1) It has a really tall water fountain in the lake. And I mean REALLY tall…
[caption id="attachment_315" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The I-told-you-it-was-tall fountain."]
[/caption]2) It’s really expensive here. And I mean REALLY expensive… I spent $13 on lunch yesterday at a CAFETERIA which consisted of a plate of pasta and a diet coke. The diet coke was $3! More than twice what it is in the US.
3) The weather is much better than I thought it would be this time of year. On Monday it was gorgeous; blue sky and warm. It has clouded over since, but remains warm.
4) The city is quite nice but it doesn’t seem to exude history like many European cities do. Maybe I am not exploring the right parts. Granted there is a part of town called ‘old town’ that I haven’t been to yet. I am going there tonight so maybe that is where I will find my history.
5) It functions on a crazy sense of trust. I have a transit ticket that the hotel gave me that is good for any form of transport and I have not once had to use it despite taking public transport every day. In fact, since I got here with a hotel room for only one night, my transit card expired on Monday. After taking the bus a couple times on Monday by just walking on and off without anyone giving me or my ticket a glance, I decided that I didn’t need to ask for a renewed transit ticket because, as far as I can tell, you don’t need a ticket to get on a bus! Also, I bought a belt today (have I mentioned how expensive things are here?) and there would have been no problem just walking out with it. There was no security tag on it; there are no security gates, no one watching. I am just amazed and impressed by a society that seemingly runs on trust.
I had a funny conversation about the lack of ticket-checking on the bus with one of my colleagues visiting from South Africa -- he was just floored by it. In South Africa, they have just initiated a public bus system in the major cities. Not only do they make sure that you paid, but there is a chance the bus will be shot at by the taxi drivers were are totally pissed by the prospect of public transport cutting into their bottom line. It was an interesting contrast.
[caption id="attachment_309" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="The view from the window of my hotel."]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_312" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Birdies!"]
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So ... what are you eating, AP? Tell us what's on the menu in Old Town.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics, and thanks for the update. That's a funny contrast to buses in Moscow as well, where supposedly if you have an expired or false bus pass the police drag you off and beat you up. Or so I've heard...
ReplyDeleteI had penne pasta with arugula, parmesan and fresh figs with a light balsamic dressing. It was excellent. However, traditional Swiss cuisine apparently is lots of onions and/or potatoes, topped with a sausage.. And if you get that, you might as well get the 5L glass tube of beer with a spigot at the bottom.
ReplyDeleteHah! This was quite different from Russia.. No one dragged me off the bus and insisted that I pay them a bribe! And I didn't need a local to convince the bus driver not to charge me 5 billion dollars for the ride!
Is it the same experience without two grown men waiting patiently next to your sausage asking if you're finished?
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