Background: The Swiss Confederation was founded in 1291 as a defensive alliance among three cantons. In succeeding years, other localities joined the original three. The Swiss Confederation secured its independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1499. Switzerland's sovreignty and neutrality have long been honored by the major European powers, and the country was not involved in either of the two World Wars. The political and economic integration of Europe over the past half century, as well as Switzerland's role in many UN and international organizations, has strengthened Switzerland's ties with its neighbors. However, the country did not officially become a UN member until 2002. Switzerland remains active in many UN and international organizations, but retains a strong commitment to neutrality.
July 22nd 2008Europe » Switzerland » North-West » Lucerne Rajesh woke me up at 7 am banging on my door and startling the other girls in my room, who asked me if he was my boyfriend. He was showered and ready and gave me a half hour to meet him for breakfast ... 8 photos[full story]
July 20th 2008Europe » Switzerland » North-West » Lucerne July 7
Tobias (Toby) gave us a map of Luzern. It is a fucking small city. He told us we could see the city in about 3 hours. And that was entirely true. We loved every minute of it, though. The cit ... [full story]
July 18th 2008Europe » Switzerland » North-West » Gimmelwald Picking up where we left off, canyoning was a lot of fun although we had to cut the day short (it was supposed to be 8 hrs total) as it was raining and the water levels were getting too high (we only ... [full story]
July 17th 2008Europe » Switzerland » North-West » Gimmelwald We arrived in Switzerland after having taken 4 trains (7 hours total) from Munich to Stuttgart, to Zurich, to Bern, to Interlaken - it was an unintentionally fun day as we boarded the two best trains ... [full story]
July 16th 2008Europe » Switzerland » North-West » Berne I can't decide what I am most impressed by in Switzerland, whether it's the natural beauty, the kindness of the people on an individual basis, or the culture/mentality of country. All I know is that ... [full story]
July 16th 2008Europe » Switzerland » North-West » Berne you can relax now...we made it to switzerland on saturday!! however there were times we didn't think we would make it to berne, because when we first booked our ticket in france the man was out to lun ... [full story]
July 2nd 2008Europe » Switzerland » North-West » Lucerne PHOTOS TO COME
Today is a complete blur as the antibiotics kicked in. Thankfully a travel day so spent most of the day dozing on the back seat of the bus. The guests headed into Locarno for 2 hou ... [full story]
July 7th 2008Europe » Switzerland » North-West » Berne Der 4. Juli 2008 - der Tag von unserem Abschiedsfest. In 3 Wochen sind wir weg und weilen schon in Ecuador, da wurde es Zeit, von Euch allen Abschied zu nehmen. Wir haben uns sehr, sehr gefreut, dass ... 10 photos[full story]
June 30th 2008Europe » Switzerland » North-West » Berne 29. Juni 2008: mitten in der ersten Tiefschlafphase um 7 Uhr morgens klingelte der Wecker. Wieso auch sind wir am Samstag erst um 3 Uhr ins Bett. 4 Stunden Schlaf sind schon extrem wenig. Dabei war h ... 18 photos[full story]
June 23rd 2008Europe » Switzerland » North-West » Berne June 21, 22, 2008
BERN / INTERLAKEN, Switzerland
Our first day in Bern was Sunday. A perfect day to visit downtown and all the shops. They are nearly all closed on Sundays !!!
We did a go ... [full story]
Map of Switzerland
Switzerland's Flag
