Friday, April 4, 2008

Nach Zug mit dem Zug

Literally, that means "To Train with the Train"... But because Zug is also a city (one just 30 minutes south of Zürich), it also means "To Zug by Train." Hence you can understand my predicament when buying tickets to Zug for a recent interview. The gentleman at the train station counter kept telling me that the train (Zug) was small and I was like "Dude, I can see the trains out there, that's not small!" and finally I got it that he was saying the city (also Zug) was small and I could get around it quite quickly so I didn't need to get there that early. Then I said it was an interview and he said, "Well, you can't be late then! No you can't! Go early..." So of course I did.

Getting around is definitely not a problem in Switzerland. The train system is amazing. You can get anywhere you want, quickly, safely, and above all efficiently. The trains always run on time and as our relocation consultant said, if they're late, they'll put a notice in the paper tomorrow, no doubt as both proof (in case you can't convince your boss... "No, really, boss, the train was late.. Yes, I know that doesn't happen in Switzerland but check out this notice in the paper... Yeah, that's right. I told you. It was late." ) and as a potential threat to the train drivers ("You think you're going to finish that ciggie, do ya? Well that means you'll be pulling into the last station 2 minutes late and well, I won't hesitate to tell everyone tomorrow you know... That's right, front page news for the likes of you miscreants.".

Anyway, Zug is very pretty and quaint. It's indeed a very small city, but because it's a tax haven a lot of multinational companies (Siemens is one example) have built their offices there. I recommend a walk around the old part of the city as well as to the church on the hill - great view up top. Here are some photos from our jaunt around Zug after the interview last week.

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