Once upon an Alp and Lend me your Alphorn come to mind and didn't know an awful lot about Switzerland. By Eugene V. Epstein. They're ancient, but I have fond memories of reading these cliché anecdotes when I was (a lot) younger
Brilliant read!
The Xenophobes Guide to the Swiss is really, really funny ... and clever. A must read. Paul Bilton is the author. Lisa
"Once upon an Alp" by Eugene Epstein is a good one for short stories & little Swiss idiosyncrasies.
And one of my favorites - "The Magic Mountain" by Thomas Mann. It's set in Davos during the sanatorium days.
This is a good idea for a thread. Maybe there are also movie suggestions?
I tried watching the euphemistically titled movie "A Short Stay in Switzerland" (it is about a woman who comes here for the purposes of Euthanasia). Did not enjoy it, ended up fast forwarding most of the movie and only watched the shots filmed on location in central Zürich (because it is interesting to see my home town in film).
There are also various documentaries on National Geographic, Discovery Channel etc about the Alps, tunnelling etc. The one I saw about the alps was pretty terrifying, the errosion can result in sudden torrents of rocks cascading down rivers.
Yes, this one is brilliant.
The Xenophobe's Guide
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Xenophobes-G.../dp/1902825454
a lot of fun and everything is true!!!!
Bunch of sycophants, the lot of you!
(Mind, it is brilliant...)