Swiss Immigrants

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Schwingen In Switzerland

A couple of Swiss immigrants

Switzerland has one of the highest percentages of foreigners of any country in the world. Tons of famous, and not so famous people (us) have moved to Switzerland. They have a very, um, generous tax policy.

Resident foreigners and temporary foreign workers make up about 22% of the population (30.6% of the population is either an immigrant or first generation). Famous Swiss immigrants include: *

Courtesy of Top Gear and Hublot

Courtesy of jsp31’s Blog

Freddie Mercury
Sir Roger George Moore (James Bond)
Yannick Noah
Patek Phillipe’s Antoine Norbert de Patek
“King of Commodities” Marc Rich
Michael Schumacher
Tina Turner

Courtesy of Why Not? and OWN

For centuries, people have immigrated to Switzerland. In general, its immigrants have been highly skilled and/or educated. The Swiss watch industry was fed with French Huguenot’s who fled persecution in France. Immigrant German professors started Zurich University. Many Italian immigrants worked on Switzerland’s great engineering projects in the Alps.

courtesy of Leopard Trek

*For you cycling fans, famous cyclists who have lived/trained in Switzerland include: Fabian Cancellara (a Swiss child of Italian immigrants, until recently he was my most popular post), Oscar Freire, Francisco Mancebo, Jan Ullrich, Christophe Moreau, Cadel Evans, Markus Burghardt, Andreas Klöden, Linus Gerdemann, Thor Hushovd, Daniele Nardello, and Thomas Frei.

Swiss party slams ‘exploding’ number of asylum seekers (vanguardngr.com)
A Brief History Of: Swiss Banks (time.com)
Why CH? (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)
The Road Through The Alps Into Switzerland’s Lötschental Valley (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)
Skiing in Sunny, Snowy Crans Montana (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)
Our Basement Bomb Shelter, Otherwise Known As Our Storage Unit (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)
Winkelwho? Winkelreid, The Legendary Swiss Hero (schwingeninswitzerland.wordpress.com)

Daytrips from Geneva

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Schwingen In Switzerland

Stumped for what to do when you come visit? We’ve been here and explored a bit. Here are some ideas for daytrips:

Lausanne – It is famous for its beautiful promenades on Lac Leman (Lake Geneva). It has a beautiful port (Ouchy), an Old Town dating back to the 14th century and is home to the Olympic Museum. As with all the lakefront towns, there are nice parks along the water and landings for boats that will take you aound the lake.
Montreux – It is home to the world famous Montreux Jazz Festival. It offers incredible views of the Swiss Alps, has a beautiful lakefront promenade and is close to the Château de Chillon (see below).
Vevey – Although it isn’t the wildest town, it’s an adorable town and a wonderful place to spend the afternoon. It’s home to Nestle so it has a food museum. McCarthyism forced Charlie Chaplin to resettle and he chose this peaceful town.
La Côte, which is between Lausanne and Geneva, centered around Rolle, and Lavaux, which is between Lausanne and Vevey. The CGN boats also stop at many of the wine towns, so you could include a trip on one of those in your adventure. There is lots of information about Lavaux. Visitors who want to stay closer to Geneva could go to the cute town of Morges (link to post). Although we haven’t been, we hear that Coppet is nice.

Château de Chillon – This is Switzerland’s most famous castle. Rick Steves ranks it as one of the top ten castles in Europe. It is situated on the opposite side of Lac Leman (Lake Geneva). It is fully restored and furnished with a collection of excavated antique weapons, chests and other items.

Geneva is buffered by two sets of mountains, the Alps and the Jura. The Jura has many nice small towns and wonderful views of the lake with the Alps behind it. Pays de Gex is an area that is a short 15 km drive from Geneva it’s at the foothills of the Jura Mountains. They have public thermal baths so you can take in the invigorating waters. Popular towns include: Divonne-les-Bains and Ferney-Voltaire.
The chocolate train to Gruyeres – On the chocolate train (an old restored train) you travel along the lake where the scenery is astonishingly beautiful into farm country on the edge of the alps. Gryueres is a beautiful, well-preserved medieval town and has breathtaking mountain views. The train includes trips to: the Gruyeres Castle, Cheese Tour (Cheese, Milk’s Leap Toward Immortality), and the Cailler Chocolate Factory (here are the links to: MySwitzerland’s summary, Cailler’s official site, my Chocoholics Anonymous blog post on the tour).
Bern – Bern is the capital of Switzerland. You could do a nice self guided walking tour of the city. There are many museums ( Paul Klee Museum, Kunstmuseum, Bern Historical Museum, Swiss Alpine Museum, Kunsthalle) and Einstein’s house. You could stop for a drink/lunch at the microbrewery overlooking the city and the bear habitat. In the summer, the river float is a must.
Murten – A medieval walled town where one of the most important battles in Swiss history was fought. You could do a nice walking tour of the ramparts, walk through its covered arcades and stroll down to the lake (link to post, friend’s post, friend’s post). If you go by car, the Roman town of Avenches is nearby.
Chamonix/Mount Blanc – Approximately 90 minutes from Geneva, it has ski resorts and a myriad of outdoor activities. Many people take the cable car to the top of the Aiguille du Midi for an unparalleled view of the Alps (on a clear days). Save this for a clear day to enjoy the views (link to friend’s post).
Annecy, France – is only a forty minutes south of Geneva and is one of the most beautiful cities in France. It is situated next to mountains, has incredible lake front beaches along Lake Annecy and a maze of ancient canals that weave through the old town.

Yvoire – if you want to head by boat to lunch in a beautiful setting, stroll around a charming (but tiny) town and pay in Euros, this is your town. While there are a lot of places on the lake that are larger and more exciting, it’s not a bad way to spend an afternoon (link to friend’s post).
CERN – If you like science, this is a must. It is also, incidentally, the setting for the first scene of the book Angels and Demons. IMPORTANT NOTE: These tours must be booked far in advance. If you are interested in doing this, pick the day(s), fill out the form (on the link) and send it in as soon as you book your flight.

Surprising Vevey

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Schwingen In Switzerland

Charlie Chaplin spent the last 25 years of his life in Vevey. You can easily see why. It is a cute, calm, old town with breathtaking views and nice surprises.

The older area near the water is filled with belle époque era buildings. They have covered the town in flowers. There is a nice, lengthy lakeside promenade with many parks. This makes it a perfect place to slow down, walk around and be pleasantly surprised.