Baisodrome (noun) pronounced (bay-so-drom) – A place where lots of sex takes place; where high-schoolers like to make out and engage in practices their parents would never allow; the home of a “playa”;my bedroom.
haha – ok, had to sneak that last one in there 😉
There are more vulgar definitions you can find by clicking the links. This is the PG-13 version.
Rented a smartcar today – the cost was 50 francs (about $40) from a small rental place **smartrent.ch** that is all over Switzerland and I think Europe. Without getting lost too much we made to Lake Como from Lugano in about 20 minutes. All the border guards do is wave you by unless you’re in a truck, large SUV, or van. We drove around the city center and parked in the lot of a local shopping center (cost ~$2 for 2 hours).
Lake Como is certainly a livelier place than Lugano and it has all you expect from Italy. An absolutly stunning view of the Lake itself, a piatza with kids playing soccer, and man who wear tight shirts and curse at each other. Lots of cafes and plently of interesting things to look at and eat if you decide to get lost walking around. People are in their own little world and you don’t get the random people trying to sell you garbage as you might find in poorer countries.
We decided to stick to Lake Como and skip Milan because it is closer and the last train to Zurich took off early the night before my next flight.
I rule Como!
The last train from Lugano to Zurich leaves at 20:35 and of course the train is very punctual. There are clocks all over Switzerland at the corner of almost every other street. I had to leave Lugano at 20:35 in order to make it on time for my flight the next morning at 9am on the road to Turkey. I’ll be flying in via Munich and Lufthansa offers onboard wireless so I’m hoping that they deliver.
One thing about the train station at night is that you have to get the tickets from the automated system they have at the train station – navigating the windows is pretty easy except for the last part. You have an option of getting a “1/2” or “1/1” ticket even though you are already asked if you are traveling one way or not. I’m not sure what this means – both tickets are the same price. I decided to get the “1/1” ticket and take my chances. They ticket man made a joke in Italian and I laughed (played it off beautifully I thought) and he stamped my ticket.
If anyone knows what 1/2 vs. 1/1 means let me know 🙂
UPDATE: I found out in Zurich – “1/2” means kid “1/1” means adult 😉
The Swiss tend to be good about encrypting their wireless networks with pretty good encryption and good best practices. Many of the unencrypted ones used the (I’m assuming) person’s telephone as the SSID a bad idea for privacy reasons.
But it’s great if you want to get online for free for a quick email (or blog entry 😉 So if your computer picks up some digits for wireless networks…
I’ve found so far that knowing English has been far more useful than trying to use my French. The Swiss seem to gawk at the French and you’ll get a much more friendly reception as an English-speaker. The older lady who sat next to me on the plane didn’t know a lick of Enlgish (which was great for my French) and every German host/ess on the United flight were exceptionally rude to her.
I thought she was very cute, reading children’s stories and telling me for some luminer (light) because reading without it would make my eyes go bad.
Well, time to lift my head out of from in front of my computer and look at the beautiful mountains half covered in fog and the little boats by the water. I’ll snap a picture or two if the train slows down enough.
Unsecured wireless networks are great, especially on a 3 hour train ride to Lugano. The train system is a bit confusing from ZUR airport to the city of Zurich itself and then on to your next destination in Switzerland. That’s because the tickets and all of the various (over 60) train platforms from Zurich only list the major stops. To get around you’ll have to listen carefully to the person behind the ticket booth.
FYI:
Trains seat 6 to a room (only 3 others in mine) and have a nice little snack booth that isn’t priced too bad. A coke was 20% more expensive than off the street.
Since there are very few stops it’s hard to get lost. Just don’t fall asleep in the comfortable chairs and miss your stop 😳
Hi, I'm Anil. foXnoMad is where I combine travel and tech to help you travel smarter. I'm on a journey to every country in the world and you're invited to join the adventure! Read More 
