It really does cut both ways!

So the Swiss do love their rules and they can be pretty anal...but there are several good flip sides to this. One, when they do cut loose, they know how to have a really good time (more on this one later), and two, when you want something done well, you can count on that happening in Swizzyland.

I had the best pedicure of my life last week. I have been trying to crack the code on where to go for a pedicure in this town, and even resorted to doing it myself, but I'm not very good at it so I was still hankering for the real thing. I just couldn't find anyone who knew where to go and I never saw any ads for pedicures or anything. I started to think they just weren't popular here. But then! A friend of mine injured her foot about a month ago and had to go to a podiatry office to get it worked on. There wasn't a doctor of podiatry at the office, but two licensed podiatry nurses/technicians of some sort (very common kind of thing here - people get a ton of training and certifications for jobs at all levels). Anyhow, it was clearly more than a medical office as there were pictures of painted toenails and a selection of nail polish on the shelf, like you'd see when you go to pick your nail polish out at a nail salon. Turns out, these medically certified folks are the ones who do the pedicures in der Schweiz.

So, I made an appointment and when I got there, I was shocked - it was very medical looking and so clean and pristine, it was unbelievable. The techs were both nice young women, one of whom spoke English, and they both were dressed in spotless, pressed white scrubs (made it look even cleaner there). The room I went to for my pedicure looked kind of dental - a very high tech chair, some moveable special light/magnifying glass, and a large cabinet, which turned out to be drawers full of medical instruments and equipment. At least one of the drawers was an actual autoclave. I had little worries of getting any infections from germs or dirty equipment at this place. She also had a power tool, very similar to a dental drill, that she used with various attachments to do some of the harder work (like buffing/grinding). She used at least one type of scalpel on me - to literally shave off callouses and the like. And she painted my toenails beautifully and gave me a great foot massage. All in about 55 minutes for CHF 77.00. I will definitely be back for more. And if any of you want to experience this as well...well, come for a visit and I'll hook you up.