Everything you ever wanted to know about "The Landlocked Island" (but were afraid to ask)

Courtesy blog.dark-warriors.net

The relevance of red shoes on a book blog? Read on......



Switzerland is the "The Landlocked Island", right in the heart of Europe, fiercely keeping its own identity and traditions. We were so pleased to come across Swiss Watching by Diccon Bewes (also available now in German, nattily titled Der Schweizversteher: Ein Englȁnder unter Eidgenossen). It is written with gentle humour, full of great observations, and a bit of culture, history and tradition thrown in. This is the perfect book for anyone wanting to understand this Alpine nation and gain some insight, with some fun learning along the way. If you intend to visit Switzerland you need this book!

And one of the quaint observations the author has made is that there is a preponderance among the Swiss to wear RED SHOES. He says: "If you want to look like a local, then wear a pair of red shoes. It may sound daft, but I have never seen so many red shoes as in Switzerland. Men, women, old, young, posh, scruffy, town and country - everyone seems to have a pair. It's hard to walk down the street for more than a few minutes without seeing red. It seems to be a bit of a national fetish, though having asked many Swiss people about it, none of them seems to have noticed. But I have"

So, anyone else noticed this tendency? We recently spotted some red MBTs...





Fancy reading more books set in Switzerland? Then just click here for our full database.

And do come and follow us on Twitter and Facebook and on Google Friend Connect just to your right!