Switzerland

Fülszöveg

SWITZERLAND
This little country has a population of only six million and covers an area of a mere 41,300 square kilometres, but what incredible diversity it can offer! Countless lakes, towering peaks, unspoilt natural valleys; towns like Geneva, Zurich or Basle, modern but not outrageously so, providing their inhabitants with a rich cultural life and boasting many museums and galleries; beautiful cathedrals and castles, dating from the IVliddle Ages; homes which range from mountain chalets to urban developments, built from avant-garde architectural plans; a first-class communications network, whether it be railways, teleferics, roads or air links from the international airports.
Foreigners may attribute whatever epithets and characteristics they like to the country, but the Swiss remain unperturbed by such commonplaces: a country which is known for its watches, its chocolate and its cheeses; the oldest democracy in Europe; its carefully-calculated neutrality during the two world... Tovább

Fülszöveg

SWITZERLAND
This little country has a population of only six million and covers an area of a mere 41,300 square kilometres, but what incredible diversity it can offer! Countless lakes, towering peaks, unspoilt natural valleys; towns like Geneva, Zurich or Basle, modern but not outrageously so, providing their inhabitants with a rich cultural life and boasting many museums and galleries; beautiful cathedrals and castles, dating from the IVliddle Ages; homes which range from mountain chalets to urban developments, built from avant-garde architectural plans; a first-class communications network, whether it be railways, teleferics, roads or air links from the international airports.
Foreigners may attribute whatever epithets and characteristics they like to the country, but the Swiss remain unperturbed by such commonplaces: a country which is known for its watches, its chocolate and its cheeses; the oldest democracy in Europe; its carefully-calculated neutrality during the two world wars; the "gnomes of Zurich" who lay down the law in banking

matters; its orderliness, its wealth, its cleanliness, but also a certain boring dullness which emanates from it.
Besides all this, there is the complicated political system of this Confederation of Swiss states, which manages to have twenty-two cantons and four half-cantons, three languages (or four, counting Romanche), and two official churches. This may put the layman off, and may seem to the uninitiated to be monotonously lacking in interest and excitement.
Switzerland takes no notice. It goes quietly on its way, knowing that it possesses one enormous asset, which has survived the passage of centuries, withstood the winds from the east and west, and disasters from the north and south, and resisted the jealousy and greed of other nations. Its beauty, that is its prime asset.
Should one then be surprised at the rather naive patriotism of its citizens, when great writers like Rousseau, Byron, Goethe and Schiller were delighted by the Swiss countryside? A delight shared, indeed, by all those who come from far and wide to visit the country.
Vissza