Purplelake: Day 3 – Aug 14, 2019 Zurich, CH to Liechenstein to Lyon, FR

Switzerland is a country with very high living standard. We could tell by how nice the highway system was. Even in the high alpine part of the world, they still had 6 lanes of smooth highways connecting everywhere. Hotel in Zurich is also very expensive. I often wonder how Switzerland can generate their GDP and sustain this high level of living standard. I saw my answers during our drive through the country today. Every flat area was planted with different crops. Big familiar corporate logos appeared everywhere. Switzerland is foremost well known for its banking and insurance industry. It is also strong in pharmaceuticals, machinery, chemicals, watches, and tourism. Despite its landlock geography, it managed to become the second highest GDP per capita countries in the world. Swiss currency (Swiss Franc) is one of the strongest currencies in the world. Trivia: What are the official languages of Switzerland? Find the answers below.

We started this morning to drive east from Zurich to get further into the Alps where you would find one of the smallest countries (6th) in the world, Liechtenstein. From there, we headed west and stopped by the world famous city Geneva before going to Lyon in France. We checked into the highest hotel in Lyon to admire the night scene. Getting to Radisson Blu Lyon was an event we would not easily forget. The whole downtown Lyon seemed to be under some construction during our visit with many streets closed or changed to one way only. We struggled for over an hour to try to get to the hotel to park our car. Google Map kept directing us but every time we found the roads were closed. We could easily see the hotel from two blocks away but could never get closer. At the end, we gave up and just parked and walked over. By then, it was too late to do any sightseeing and we ended up ordering sushi takeout back to our hotel room to admire the view. We stroked up a conversation with the young Chinese couple who were working part-time in the restaurant. They described the difficulties faced by foreign students who had to find housing in the city without any steady income. There are still much subtle racial discrimination in French society today.

Our super modern space age capsule shower pod in our Zurich hotel

I guess Swiss knives really come from Switzerland? OK, there are 4 official languages in Switzerland - German, French, Italian (all 3 expected given its geography), and Romansh (uh? You don't believe me? Look it up yourself)

Vaduz Castle in Liechtenstein

Despite its small size, Liechtenstein is a very prosperous principality ruled by Prince Hans-Adam II

Its size is really small at 160 sq km. In this photo, its boundary already ends before the foot of the mountain behind Yiling

Believe it or not, Liechtenstein enjoys one of the highest GDP per capita in the world today

The other side of Vaduz Castle which is the residence of the prince

Eye-catching saw-tooth ridges in the Alps on the way from Liechenstein to Zurich

Lake Zurich

Lake Geneva with the Geneva Water Fountain at the back

In 2019, Geneva was ranked among the top ten most livable cities in the world. I can understand why looking at how comfortable Yiling is!

Panoramic shot of Geneva's lakefront promenade

Swan Lake in Geneva?

Did you know Geneva is a Swiss border town surrounded on three sides by France?

Besides a global financial center, Geneva hosts the highest number of international organizations in the world including Red Cross. It is also where the famous Geneva Conventions were signed in 1949 after WWII