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I was surprised to see palm trees in Switzerland.

I've been there. Lake Lugano. A bit of trivia for you.

Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water

The lyrics of the song tell a true story: on 4 December 1971 Deep Purple were in Montreux, Switzerland, where they had set up camp to record an album using a mobile recording studio (rented from the Rolling Stones and known as the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio—referred to as the "Rolling truck Stones thing" and "a mobile" in the song lyrics) at the entertainment complex that was part of the Montreux Casino (referred to as "the gambling house" in the song lyric). On the eve of the recording session a Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention concert was held in the casino's theatre. At the beginning of Don Preston's synthesizer solo on "King Kong", the place suddenly caught fire when somebody in the audience fired a flare gun into the rattan covered ceiling, as mentioned in the "some stupid with a flare gun" line.[9][10]

The locals kept telling me about it. Over and over and over and over again.

Great trivia, thanks.

I learned of the palm trees first hand. Had a Eurailpass, no itinerary. Planned a trek from Zug to Locarno, "around the Alps," past Montreaux, to Domodossola, to Locarno. Got off the train at Domodossola, surprised at the need to switch railroads. By sheer chance, no planning, took the Centovalli Railway. Best train ride ever. Stunning. Then drop into Locarno and see palm trees!

No itinerary, no hotel. Ended up staying in a suite above the restaurant at one end of the square. Midnight "curfew," meaning we had to be inside the gate, but the bar would be open until we'd had enough. Suite was 40 Swiss Francs, in 1991, and had a balcony over the semi-outdoor dining area. Lucked out, all the way! Took a trip up to the Madonna del Sasso the next day.

My favorite part of the world, what parts I've seen so far - Northern Italy and southern Switzerland. Great food, ancient buildings, spectacular scenery.