BARCELONA - Outside my window, Europe is whizzing past. First Holland, then Belgium … France … Switzerland … Italy … Spain. Small towns, their church spires sticking up like pins on a map, pass by in the blink of the eye.

I hang over an enormous copper bowl cradled in a hammock like a tea bag waiting to be submerged. My spa therapist Julia encourages me to relax. So I close my eyes and take a deep, nervous breath in anticipation of what’s to come.

Famous for innovation, precision and punctuality, the Swiss have again broken ground, in more ways than one.