Switzerland
Me and my friend Michael bought a ticket to go to Switzerland, or no wait, we were supposed to go there but the airline called Swiss simply wouldn't allow us to buy tickets if we didn't have specifically a Mastercard credit card, not even a Mastercard debit card would work. It's like they don't want the travellers to be able to fly with them, it's so strange. I can see lots and lots of other people complaining to them about this, so I wasn't the only one who thought it was remarkably dumb. They always refer the customers to call and buy the tickets instead so I guess it's some kind of scam where they charge a lot for the call. They also try and confuse people that you need to pay extra for the seat when actually you don't, but they hide that information from you, so if you're looking for the worst airline in the world, look no further.
Since me and Michael couldn't buy the tickets we ended up going to Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and Montenegro on a road trip instead. And when Valentine's Day was coming up I asked my girlfriend Felicia if she would like to go and celebrate it in Switzerland with me, and since her parents had a Mastercard credit card we were able to buy the tickets this time around, even if I had no trust in the airline what so ever.
The 13th of february came around and we went to Zürich, the biggest city in the small country. It's among the world's largest financial centres and it's home to a large number of banking giants. No wonder it's the wealthiest city in Europe. It was so damn expensive to be there that we would only be there from the evening to the afternoon the next day, and we had to stay at a hostel to be able to afford it.
It was cold as it should be in Switzerland and the first thing I noticed was that there was no worn down buildings. Every store sign looked as it had been made today, and it was just so fresh, so clean. The wide canal that's running through the city made the view amazing and all the old houses made it look like an old German gothic village.
We made our way to the hostel and the room was on the top floor and it was decorated in such a tacky way. It was bright yellow and it looked like a hippie had designed it with flowers in the ceiling. It would have been easy to dislike it but I embraced it and loved the awfulness of it. From our window we could see the landmark of the church called Grossmünster with its two towers, and we decided to go out for a romantic walk in the night until we couldn't stand the cold anymore.
We went by Lake Zürich in the morning on our way to celebrate Valentine's Day in an old beer brewery that had been turned into a spa. We passed by the FIFA World Football Museum and I sent a thought to all the bribes that have been made in the city that also hosts the headquarters of FIFA.
My first impression from the roof top spa was that the view was too harsh, I could mostly see industrial areas and grey buildings. But then I changed my mind and embraced it, it was actually nice to be in this amazing bubble that was the spa with all the harsh industrial surroundings. The cold world was out there but I was in the hot water enjoying the company of my beloved girlfriend, so I couldn't ask for anything more.
We spent all morning cuddling in the spa until a couple came in with their baby in a diaper. As soon as they brought their diaper baby in the water it wasn't so relaxing anymore and I just wanted to get out of there, and we had to catch a train to Liechtenstein soon anyway!
Until now I had enjoyed Zürich but I also felt that I hadn't even seen the city center yet, and I hoped that a stroll in the city would make me feel even warmer for the country. Unfortunately the opposite happened, it was a boring vibe and I didn't even see one shop that I would like to visit. So I had no problem jumping on the train to leave Zürich behind and instead see the magical landscape of Switzerland pass us by on the way to Liechtenstein. The snowy alps outside made the window at the train look like a postcard, framing it in.
We arrived at Buchs which is the small city in Switzerland that lies on the border to Liechtenstein. It's right next to the town of Schaan in Liechtenstein where we went by bus as soon as we left the train station. When we got back to Buchs later that night, we had some hours to spend before we would leave by a night train to Slovenia. If Zürich had felt like a town for rich businessmen, then Buchs felt more like a ghetto and I felt a bad vibe from many of the people there. People were wandering around like they looked for someone to rob, with no direction at all, even though it was freezing cold outside. I just wanted to get on the train to get out of there and so we spent most of the time just trying to be in safe spots until the next journey would make us go visit the third country in just three days, but I will tell you about Slovenia at another time!
* Best things about Switzerland – Zürich is a romantic city at night, walking hand in hand with your partner, and I couldn't ask for a better Valentine's Day than the visit at the spa, the view from the train was amazing and it was exactly what you could imagine the Alps would look like up close
* Most mediocre thing about Switzerland – I love football so in a way I love that Zürich hosts the FIFA Headquarters, but after all the drama because of the bribes that have destroyed the true meaning of FIFA, it's almost a joke these days
* Worst things about Switzerland – Zürich is a pretty dull city at day and it's so expensive, but the absolutely worst thing was visiting Buchs, never have I been to such a hostile town in a wealthy country, and I would never ever go there again
Best countries in the world according to the nerd (will be updated with every post):
1. Croatia
2. Montenegro
3. Andorra
4. Cyprus
5. Greece
6. Italy
7. Monaco
8. Malta
9. Netherlands
10. Iceland
11. Denmark
12. Lithuania
13. Macedonia
14. Portugal
15. New Zealand
16. Ireland
17. Belgium
18. Poland
19. Estonia
20. Switzerland
21. San Marino
22. Kosovo
23. Romania
24. Finland
25. Latvia
26. Norway
27. France
28. Bulgaria
29. Luxembourg
30. Liechtenstein
31. China
32. Bosnia And Herzegovina
33. Albania
Since me and Michael couldn't buy the tickets we ended up going to Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and Montenegro on a road trip instead. And when Valentine's Day was coming up I asked my girlfriend Felicia if she would like to go and celebrate it in Switzerland with me, and since her parents had a Mastercard credit card we were able to buy the tickets this time around, even if I had no trust in the airline what so ever.
The 13th of february came around and we went to Zürich, the biggest city in the small country. It's among the world's largest financial centres and it's home to a large number of banking giants. No wonder it's the wealthiest city in Europe. It was so damn expensive to be there that we would only be there from the evening to the afternoon the next day, and we had to stay at a hostel to be able to afford it.
It was cold as it should be in Switzerland and the first thing I noticed was that there was no worn down buildings. Every store sign looked as it had been made today, and it was just so fresh, so clean. The wide canal that's running through the city made the view amazing and all the old houses made it look like an old German gothic village.
We made our way to the hostel and the room was on the top floor and it was decorated in such a tacky way. It was bright yellow and it looked like a hippie had designed it with flowers in the ceiling. It would have been easy to dislike it but I embraced it and loved the awfulness of it. From our window we could see the landmark of the church called Grossmünster with its two towers, and we decided to go out for a romantic walk in the night until we couldn't stand the cold anymore.
We went by Lake Zürich in the morning on our way to celebrate Valentine's Day in an old beer brewery that had been turned into a spa. We passed by the FIFA World Football Museum and I sent a thought to all the bribes that have been made in the city that also hosts the headquarters of FIFA.
My first impression from the roof top spa was that the view was too harsh, I could mostly see industrial areas and grey buildings. But then I changed my mind and embraced it, it was actually nice to be in this amazing bubble that was the spa with all the harsh industrial surroundings. The cold world was out there but I was in the hot water enjoying the company of my beloved girlfriend, so I couldn't ask for anything more.
We spent all morning cuddling in the spa until a couple came in with their baby in a diaper. As soon as they brought their diaper baby in the water it wasn't so relaxing anymore and I just wanted to get out of there, and we had to catch a train to Liechtenstein soon anyway!
Until now I had enjoyed Zürich but I also felt that I hadn't even seen the city center yet, and I hoped that a stroll in the city would make me feel even warmer for the country. Unfortunately the opposite happened, it was a boring vibe and I didn't even see one shop that I would like to visit. So I had no problem jumping on the train to leave Zürich behind and instead see the magical landscape of Switzerland pass us by on the way to Liechtenstein. The snowy alps outside made the window at the train look like a postcard, framing it in.
We arrived at Buchs which is the small city in Switzerland that lies on the border to Liechtenstein. It's right next to the town of Schaan in Liechtenstein where we went by bus as soon as we left the train station. When we got back to Buchs later that night, we had some hours to spend before we would leave by a night train to Slovenia. If Zürich had felt like a town for rich businessmen, then Buchs felt more like a ghetto and I felt a bad vibe from many of the people there. People were wandering around like they looked for someone to rob, with no direction at all, even though it was freezing cold outside. I just wanted to get on the train to get out of there and so we spent most of the time just trying to be in safe spots until the next journey would make us go visit the third country in just three days, but I will tell you about Slovenia at another time!
* Best things about Switzerland – Zürich is a romantic city at night, walking hand in hand with your partner, and I couldn't ask for a better Valentine's Day than the visit at the spa, the view from the train was amazing and it was exactly what you could imagine the Alps would look like up close
* Most mediocre thing about Switzerland – I love football so in a way I love that Zürich hosts the FIFA Headquarters, but after all the drama because of the bribes that have destroyed the true meaning of FIFA, it's almost a joke these days
* Worst things about Switzerland – Zürich is a pretty dull city at day and it's so expensive, but the absolutely worst thing was visiting Buchs, never have I been to such a hostile town in a wealthy country, and I would never ever go there again
Best countries in the world according to the nerd (will be updated with every post):
1. Croatia
2. Montenegro
3. Andorra
4. Cyprus
5. Greece
6. Italy
7. Monaco
8. Malta
9. Netherlands
10. Iceland
11. Denmark
12. Lithuania
13. Macedonia
14. Portugal
15. New Zealand
16. Ireland
17. Belgium
18. Poland
19. Estonia
20. Switzerland
21. San Marino
22. Kosovo
23. Romania
24. Finland
25. Latvia
26. Norway
27. France
28. Bulgaria
29. Luxembourg
30. Liechtenstein
31. China
32. Bosnia And Herzegovina
33. Albania
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