Back in Switzerland

Our final drive yesterday towards Winterthur was through rain and cloud. This meant of course, that the St Gottard Pass was closed and we had to travel through the 19 km tunnel. The tunnel is only 1 lane in each direction...which means the 3 lanes in each direction have to go down to one. Beats me why the Swiss don't want to build another tunnel there...they are building the base tunnel that will go 50 something km through the base of the Alps for trains that will load up trucks. Somehow the huge traffic jams of Swiss and Italians trying to get to each others countries on holidays have no cachet for the ones who control the tunnel building. We were lucky and there wasn't too much of a traffic jam.
We stopped in Canton Schwyz where the heart of Swiss history is located...the federal archives. Jurg felt, now that I have a passport as a real citizen, that I should learn a little more of the Swiss history. So, as it was William Tell on the way down, now I had to see the original Swiss constitution on the way back. So it is spoken, so it is done. Don't think they said that in 1291 when the original 3 cantons got together to make some agreements on how the cows would graze in the fields. I haven't read the English translation yet...so I guess it covers more than that. The museum was actually quite interesting and they provided me with an English translation so it was actually fun.
Today we took the wonderful Swiss train system into Basel to meet Karin a sort of step sister for Jurg. Trains were amazing...all on time..or almost. One was a minute late. There were 3 connections and all worked perfectly with the tracks clearly identified on our itinerary. Then in beautiful Basel we took the trams...wonderful Bombardier trains that somehow haven't made it to Canada yet. We visited the old central city, took the little ferry across the Rhine and ate lunch by the river. Had a great day!
One thing I noticed is how different countries solve common human problems with different solutions. For example...the myth of the dirty toilet seat. Humans somehow believe that the most germs reside on the seat. This is not so, but difficult to counter. So in Greece, in many public toilets they have just done away with the seat. Women have to do the helicopter hover manouver there. In Switzerland, they invent a machine of course. Push the flush button and the seat wobbles around its elliptical circle getting cleaned by this gadget attached to the tank.
Tomorrow is a day off...then family on Sunday.
Chus!