Switzerland

We've spent the last couple of days in Switzerland and it has been wonderful. I wanted to write a few of the things that makes Switzerland unique, or different from Italy!

Money
Switzerland is one of only a very few European countries that does not use the Euro. Rather, they use the Franc which is one of the strongest currencies in the world because of its stability. Currently the franc is almost a 1 to 1 exchange.

Additionally, there are tons of banks here that take care of tons of money. Walking down the streets of the city you'll find banks on every corner and every street. Many from outside the United States, including America itself, has a bank account in Switzerland for it's money. We were walking downtown yesterday and our friend Liliana showed us a bank where they only accept clients with more than a million dollars - imagine that!



Also interesting is the tax system in Switzerland - here is a link where you can read a little about how taxes work in the country.

Language
Switzerland does not have one official language, but rather 4! Italian is spoken in a very small area of the country knows as Ticino. In the rest of the country is spoken French, German and Romanish (which I've heard called also a Swiss-German.)

Only about 6% of the people in the country speak Italian as their primary language and almost everyone speaks at least 2 languages if not more. I've met people who speak 5 languages fluently here. It's rather incredible. They start at a young age by learning 2 languages. If you choose a certain degree in college, you have to learn at least 3 languages. The daughter of the lady we are staying with speaks Italian, currently works in London - speaking English, and had the best marks in here class in Spanish - incredible!

Food
In the canton of Ticino, many of the same foods that Italians make are also made. They enjoy many pastas and pizzas since we are just across the border from Italy.

However, they also enjoy other foods such as cheese fondue and a number of fresh cheeses made in the alps! The other morning for breakfast we had toast with butter made in the alps on top and also had some swiss cheese along with it. It was incredible!

There is also this yummy stuff called Swiss chocolate. I don't have any pictures currently, but the stores have a huge selection of chocolate. I will try and add a picture to make you all jealous when I have one.

Clean
The country of Switzerland is extremely clean. The taxes they pay make sure that the country stays in the best condition. Phone booths are extremely clean and work very well. There is no garbage on the streets; the sidewalks are smooth with no holes. They even have people that clean the outside of public garbage cans.


and Switzerland is beautiful! At least the canton of Ticino is incredible - here is a picture of the beautiful city of Lugano. We miss you all, but are also enjoying our stay in Switzerland.