MiScElLaNeOuS They ( whoever they are ) probably made that word so hard to spell to prevent people from overusing it. Be that as it may, I spelled it right and I have a need for it!  Now, let's see,
where to start. The airport, of course. It is BIG and it is efficient.
There were e.g. no l-o-n-g lines at passport control. At least at the
times when I arrived and departed. Everything moved with the precision
of a Swiss watch. To get from the arrival gate to the exit one
descends down to what seems like the bowels of the earth, boards an
underground train and immediately gets into the Swiss mood. On the
train yodeling, alpenhorns, lowing cows and cow bells can be heard as
background music. The same process takes place on the return. Including
safety inspections a trip from the check in counter to the farthest
gate may take as much as 30 minutes. I travel light (
carry-on only ) so I don't know how fast the Swiss baggage delivery
system is. Instead of waiting for my luggage to appear, I headed for
the money exchange. The rates were deplorable, as expected, but what
came as a surprise was the vertical and colorful design of the Swiss
bank notes. They vary in size according to the denomination, the
CHF1000.- bill being the biggestlThen there were the coins. That was a different story. The coin with the highest value, a half frank, is smaller than a US dime! 
Also at the airport I was reminded of the upcoming European soccer championship games, the Euro 2008, which were to be held in Switzerland and Austria. Later I saw billboards and banners announcing this event everywhere. Reminded me of Singapore and the Worldcup 2006. |