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The secret of Swiss cemeteries

October 31, 2011, 19 Comments

Are Swiss cemeteries the most beautiful in the world? Possibly, though it depends on your definition of beauty.

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Teaching the Swiss to stand on the right

October 9, 2011, 12 Comments

The Swiss are usually very good at following instructions. This is a country where control and conform can feel like national verbs

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Meet Homo helveticus

October 3, 2011, 19 Comments

Last week I wrote an article for the Swiss edition of Die Zeit, one of the main German newspapers, about the typical Swiss...

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Vote for the Matterhorn!

September 29, 2011, 5 Comments

It’s election time, and not just in Switzerland. The online vote for the official list of the new Seven Wonders of Nature...

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Graffiti: the Swiss disease?

September 8, 2011, 21 Comments

This morning I opened the bedroom shutters and, as always, had to look at FUCK NAZIS in big letters on the house opposite.

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What do other Europeans call Switzerland?

September 1, 2011, 11 Comments

Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera, Svizra. Switzerland has four names in its four national languages, and that’s not counting the domestic versions of the...

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Are the US National Parks run by the Swiss?

August 18, 2011, 4 Comments

Yosemite and the Grand Canyon. Sequoia and Bryce. The National Parks are the jewels of western America, attracting millions of visitors every year 

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Four little films about Swissness

June 15, 2011, 3 Comments

For the past few weeks I’ve been making little video podcasts about Swissness. The very first one featured a coconut which...

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What is Bern’s secret pleasure?

June 9, 2011, 7 Comments

Sometimes the only way to find out about the best places to go in a city is to live there – or...

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Is this the street where you live?

June 2, 2011, 6 Comments

   A rather different post today. A man in Texas sent me this photo and asked if I could identify the street...

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