When in Switzerland, drink like the Swiss

Hi girls! Having come back from a wonderful two week family vacation in Switzerland, while I was spoilt for subjects/places that I could base my blog on, I decided on a slightly off-charter but a very interesting one to initiate - The water fountains of Switzerland!

Just to set the background, we took our flight from New Delhi since we got a great deal flying out of there. So we booked our domestic Mumbai to Delhi flight separate from the international one. Even with the deal, the flight ticket booking was just the start of our realization that Switzerland is one of the costliest countries in Europe (possibly the world!). Fast forward to our trip, our next realization was that food easily takes up a major chunk of your daily budget while travelling (just as a comparative – while a milk coffee costs about €2 in Germany, it easily costs more than CHF 4.50 in Switzerland). Although, in most cities in Europe tap water happens to potable, one might not have access to that, except when in hotels/ restaurants. So other than buying bottled water, there are not many viable options if you plan to be outside throughout the day during your vacation (which would be about 95% of the time, right?)

So it came as a pleasant surprise, when we were informed on our first day itself in Basel, Switzerland that we could drink water safely from any of the public fountains across the country. Water supply across Switzerland comes directly from the mighty Alps. Even the rivers, lakes, creeks and all small and big water bodies that we encountered have such crystal clear blue-green waters that you can sometimes see the rocks on the bed!

Coming back to the water fountains, not only is the water potable but it is refreshingly cold – almost like snatching up a bottle from your refrigerator! After a while we even stopped refilling our water bottles from the hotel bathroom taps, as it was just not comparable to the cool glacial fountain water.

The fountains are ample in quantity and can be found in almost all the city squares and piazzas, so we really did not have to worry about limiting our water consumption in fear of not finding a fountain nearby.

But the feature that caught my intrigue the most was that these are not just utility taps but works of art. Each one is vintage, decorated with flowers and carvings and almost unique. I don’t recollect any two fountains being similar to each other in terms of their looks! So not only are you getting cool Alpine water to quench your thirst but you are also being treated to a visual feast of old-world sculptures without visiting any museum!!

So the next time you are in the paradise that is Switzerland, just keep an empty water bottle handy and treat yourself at the numerous charming works of art. Now if only Lindt could pick up a hint from this, right? ;)
-
Gauri Patwardhan
for So-Saree