Switzerland, the little country so close to its big neighbours, has always been a dream for me, and in the summer of 2006 it was time for it. We saw all big cities of Switzerland, St Gallen, Basel, Zurich, Luzern, Bern, Lausanne and Geneva. There were a lot of pictures that were taken in Switzerland, but only a few of them made it onto this site. The Swiss are very nice and polite. In Lausanne we asked a man in the street for directions to the Swiss Department Store COOP. He did not know the languages I speak (Swedish, English, and German) and I did not speak his (French), but he went with us for one kilometre just to show us where COOP was, and conversed with us in French about where we came from. I managed to find that out. I know around 200 words of French. Finally we got there, and we were overwhelmed with such generosity!

There were even more to come, but in Geneva. Once again we asked for directions to the city center. We met a man who knew English very well, and he produced his own map of Geneva, and simply handed it over to us, and explained thoroughly how to get there. He did not accept money for his map, either. It is absolutely true, that the way people in cities - in these cases Lausanne and Geneva - act towards foreigners, define the way we perceive them and their cities as a whole. We were immensely pleased with Lausanne and Geneva.

When we were in Luzern Italy beat Australia in the World Cup and almost every Italian living in Luzern took to the streets and celebrated. I must mention the food in Switzerland. It was not something we had encountered before. In Basel we were offered rabbit stew, which we declined. But in Lausanne, actually in the beforementioned COOP, we had the choice of eating horse steak. I accepted for myself, and Lizette tasted from my plate. We enjoyed it, and would eat it again if given the opportunity.

In Bern, the capital of Switzerland, we had one of our three hours of rain during our trip. The summer of 2006 was one of the most fantastic summers ever, weatherwise. In Bern you can also see the famous bears that are kept in the bear pits. So if you are going to Bern, make sure you do not miss the bear pits!