Germany > Switzerland?

In all honesty, the last 2 days have not been too much fun. The main reason was my foolish decision to blitz Bavaria and Bayern, hurrying into Zurich to meet my father by bike instead of train. I did take the train from Munich to Fussen, and a ferry to cross Lake Konstanz, but rode the rest of the way. As a result, I ended up biking 94 miles Fussen to Lindau in one day, ad then 90 miles Lindau to Zurich the next. This was simply too much- both to ride pleasurably with a load of baggage, or to have any time to stop and see anything. It was demoralizingly, painfully hot on the Fussen to Lindau leg, and I broke my streak on this trip by getting off to push up some steep hills. It rained the next day, but the temperature was much nicer. The long rides meant I arrived in my destination cities after dark, and had to navigate bike paths and signs without much light. So, in summary, I have to
mark down the last couple days as a failure of vacation and exploratory travel, but a relative success as a piece of exercise.

I've only been in Switzerland for about 16 hours, 7 of which I was asleep for, but so far I have a strong preference for Germany over Switzerland. People on the road were friendlier. The bike trails did not take you inexplicably up insanely steep hills on dirt trails, unlike the weird Swiss national route 2 I was on yesterday. Food and beer were cheap in Germany. I had 3 pints in bars while there, for a grand total of $10. I ate out for under $10 at a biergarten, and the food was good. Groceries for 2 days were $17, including bread, meat, cheese, and enough Haribo gummy bears to feed an army (or a bike tourer riding 8+ hours a day in the hills). In Zurich, while I have not yet been to a grocery store, the cafe prices are shocking. I just spent $6 for a large drip coffee at Starbucks, twice as much as I just paid in Munich. And the wifi in Munich works. Switzerland seems to be paved in Audis and Porsches, as far as I can tell.

So, not a great first impression of Switzerland. Their bike signage is excellent (see picture). Maybe the countryside I haven't yet seen will be better, or cheaper. But I feel I have Germany not nearly enough time, and will have to go back. With the Euro as it stands now, it'd even be affordable.

Pictures are: German groceries for $8 (Haribo not shown), a 500mL of Urtyp Helles from the Engelbrau brewery, and Swiss cycle route signs at a major intersection.