Like hikers on an alpine trail, every generation or so the Swiss stop to consider where they've been, where they're going and what they're doing there.
The last time this polyglot, postage-stamp-size nation checked its cultural course was in 1964. And this summer and early fall, Switzerland is doing it again at its national exposition spread among four towns and a fifth, mobile venue in the lakes region west of the capital, Bern.
Expo.02 is equal parts entertainment, soul-searching and intriguing impermanent architecture. It's where visitors can walk in a cloud, scrape gold off a building and literally throw their cares away. And you don't have to be Swiss to understand and enjoy the show. Many exhibits would suit "anybody and everybody," says Evelyne Mock, a U.S. spokeswoman for Switzerland Tourism.
The show, which continues through Oct. 20, is a "platform for discussion," says Tony Burgener, its chief spokesman. True to its mission, Expo raises tough issues facing the nation, among them growth, land use, immigration and quality of life.
Venues are themed. At economically strong Biel, it's "Power and Freedom." In Murten, an 800-year-old town, history and tradition pop up in "Instant and Eternity." Ego takes a turn at Yverdon's "Me and the Universe." And science plays a role in Neuchatel's "Nature and Artifice." The threads of thought are woven through 37 exhibits distributed over 118 acres.
Each of the venues has a landmark construction. At Biel, it's three angular towers and a footbridge arching over a bay of Lake Biel; Yverdon, an artificial cloud; Murten, a rusting 112-foot-tall steel cube anchored in Lake Murten; and Neuchatel, three disks resembling UFOs on a platform just offshore in Lake Neuchatel.
The mobile site, a rebuilt gravel barge themed "Meaning and Movement," sails the three lakes of Expo and is primarily a stage for various forums.
Dreams and dread
It's possible to spend two or three days exploring Expo and come away entertained, well-fed and clearer about Swiss culture, though not always fully informed.
At Biel, largest of the sites, diversions that span differences of culture and language (English is common but not universal at Expo) include:
"Happy End," which explores happiness through novel means. Write what's troubling you on a china plate, then hurl it away though an opening to be dashed on the ground below. In a room strung with playthings, remember toys you loved. Let your fleeting shadow on a light-sensitive wall remind you that happiness may be short-lived. And finish with a joyful three-story slide out of the pavilion.
The "Swish" exhibit shows videos of regular folk revealing their fondest desires. Don't try to translate. Just slip up to a computer terminal, type in your secret yearning and see it illuminated anonymously on the surface of Lake Biel, visible through the transparent floor. Magical!
"Money and Value -- the Last Taboo" has fascinating exhibits that almost qualify it as a museum. And there's an added attraction. The building that houses it wears a coat of gold leaf, and it's OK to scrape off some to take home.
Yverdon, second in size to Biel, also has its share of culture-crossing exhibits.
Swiss Love, a charming movie tracking the relationships of four couples, is a guaranteed smile.
"Onoma" is probably Expo's most direct link to previous expositions, where tradition and history were in the forefront.
Type in the name of a Swiss town -- the one where you're staying or a favorite village -- and the computer gives back facts, photos and any available video footage of residents commenting on their community.
"The Cloud" is a manufactured mist that engulfs a metal frame and hovers dreamlike above the lake's surface. If you've never wandered in pea-soup fog, here's your chance.
Murten, a medieval town that on its own invites a leisurely stroll, offers more Expo attractions:
Darkness is illuminating at "Blindekuh," where the blind guide the sighted through an environment devoid of light but brilliant with sounds of nature. Shuffling along the passages stirs empathy for the visually impaired. Conversation -- something to cling to in the dark -- flows with coffee, wine and sodas at a beverage bar.
Two art installations, a cen-tury-old mural of a watershed battle in 1476 and a photo show of modern Switzerland, are payoffs for the short boat trip to an orange-oxidized Monolith.
At Neuchatel, an architectural duo easily vaults over language barriers:
Fifty-foot-tall "ladyfingers" (actually huge yellow balloons) form the perimeter of a gigantic "pudding" at "Manna." Step into the ring of fake cakes and find their faces painted delightfully with blue sky and summer clouds.
And the science of soil is gently taught in an underground passage that ends at a display of apple varieties, one for each day of the year.
Curious and curiouser
Not all of Expo's exhibits are successful. Some are so avant-garde and so short on explanation that some foreign visitors exit them murmuring, "What was that all about?"
Would it help to be Swiss? Maybe not. Some locals wonder aloud, too.
A happy medium may be "Die Werft," in Murten, a federally sponsored installation of immense, ever-shifting boxes within boxes. It could be inscrutable, but this examination of the changing role of the Swiss military is staffed by multilingual young people. What you don't understand or want to know, they can clarify. Suddenly, you're knowledgeable on a national debate.
Always understandable are the musicians and street performers who animate the walkways among the exhibits, and sometimes even invade them. A brass band dressed in doctors' coats marches in one door of a pavilion and out the other, leaving behind a trail of toe-tappers who turn back to the displays with a smile.
Internationally known performers inhabit the theaters in the evening. Among the hottest tickets is the mime troupe Mummenschanz.
Each venue has exhibits or activities geared to young children. Two (Biel and Neuchatel) have amusement parks.
The marvel of Expo's buildings and installations is that they appear solid and enduring but are temporary -- meant to be dismantled and removed when the show ends.
Five million visitors are expected at Expo, and already a million have rotated the turnstiles since the show opened on May 15.
When you go
Getting there: BWI offers connecting flights to Geneva (about 15 hours of flying time), but it's generally quicker and cheaper to fly from New York's JFK International Airport or Newark International Airport in New Jersey. From Geneva, trains are readily available to Expo sites. For train information: www.rail.ch.
Expo.02:
* Admission: Expo tickets can be purchased online at www.myswitzerland.com or at railway booking offices in Switzerland. A one-day pass (valid at all venues) costs about $30 for adults, $15 for ages 6 to 16. Three-day passes are about $72 for adults, $36 for ages 6 to 16.
* Hours: Expo opens at 9:30 a.m. daily through Oct. 20. Exhibits close at 8 p.m., the venues at 1 a.m. most nights.
* Transportation: Train service has been expanded during Expo, and discounted combination tickets are available. An easy-to-read, 64-page timetable (fahrplan) covering all four sites is available at Swiss rail stations. Most shuttle buses at each site are free. Bicycles and in-line skates can be rented at one location and returned at another. A network of bike / skate paths has been built for Expo.
* Resources: A free booklet with maps and descriptions of Expo is helpful, but only the official guide (in English and other languages; about $9 at kiosks) gives enough detail to enable you to decide whether an exhibit will appeal to you. For more Expo information, go to www.expo.02.ch.
Lodging: Among the many lodging possibilities are tepee villages located between Biel and Neuchatel lakes. Toilets, showers and washing facilities are on site. Family tepees sleep five and cost about $120 a night. Hotels have agreed to uniform rates during Expo.
Dining: About 30 restaurants are open on the four main Expo sites, most of them serving fast food. For a light meal, the efficient Mistral, in Biel and Neuchatel, has a small salad for $3 and coffee for about $1.80. A full, hot lunch at Le Tour de Monde in Yverdon is about $10.
For more information on Expo.02 attractions and housing, or general touring information, contact:
Switzerland Tourism, 608 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10020
877-794-8037
www.myswitzerland.com