Prevue January-February 2011 - (Page 44)

zermatt Combine the Swiss business hubs with natural beauty of uncommon perfection [on location] greg oates from zurich to I n the late 1800s, Swiss engineers built the world’s most advanced railway network to navigate the rooftop of the Alps. In the tricky high mountain passes, they designed a single rail line with pull-offs where oncoming trains could meet and pass. This required exact schedules and new advances in timekeeping, which is why the Swiss eventually became such exalted watchmakers. That story defines Switzerland for the visiting business traveler: Ambition, intelligence, creativity and innovation among some of the planet’s most spectacular scenery. Having such an advanced rail system has its advantages for planners. It lessens vehicle traffic in Geneva and Zurich so the streets are calm and pedestrian-friendly. Plus, you can easily and quickly combine the cosmopolitan cities with the dreamy lakeside resort towns of Lausanne and Lucerne, or the adventurous mountain outposts tucked away between Interlaken and Zermatt. We put together such a trip to see if Swiss programs really do come off like clockwork. ZURICH: EINSTEIN + RETRO RECYCLING When you visit Zurich you feel like you’re at the very epicenter of Western Europe due to Switzerland’s location bordered by France, Germany and Italy, among others. Since the Reformation, Zurich has long been an incubator for progressive ideas as a peaceful axis of European cross-cultural academic, artistic and economic collaboration. All that comes to bear in the historic city center where the Limmat River empties into Lake Zurich. Below Gothic church spires and Romanesque buildings, the twisting streets are spotless with little boutiques and cafes arranged so perfectly it seems Zurich had a florist for an urban designer. Standing below one 18th century townhouse, my guide Monika from the Zurich Office of Tourism stops at the apartment where Lenin lived in 1917. “He was working as a journalist and lawyer here while preparing the Russian Revolution,” she says. As we walk, Monika points to hotels and cafes where Casanova, Mozart, Brahms, Liszt and Goethe lived and studied. She tells me, “we have over 200 art galleries. PeoPle iN eUroPe 44 | prevue magazine

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Prevue January-February 2011

RCCL's Allure of the Seas
Marriott Los Angeles Group
Brazil's Big Reboot
Seattle, Cleveland, Boston
Grand Hyatt Atlanta
Riu Panama Plaza
Casa de Campo, Dominican Rep
Punta Cana + Leadership Summit
Gaylord Opryland, Nashville
Florida Means Business
Switzerland
Designer Districts
Hawaii: The Big Island
Norfolk
Chicago

Prevue January-February 2011