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 5th 2008Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Lauterbrunnen Yesterday, we quickly discovered that the Swiss really like Americans. On the 4th of July we woke up to breakfast in our hotel with American flag placemats and mini flag toothpicks in the muffins. I ... 10 photos[full story]
July 3rd 2008Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Lauterbrunnen Last we talked with everyone, we were just leaving Paris. We then spent the next couple of days in the Rhein Valley of Germany. We had never heard of it until planning this trip, but apparently its ... 10 photos[full story]
June 9th 2008Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Lauterbrunnen First and foremost, Switzerland is beautiful. If there is 1 country you ever visit, make it Switzerland. Don't go without a camera and don't leave without visiting a chocolate shop - they are everyw ... [full story]
June 24th 2007Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Lauterbrunnen The text from this entry was lost. It's one year later and I just discovered that the pics are still online. So I thought why not post them, in case some random travelers are curious to see what Lau ... 13 photos[full story]
May 17th 2008Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Lauterbrunnen Wow - the Jungfrau. What an amazing place!
We went up to the top of the Jungfrau Railway yesterday - very cool. It was built in the early 1900's and goes through (!) two of the mountains, ending up ... 8 photos[full story]
May 15th 2008Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Lauterbrunnen Well, ended up doing a couple of bigger days of diving than we had planned……
Had a late start out of Paris, and copped Peak hour traffic on the freeways at 4:30, but were able to sit ... 3 photos[full story]
April 22nd 2008Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Lauterbrunnen Day 3 Paris to Launterbrunnen
A travel day today, so not much to report, apart from ten hours of sitting still and some beautiful Swiss countryside. The mountains are simply stunning; it is like a ... 8 photos[full story]
February 20th 2008Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Lauterbrunnen Well, the Switzerland trip was fantastic! We made it to Luzern for a night, then headed to Interlaken for a night, then Lauterbrunnen for two nights, then finally to Bern for a night in the capital! ... [full story]
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