Beer and Wine - No Big Deal in Switzerland

The Swiss don't automatically make the connection between bad behavior and drinking alcohol.  Beer and wine are just two more beverages.  They are available just about everywhere drinks are sold including a few vending machines.

Beer and wine are also two of the cheapest things in the country if you look in the right places.

You can buy 12 Heineken (330 cl) cans for 11.95 Swiss Francs (about $15 CDN).  One German beer was "Aktion Preis" at 13.95 Swiss Francs for 24 500 cl cans!  You can also snap one open on the way home and drink it at the bus stop and nobody will care.  While it's not uncommon to see people sipping a beer on a train, it's also not done as often as you would think.

Swiss commuter enjoys a Carlsberg on the way home from work.

The Swiss are tougher on drinking drivers.  The country recently lowered the acceptable blood alcohol level to .05 for drivers, compared to Ontario's .08.  The outstanding public transit system in Switzerland helps keep drunk drivers off the road.

The more relaxed rules also don't eliminate problems.  There will be alcohol related issues on a Friday or Saturday night in downtown Zurich.  Rowdiness due to drinking is just not as closely associated with ease of access.  "Stupid is as stupid does..." as Forrest Gump would say.

It is no big shock to see people drinking a beer mid-morning at an outdoor cafe.  It wouldn't be assumed that person has a problem.  They may just want a beer at 10:00 am. and it might be less expensive than the coffee, which is a whole other story.
   Wine is sold alongside beer in most grocery stores.  A wide selection of deep discounts are offered each day for both beer and wine.  A major change from Ontario's controlled pricing. The Swiss produce excellent wines but little is exported.  Wines from neighbouring countries seem to be more popular.  A decent 500 cl. bottle of French wine sold today for 2.75 Swiss Francs or about $3.50 Canadian.

I'm not sure what system of delivering booze is better.  Somehow, I don't think we're going to allow beer at a city bus stop anytime soon.

Two women chat over a beer at 10:30 AM in Winterthur, Switzerland

Smoking Rates Almost 10% Higher in Switzerland.

In a country almost obsessed with environmental and personal health, it's odd that smoking still is so popular in Switzerland.

Although rates have declined since the peak in the mid-70's,  32% of males and 26% of females still smoke in Switzerland.  The numbers for Canada, based on the latest Statistics Canada figure are 23% for males and 18% for females.   While those percentage increases are 9 and 8 per cent, it seems like it's even higher.

Restaurants have only recently instituted smoking and non-smoking sections.  A Canadian realizes how fruitless that exercise is after years of non-smoking in eating areas.

Buses and trains are smoke free.  Airports now have smoking rooms.

Smokers outside a restaurant in Winterthur, Switzerland.

The loose smoking restrictions are a contrast to rules on other things Swiss put into their bodies.  There are much more strict restrictions on what is fed to animals that become meat.

SWISS DOGS

Dogs in Switzerland get royal treatment, but they have to work for it.  On a Monday evening behind the train station in Winterthur, we observed a dog training class with ten 'students'.  The instructor was strict and the dogs mostly obedient.

A dog waits patiently behind owner on a bus in Winterthur, Switzerland

It is an adjustment to see dogs in stores in this tidy, tiny country.  Dog owners take their pets just about everywhere with few problems.  Animal behaviour is taken seriously and it seems every dog owner has put their pet in school.  There are strict rules of behaviour for dogs and cantonal vets have significant powers.

Two dogs barely take notice of each other in Switzerland.

But most of the better dog behaviour seems to be a commitment by owners to make life easier for their pet as well as the public.  I have yet to see a confrontation between dogs on the street in Switzerland.  It's refreshing to walk by any dog and not worry about temperament.

Take your dog to work day?  

All Aboard Canada

Chocolate, cheese and clocks are old news.

The Swiss are still masters at their traditional items.  But the best thing they do now is move people.  The transportation system in Switzerland is a model for the world and WILL be coming to a bus/train stop near you.  It has to eventually.  Why not now?  High speed rail isn't getting any cheaper.

Train Station - Winterthur, Switzerland

The chicken/egg question about which comes first, the service or the demand, has been obliterated in this country of about 7 million tidy people.  Admittedly, the perfect combination of density of population and high gas prices (about $2 Canadian per litre) prompted the move to the rail life.  That it works perfectly here doesn't mean it can't work, or isn't the right thing for Canada.

The Swiss transportation system works for two reasons:

  - it's unfailingly reliable

  - public transit is option one for most people, not a compromise to owning a car.

TIMING
  You can truly set your watch to the train schedules.  If the train is scheduled to leave at 7:12, it will do so.  Connections are easily made and you can dance around the country by train easier than you can drive in many cases.

DEMOCRATIC

Geneva Train Station - Switzerland

  Even the smallest villages get service in this country that often governs by referendum.  Trains stop in even the smallest towns regularly.  Hourly buses (more often during peak times) pick up the slack for any of the others and with good planning you can be dropped off a few steps from any door in Switzerland.

HOW TO REPLACE AUTO JOBS?
28,143 Swiss are employed by the SBB, the national train/bus service.   This sophisticated network not only helps tourists, it has created it's own economy.  It takes a large network of people to maintain the kind of service levels offered here and the SBB is a source of pride and jobs to many in Switzerland.

SELF POLICING.
 On many commuter trains tickets are not even checked.  You will get a quizzical look from the Swiss when asked if there is abuse of this.  It's almost unthinkable to get on a train without a paid ticket.  Most people would purchase monthly, yearly passes.  That's not to say it doesn't ever happen, but too rarely to bother with. On inter city routes, tickets will always be checked.

Switzerland is not the only country way ahead of Canada on public transit.  It's time we got onboard.