Cyclist Paul's Travels: Zug and Baar, Switzerland (Part1)

I'm about 30 miles from Zurich and the well-to-do communities of Baar (population 24,000) and Zug (population 30,000) are right next door to each other. Nice colorful flower display in downtown Baar.

Saw this guy atop someone's garage.

I wonder what he's thinking?

In this region when there's a newborn baby I've many times seen displays like this.

This is part of the old town area of Zug. Baar and Zug are in the canton of Zug. Cantons in Switzerland are similar to states in the USA. Many media outlets rank Zug as the wealthiest town in Switzerland. Why? Taxes. Cantons in Switzerland set their own tax rates and Zug has the lowest. Thus, thousands of corporations, private-equity firms, commodity traders and asset management firms are domiciled here. I found this out first-hand more than 20 years ago when cycling around the world visiting corporate headquarters. I had several companies to visit and upon arriving at the addresses--there was no physical head office but, mail-drops.

Zug has three fountains like this one. They date back to the mid-1500's. These were a way of showing off a town's wealth.

Standing at the fountain in the previous picture I look to the right and see the sign for Seba Bank. Hmm, hundreds of banks around the world have branches in Switzerland, could this be a bank from Serbia? Also, lots of Russian enterprises (over 40) are based in Zug due to the low taxes. Of course I end up walking inside to find the answer.

Wow, back in 2019 SEBA bank was awarded by the Swiss financial regulator a banking and securities dealer license--becoming one of the first "crypto banks" in the world.

The lunchtime crowd enjoying outside dining in Zug's medieval old town.

Those three nude characters seem to be catching some rays.

What the heck? Here's another one of those newborn baby signs this one celebrating the birth of Matteo. However, upon closer inspection I see the date "2019". Come on, take it down, it's been three years.