1) Since we travelled in shoulder season, we saw more locals than tourists and we felt we were one of them.
2)ATM's were everywhere and my Charles Schwab ATM worked well. We never even used a credit card as it was so easy to pay with cash. Since tax and tip is included we knew EXACTLY what we were paying. I just saw my withdrawals from Charles Schwab and they reimbursed the transactiosn fees whenever we got charged for them.
3)I had bought a Sedu European flat iron (was a little expensive but I looked at it as a good investment) and it worked great!!
4) Our 8 consecutive day Swiss Pass was so valuable: we utilized it to a maximum and many times more!!! The trains are excellent and effecient and one gets used to it to the point of thinking "why don't we have this in the U.S"!
5)The Swiss people wore all kinds of clothes from jeans to sweats to formal jackets!
6)Moneybelt: My Gosh!! I love this thing. I have never felt safer with my passport, money and ccards and was SO worry free!! It fit well for me as well as my husband (I was worried he might not like it and refuse to wear it) and we wore it everday. I think I will be using this everytime I travel now.
6)We ate at sit down restuarants and street food (just like the locals!) and never felt like we compromised on anything. The Coop stores are awesome for food and water! We bought 1.5 litre bottles of mineral water for 0.30 CHF which is cheaper than here in the US!!
7) People spoke English readily except in the French Swiss area but even there once we started butchering their French language they ended up speaking in English.
8)The only bad part if at all was that smoking was more prevalent there than the U.S but could also be because we are so spoilt in Washington state.