Do not go to Switzerland if you are not wealthy or on a business trip.
First of all the keyboard is different. Secondly the Swiss Franc is abnormally strong. A dollar is worth 1.24 SF. A few years ago the exchange rate was 1 dollar for 2.5 Swiss Francs. A simple cup of coffee costs twice that in Starbucks, which is not cheap either.
The news is limited to the US pressure to stop N. Korea from testing a bomb. A few smatterings of headlines over the fighting in Gaza, and that is about all. Iraq hardly makes the news.
The Alps are in transition. Misty clouds blow in leaving a fine dust of snow on the peaks. We found a pleasant hotel in St. Moritz, cheaper because it is between seasons, but still heart stopping when one thinks of the bill. But this is a long haul from the hot dry dusty strife-ridden Middle East.
From here Israel is truly just a small blue dot on the map.
