..............The Days in Manchester............: The mighty Alps of Switzerland

Lucerne, Switzerland

Did you know...

...that 70% of the country is occupied by the Alps?
...that the capital city is Bern, not Zurich or Geneva like many people think?
...that swiss people are very attached to cows? yeah. they love them. all their cows have a bell around their necks and they all have names.

Yup, Switzerland is also a very neutral country. They have never fought a war with an external party in the last 500 years. It is probably the only country in Europe who did not take a side, nor was it touched during the whole of World War 2. The main reason is because the swiss armed force, or swiss military, is one of the most advanced in the world. They have the most up to date weapons, tactics and virtually the whole swiss male population is trained and ready to fight. Also, the swiss people are nothing short of paranoid. and i mean PARANOID. They are so afraid of people attacking them, that they practice recall EVERY MONTH. Everyone is expected to know where their marshalling point is, whether it be from home, or from the office, they must rush to their marshalling point when called upon. And they do this every month. yup. They are paranoid.

They also have air fields all over the country. We saw a few on the drive into Luzern, and they are covered in grass and the hangars look "run down", but they are actually operationally ready. Yes. Paranoia. They also have bunkers on the hills, and hospitals to go with them! But yes, they have never fought a war in the last 500 years, and probably never would. Well, they were left out of WW2 also because they were to powerful. Hitler decided that there was no need to take over Switzerland, plus he didn't have the resources nor energy to fight such a powerful foe.

The reason why the swiss are so good with army knives and watches is this. They are very detailed, or particular, or picky, or fussy, or called it whatever you want, but to me, they are just anal. Every thing must be perfect to them. It must be JUST right. not one bit more, not one bit less. Thats why they are such organized people and their cities, just as organized.
Lucerne is a very serene place. Its beautiful in a peaceful, quiet way. It doesnt have much sights, but it does have Lucerne Lake and the backdrop of the towering Swiss Alps. It is also very safe at night, partly because there is hardly anyone on the roads. But you do feel very safe at night to just walk on the streets.

When we were at Lucerne, we had a very strange experience. We stayed in jail. Well, what was formerly a jail at least. It was defunct in 1998 (not very long ago if you think about it), but it was not exactly the hard core criminals kinda jail, more like a remand prison. It was an experience lah.. just kinda freaky though. When you off the lights, the whole room goes pitch dark. Quite hair-raising.

Oh yeah, one more thing. besides chocs and watches, the swiss are also very good for their dairy products, one of which is cheese. They have really good cheese fondue, or so our tour guide says.. so some of our tour group people went to eat the famed cheese fondue on wilhelm tell (those who dont know him, he is the guy who shot the apple on his son's head with a crossbow). Wilhelm Tell is a boat docked at the pier and is a restaurant famous for their chocolate and cheese fondues. So our friends had some, and guess what, the bill came and they all got a shock of their lives. 4 people had a total bill of 114 francs (1 euro = 1.54 francs). 8 people had a bill of 200+ and another grp with abt 10 people have 300+ francs. So those of you going to Switz, please arm yourselves with lots of cash.

not much pictures i have of lucerne though, cos most of the city looks the same.

Taken on the drive into Lucerne.

Very very picturesque.

The Swiss Alps. The average height of all the Alps in Switz is about 3000m.

When we first reached Luzern.

The Lion Monument for the 400 Swiss guards who gave their life for King Louis XVI and his wife Marie Antoinette, who weren't in the castle. The guards died for nothing. Mark Twain said this is the saddest monument he has ever seen in all his travels. The Lion represents the swiss guards and it is mortally wounded by a spear and his dying. When we were there, it did look quite a sad monument.

Lake Lucerne. A huge lake and one of the most beautiful in the whole of Switzerland.