Thu 2 Sep 2010 When I broke the news that I would be moving to Switzerland, every friend immediately cracked a joke about Swiss bank accounts. Their second reaction was to say it would be a wonderful chance to ski. Skiing has a great attraction for the British. As there are few opportunities to indulge back home the idea of living close to the Alps seems particularly appealing.
When I arrived here, some three years ago, I had never been skiing. I was determined to
For the British expat armchair sports fan, time abroad is full of frustration. Life sometimes feels like an endless sequence of thwarted television-viewing ambitions, punctuated only occasionally by the highs and lows that are available daily to fans at home.
The problem is one of access. Here in Switzerland we can receive television from several countries but inexplicably the Swiss, Austrians, Italians and Germans all fail to show either cricket or English football. Do these people not realise what they are
Gambling on a cheap hotel
As an expat in Switzerland I have had the good fortune to be able to explore the surrounding countries with minimal effort and expense. Lacking the backpacker instinct to use hostels, and being too cheap to stay in decent places, I have made extensive use of that most unpredictable of establishments, the budget hotel.
These days most of us rely on the internet for finding hotels, optimistically disregarding the obvious perils. When I do a search I discard anywhere with three
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