30 SEPTEMBER 2002
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Subject: Suisse Date: 30 Sep 2002 From:J.T.Clark
It's Expensiveit's expensive! The most consistent way to gauge how expensive a place is, is to do the Big Mac indicator, and Switzerland always tops the poll. Not to all nerdly and urudite on you, but according to the latest survey by The Economist 6 francs 30 ($7.50 Aus) is the going price for 2 alleged all beef patties in an aerated bun. A movie at matinee price is f16 ($20 aus), but the one that broke my spirit was f3.5 ($4 aus) for an espresso. To be fair, I tried to vary the big mac indicator by comparing prices in some slummy neighbourhoods, but I couldn't find any. They have their own secret languageSwitzerland is a linguists delight. It is a country where three major languages of Europe converge: French, German and Italian. There is also a few small regions that speak Romansh. Not being content with being able to speak 2 of the 3 languages, many can speak English as well, and when they say they speak a little, they speak alot. To top it all off, there is Swiss-German. This is spoken in the german speaking areas and it is taught orally at home by parents before children enter school, whee they learn the regular brand of german (high German). Swiss-German has no written form and apparently it sounds harsher than High German, with twice as much throat clearing, which makes even the Germans wince. The cows wear bellsEvery cow has a bell. Even the goats ave a bell. Walking across the countryside sometimes the only thing you can hear is the sound of bells as the cows graze. It's CleanIs Switzerland clean or is Dublin dirty? Contrary to popular belief this is the actual question that inspired Einsteins theory of relativity. The answer is both. I didn't fully appreciate Suisses clean streets and see through rivers and lakes until I got back to Dublin, and I had Shane MacGowan subconsciously singing in my head "Dirty old town". It's BeautifulSpectacular mountains and fairy tale-esque houses sprinkled across the countryside. Catching the train is worth doing just for the scenery. Each bend seems to bring another "ooh" moment. Summer in the Alps...Recommended. JTC |
