BERN, SWITZERLAND – The main reaction was somber silence when the train conductor announced that the train from Lucerne would be arriving 14 minutes late in Bern. In German and French he said that the lateness was due to a “person incident” rail-speak for an accident that is most likely a suicide, someone jumping or […]
Travels
When I travel, I drink wine. In fact, I usually organize my travels around learning about it because wine isn't a beverage, it's a culture.
Geneva takes chocolate dipping seriously
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Long before I ever moved to the land of milk and chocolate, I read Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and dreamt of endless supplies of the brown elixir. In fact, I caught more than one culprit dipping their spoon into a chocolate fountain on day two of the Salon International […]
Swiss train trial for hybrid locomotives succeeds
ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – A 4,000 ton annual reduction in CO2 and a significant improvement in maintenance costs: Swiss cargo trains will have 30 hybrid locomotives starting in 2013, the CFF rail company has announced. The new engines are made by Stadler Winterthur, whose director, Hartmut Dietrich, calls them “the most modern and most innovative on the […]
Chinese get Switzerland travel 101 on TV, Internet (final/correction)
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland in Chinese: even without Mandarin you can follow these unusual TV travel documentaries on the Switzerland you thought you knew! Occasional travel feature contributor to GenevaLunch, Liam Bates, who spends much of his time as the host of a popular Chinese TV travel show that usually tours hidden corners of China, […]
Children under 7 must stay on sidewalk with scooters
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Hunting for information from the Swiss Federal Highway Department I came across this bit of news to me: children under 7 with scooters must either stay on the sidewalk and pedestrian paths or be accompanied by an adult if they will be on a road. So the 2 minute scooter run from […]