boarding time. Forgot to take off my watch but the metal detector didn’t went off. Hhhhmm, it’s either the metal detector is not working properly or my watch is pseudo-metal ha ha

KLM BOEING 737 2008-12-27-21:10:00:000000 (Local Time)

Off to Switzerland, takeoff is a bit delayed because the plane needs some de-icing. The de-icing truck looks like something out of a starwars movie.

ZURICH AIRPORT 2008-12-27-22:30:00:000000 (Local Time)

Zurich at last! Oh brother, all these german words, it’s killing me! ha ha. Well, I managed to get into the apartment in one piece so all is well that ends well.

Bottom-Line

Can’t hardly wait to properly start my vacation. Will go out first thing tomorrow to check the city out and will post a couple of follow up blogs to document my greatest adventure yet.