Zurich & Zofingen, Switzerland (September 26, 2025)
When Iris Welten invited me to meet her in Zofingen, Switzerland, I was grateful she clarified, “near Zurich” as I wouldn’t have known otherwise. I’ve always admired Iris as she’s been a longtime CEO before becoming a coach and seamlessly integrates mental fitness into her corporate trainings and engagements.
While this was a short (one-night) visit, I was thrilled to spend some quality time with Iris and her husband, Harry, who educated me on so much about Switzerland I will be forever grateful.
What I learned about Switzerland from Harry:
Why is Switzerland “neutral” when it comes to global power struggles and war? Turns out for a long time the number one “export” (prior to this shift to neutrality) was mercenaries. What? Yes, and because Switzerland had such good mercenaries, conflicts were often fought by “brother vs. brother” (i.e. Swiss family members) on behalf of different sovereign interests.
How much does it cost for a US citizen (or other non-Swiss nationality) to attend ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) which is comparable to MIT and Stanford? $2,500 per year (or $10k total) less than the cost of Junior College, and about 10% for one semester of a comparable school. What???
When foreign nationals DO attend ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) or similar top-ranked school, they tend not to leave Switzerland after they graduate. Why? They are usually offered both an incredible job opportunity and a path to citizenship. Violet was taking notes and considering this option.
Bill, Violet, Iris Welten and husband, Harry
Now let me backup as this is how Violet and I ended our epic day. We first started out with my cousin Brent getting up early in Geneva to help ensure we got on our 7:30am train to Zurich. And I’m so glad he joined us as there was a track change 5 minutes before the scheduled departure and Brent helped make sure we caught our train.
When we arrived, I introduced Violet to Shawarma for lunch. Why? Because we knew that Iris and Harry were preparing a traditional Swiss feast for dinner and this way we could try something else totally new.
Violet enjoying her first experience with Shawarma in Zurich
Violet liked it. Not surprising as it’s like a more flavorful chicken burrito with french fries and vegetables instead of rice and beans. We both enjoyed our relatively quick lunch before joining our first bus and boat tour of any city. This allowed us to walk less and sit back and allow a tour guide to introduce us to Zurich.
After we enjoyed our bus tour and walking tour, Violet and I climbed aboard a boat that took us across the lake and continued to share about the history of Zurich.
Perhaps the most important insight (for me) was that there are about 140 private banks in Zurich and that the insurance industry was started in Switzerland. Not surprising when you have so many assets that you want to “protect.”
Once we completed our tour, we jumped back on a train headed towards Zofingen. Violet and I were met by Harry who picked us up from the train station and drove us to his home. This was Violet’s first time inside of a Bentley. Or, as Harry shared, “The car nobody needs, but everyone wants.” It was beautiful and I’m sorry I neglected to take a picture of it. Violet sat in the back and loved being in control of my passenger seat in front of her. The sheer power!
But the best part was the incredible Swiss dinner that we shared together along with some amazing conversation.
After dinner, I joined Iris and Harry for a cigar and it was it’s own incredible experience. They have a seperate room outside of their main house that has a fireplace. We each had a cigar bundled in heating blankets and inside this incredible “smoking room” (for lack of a better term). One of the three cats joined us decided to snuggle up on my lap.
It felt like a throwback to those Jane Austin books (and movies). First, we had a wonderful feast featuring raclette with various amazing cheeses, steak, vegetables, salmon, shimp, potatoes, etc. Then we adjourned to the smoking room and enjoyed an incredible cigar and talked about global politics including the rising cost of college education and basic healthcare in the United States (and why Switzerland is a wonderful place to live).
We sure did pack a lot into a single day. Great exploration of a city, train travel, traditional Swiss feast, wonderful conversation and a cigar to wrap up the day. Loved it and deeply grateful for these two incredible souls. So happy to get to spend time with Iris and Harry on this trip.
