Local currency You can change money at the airport, but rumour has it, that there are better cash-to-cash rates at the main train station in Zurich and that the rates for withdrawing local cash at the next best teller machine are much closer to the interbank rate (direct withdrawal works with Maestro, Plus or Cirrus networks).Train, Tram or Taxi? During rush hour always take the train for the fastest and most reliable transfer. At other times in the day, it depends on whether you can carry your luggage as far as three blocks (we are measuring in NYC style blocks). If you think that you cannot carry your luggage, take a taxi. If you think you can and the destination is the office, take an S2 train to Enge station, walk the three blocks to the office. If you can carry your luggage and the destination is a hotel , take any westbound train to the main station and hop on a tram 6,7 or 13 to go on to the Google office, some other tram to your Hotel or a Google apartment. Note: The price of a single taxi ride from/to the airport can buy you a 72hr ZurichCard, i.e. all the public transportation you will need in the greater Zurich area for 72 hours, including free entry to all museums and still leave you with enough change to buy a nice long drink in any of the clubs. For general public transportation the easiest is to use Google Transit (sample query). You can use it also on your mobile. LanguagesMulti-lingual tradition Switzerland is a multi-lingual nation. There are four national languages in Switzerland: German, French, Italian and Romansh (Rumantsch). In principle, all four languages have equal rights. In practice, however, things sometimes are different.The Federal Constitution (Article. 70 of the new Constitution) stipulates that German, French, and Italian are Switzerland's official languages, whereas Romansh is an official language for communicating with Romansh-speaking persons. The most recent census produced the following picture of how the languages are distributed: (Swiss)German 63.9%, French 19.5%, Italian 6.6%, Romansh 0.5%, others 9.5%. Schools play a key role in bringing the languages closer, since cantonal school regulations require that every child learn a second national language starting in primary school. English is increasingly taught at an early age, sometimes taking priority over a second national language. Swiss German Dialects Swiss
German is a spoken-only language that is significantly different in
phonetics and vocabulary from Hochdeutsch ,High German. As the language
is not written (except for some artistic expression) all Swiss people
learn to speak and write proper Hochdeutsch in elementary school. Most
people speak Hochdeutsch fluently but depending on the language
learning talent they retain their typical Swiss accent. |
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Zurich Miscellaneous |