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The time travel edition.

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
AuteurWeldon, Robynn
Fonction Editorial

I first moved to Switzerland in May--a month infested with public holidays, and so not an ideal month for getting things done, since, as I complained to a faraway friend, public holidays actually mean something here. "Oh, you've moved to the 1970s!" she emailed back. "Please send pictures."

As we continued the struggle to establish our bank accounts, insurance and all the other bits of paperwork that needed to be sorted out, while acclimatising to archaic-seeming Swiss opening hours and bureaucracy, we came to think we really had gone back in time. Especially in the realm of banking, where the plethora of account fees and absence of debit cards amazed us. (A dishonourable mention here must go to the bank website that attempted to promote its basic ATM card with the line: "You know the problem: you need cash, but the bank is closed ..." Well no, actually, I don't know that problem, ATMs having been ubiquitous since my childhood 30 years ago!)

But of course there were other, more charming ways in which we felt ourselves slipping into the past. For instance, the freedom with which children play outside, and travel to school and even kindergarten independently, is deeply refreshing to me. And we feel more connected to the land here, where changing seasons come with centuries-old village traditions. It's impossible to resist the charm of the ancient farmhouses dotted all over the landscape ... although perhaps less hard to resent the ancient church bells at 6am (p46).

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Diccon Bewes, author of the bestselling Swiss Watching, took his own trip into the past for his latest book, Slow Train to Switzerland. In it he follows the...

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