Swiss Estonian Association
FREE TIME
Shops and public institutions
Shops and post offices are usually open from 9 am to 6.30 pm, more and more shops also until 8 pm. Smaller shops or e.g. pharmacies, have a break during the lunchtime. On Saturdays, post offices are either closed or open for half a day, the shops until 5 pm. On Sundays, all shops are closed, except those at the main train stations and petrol stations. Some bakeries are also open on Sunday mornings.
The two best known grocery chains are Migros and Coop. The cheaper ones are Denner, Aldi and Lidl. Migros Online and Coop @ home (Coop) offer home delivery. In most places, a grocery market takes place on Saturdays.
The sales periods in Switzerland are January and June-July. There are also several online stores that sell both clothing and electronics. Smaller parcels are placed directly by the postman into the mailbox, larger parcels must be picked up at the post office. Parcel machines are also gaining popularity.
Estonian goods
One is often asked what is eaten in Estonia. To make it easier to explain food traditions at home, you can take a look at this summary .
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Several Russian shops help against Pelmeni appetite. E.g. PELMEN.ch Bar, Eastern European delicacies in Bern and Lakomka in Zurich. Sprotte in oil, etc. can also be ordered in the Yarmarka online store.
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Estonian beer can be bought in Drinks of the world stores, ordered from the Amstein online store. Various Estonian drinks are also offered by Liquitrade and a drink-shop .
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Sports
Various sports associations or Vereins are popular in Switzerland. There are several football, indoor hockey, etc. clubs in all areas. Regardless of age, you can sing in the choir, dance salsa and go running with a group. Depending on the health insurance's supplementary insurance package, it is also possible get a return on the sports club's annual fee.
Football and hockey games are diligently visited. Mountain sports areas are also quite popular. Skiing in winter, hiking in summer. Switzerland has a very large and well-marked network of hiking trails.
You can swim in rivers and lakes. Often is an outdoor pool called Freibad your only option. In the most places an entrance fee must be paid. In the city of Berne the outdoors pools are free.
Libraries
In Switzerland, the conditions for using libraries vary. For example, the Zurich Zentralbibliothek is free, in the Kornhausbibliotheken in Bern adults have to pay. In St. At the Gallen Library, where you can also borrow books in Estonian , you have to pay an annual membership fee. However, it is much cheaper than buying new books.
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Board games and audiobooks are also available, which is especially nice for children.
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Use of the university library is free of charge. A large number of libraries belong to a common network and all their services can be used with one card, Bibliopass . In various university libaries you can also find some books in Estonian.
