Where to spend 3 nights in Switzerland/Italy/?
Jan 3, 2015, 4:11 am
#16
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Heraklion, Greece
Posts: 7,567
Now, it just came to my mind, are you from Bern? I won't explain that to the non-Swiss!
Jan 3, 2015, 4:21 am
#17
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Helvetia
Programs: AS; BA Silver; UA; HH Gold; Sprüngli Connaisseur
Posts: 2,912
Firstly, I lived in Switzerland (long time ago), secondly, my sons live in Switzerland, thirdly, I had a Swiss grandmom and, finally, like everybody else in Europe, I know these are different cities. Obviously, some journalist in the US didn't, wrote a stupidity that I considered to be funny and, wanting to share, I wrote in my post was exactly what was in the paper. Why should I be informing FTers that I found out by reading an american newspaper that there are three different languages in Switzerland?
Now, it just came to my mind, are you from Bern? I won't explain that to the non-Swiss!
Now, it just came to my mind, are you from Bern? I won't explain that to the non-Swiss!
Your earlier prose seemed a bit too serious. I have known folks that think that all Swiss speak all four official languages here. Oh, and I've been asked if I've learned Swedish yet. By someone who correctly got that I lived in Switzerland and not Sweden!
Jan 3, 2015, 6:35 am
#18
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
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Posts: 102,095
A former Ambassador to the U.S. -- who was born in France and represented one of the ten largest countries in the world and had been to Sweden and Switzerland (amongst many other places) -- once or twice asked my Stockholm-based Swedish relatives when they were going back to Switzerland ... after talking about the Nobel prizes and the Swedish king (whom I presumed he had met before given his own pedigree and history). I guess I should have chalked it up to old age, since he also talked about how much he liked the mountains in Switzerland.
This is the funniest thing I've read today; I can only imagine how amusing it must have been to read this 35 years ago too. 
Completely off-topic:
About 35 years ago in Basel, an American colleague and friend showed me an article on Switzerland, published in a minor US newspaper. It was explained that three languages (missing Romansch) were spoken in the country giving an example: Cities had three names, such as Lausanne in French, Luzern in German and Locarno in Italian!
About 35 years ago in Basel, an American colleague and friend showed me an article on Switzerland, published in a minor US newspaper. It was explained that three languages (missing Romansch) were spoken in the country giving an example: Cities had three names, such as Lausanne in French, Luzern in German and Locarno in Italian!
Jan 4, 2015, 5:37 pm
#19
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Pennsylvania
Posts: 8,142