Manners and Etiquette

Manners and Etiquette are two staples in Swiss society. Children obey their parents, the elderly are treated with the utmost respect, and people greet each other formally with (3) kisses. If you are with a co-work or a friend and they say, "I invite you" this simply means they would like to pick up the check. The first few times this happened I thought "invite me where?" we've already arrived at our destination..... In general the Swiss split the check evenly and the restaurants/bars are VERY accustomed to providing separate bills. In the USA it would be a huge inconvenience for the wait staff to divide the check per patron. Not is Switzerland (CH):) Another item to note is the traffic, cars actually stop for pedestrians. Image that! But beware the tramlines rule the road so don't expect them to stop when you’re at a crosswalk.