Though I had gone to Zurich a total of four times, in retrospect, now I feel that I missed a lot because on two occasions I did not venture out of Zurich International Airport. I was unduly cautious because as I had no transit visa to go out. That was in 1999 when security concerns were minimal. The Police at Immigration were so friendly that they were willing to let me out of the Airport because I had about 12 hours for my next flight Sao Paulo (Brazil). One is normally accustomed to intimidating government authority even if you have all the right papers. Zurich and probably the whole of Switzerland is an exception in this regard.

Even announcements from Police when made at the Airport through public address system is so polite that it is done with underlying reluctance or apology of having to make a police announcement. My voluntary confine within the Airport came in handy to be a keen observer. There was clockwork precision by which everything went on at Zurich... more