The evening was cool, and rain continued to fall harder and
harder. As I pressed on down the street
toward my hotel, I saw the tram approaching.
Of all places to find an ATM, one would think Switzerland would be the easiest,
but at the time when you need one the most, it seems the hardest to locate. Arriving to the country less than one hour
ago, and with no local currency in hand, I decide to ride my luck and hop on
the tram. Unlike the US, or even London
and Paris, the central Europe (Switzerland, Austria,
Czech Republic, and Slovakia)
public transportation system relies on the honor system. With no gates or turnstiles to pass in order
to board, the only requirement is you stamp your ticket at each entry if you do
not have a pre-paid monthly or mobile ticket.
The tram was quiet as I boarded to head 3 short stops to my exit. As we began to move, I notice in the front of
the tram a strange person approaching a fellow passenger. I begin wonder if he is checking the tickets,
and frightened by large fines for non-ticket holders, I slowly depart the tram
at the next stop, unfortunately 2 stops behind where I should have exited. 
Located on the northwestern tip of the lake, Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland home to 400,000 people,
and an additional 1.5 million in the surrounding area (and equally as many cars
as people). The predominate language in
the city is German, with French being spoken more frequently in the western
part of the country, and Italian in the southern part of Switzerland. Apart from watches and army knives, the city is
one of the world's largest financial centers nestled between the Alpine
Mountains. While I was not ready
to expand my offshore banking into Switzerland, I was looking forward
to exploring the lake, surrounding architecture and landscape. Recently rated the most expensive city in the
world, I definitely was given the sense that this was a country where a person
could easily drain their large, hidden offshore account in a short time. Beautiful boats sailing across the lake with
the natural beauty of the sky make this a relaxing place.
While I still covet that illusive Swiss passport stamp, I
was not leaving this trip without something.
I decided to take a day tour of the local area, which stopped in the
Principality of Liechtenstein. Rolling,
lush green hills with mountain rocky tops, the ride down to the south part of
the lake toward the Alps was beautiful. However, being in the mountain region does
have a downside, as the weather can change instantly. In the summer, a sunny day could turn into a
downpour within minutes, then sunlight again a half an hour later. Stopping along side the hills we did some
hiking and found domesticated goats resting, with the exception of the small
baby goat, who seemed to have a lot of energy climbing rocks and jumping around. Entering Vaduz,
the capital city of the landlocked alpine country of Liechtenstein
bordered by Switzerland to
the west and south and by Austria
to the east, I immediately proceeded to the small tourist station for a
passport stamp. Unlike their European
allies, Liechtenstein is a constitutional monarchy headed by a prince with a
population of 35,000, that has the world's lowest external debt, second lowest
unemployment rate in the world at 1.5% (Monaco is first), and highest gross
domestic product per person in the world.
While the city is nice, it is extremely small, and has only a few shops
and restaurants which sit below a large castle at the base of the mountain.
The weekend ended with a short flight back to Vienna, and a 50 minute
bus ride home. However, Swiss Air
definitely made it a little unpleasant; first through extending the flight by circling the airport which is
always enjoyable during times of turbulence, but also by forcing me to check my
carry-on bag for the second straight time of flying with them, and will
probably not fly with them again because of it, even if they provide in-air ice
cream.
