Engelberg...and I Have A Bone to Pick With the Swiss

Fabio and I decided to go to Engelberg, a beautiful mountain village, for a Sunday afternoon walk and lunch. People call it "the end of the world" because it honestly looks like you can't get out of the valley, the mountains are so massive and all encompassing. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty gloomy. It was windy, cold and cloudy. The roads were still super icy. The ski resort had been closed due to a storm and the streets were full of disappointed skiers and snowboarders. We didn't take any photos since our camera is still being repaired, but I found some online photos of Engelberg:



OK-here is our bone to pick. I am SICK, SICK, SICK of the rude and inconsiderate smokers in this country, and let me tell you, there are A LOT of them. We were sitting in our cute little restaurant, finally enjoying a meal out (which we rarely do...2 pizzas, 2 waters, and 2 bowls of ice cream cost us 80 francs, about $70). I'm enjoying my ice cream, when all the sudden, I breathe in this nasty, potent smoke. I look behind Fabio, and the two girls are puffing it up big time. No regard for the people sitting right behind them, no regard for the three small children sitting next to them. How rude do you have to be to impose your nasty, fatal habits on others trying to enjoy a meal? And what kind of restaurant owner do you have to be to allow 2 of your guests to make the rest of your guests uncomfortable??? As we were walking out of the restaurant, we noticed a chart by the door that listed all the restaurants in Engelberg. Out of about 50 restaurants, 3 or 4 had no smoking restrictions. Most of them had a "non-smoking corner" or "non-smoking tables". Gee-thanks. I'm sure glad we have a non-barricaded, non-ventilated space to enjoy a meal.

Also-not only are the restaurants pretty much a cancer feast, but don't even try to find any clean air in the railway stations, and don't forget to hold your breath until you get outside. The second you step off the train, about 75% of the people in front of you light up the second their left foot is off the train, and most of the time, they turn and blow the smoke right in your face. I pretty much smell like a smoker all the time. My hair, my clothes...they all reek of smoke. It's disgusting, and I'm thoroughly mortified that such an "advanced" country hasn't figured out yet that smoking KILLS and it's the most nasty and intrusive habit known to mankind.

So, there. Unfortunately, no Swiss peopel read this blog. But I'm thinking of printing this post, and handing it out to people everytime I get smoke blown in my face. I better print out about a hundred. Dumb Swiss. Boo.