My trip to Switzerland

In July I took a 10 night holiday in the beautiful Jungfrau region of Switzerland, staying at the Sunstar Hotel in Wengen with Dan from work, Gary from uni and my mum (though she only came for the last 7 days). By day we explored the area and did some great walks and by night we enjoyed wonderful food and a couple of pints of the local brew. Thankfully, the photos are only of the day.
Some facts about Switzerland: Switzerland (German: Schweiz, French: Suisse, Italian: Svizzera, Romansh: Svizra), officially the Swiss Confederation (Confoederatio Helvetica in Latin, hence its ISO country code CH), is a landlocked country of 7.5 million people in Western Europe with an area of 41,285 km². Switzerland is a federal republic consisting of 26 states called cantons. Berne is the seat of the federal government and de facto capital,[5] while the country’s economic centres are its two global cities, Geneva and especially Zürich. Switzerland is bordered by Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. Switzerland is multilingual and has four national languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh. Switzerland has a long history of neutrality – it has not been at war since 1815 – and hosts many international organizations, including the Red Cross, the WTO and one of the U.N.’s two European offices.

Switzerland was not invaded during either of the World Wars. During World War I, Switzerland was home to Vladimir Illych Ulyanov (Lenin) and he remained there until 1917 ^[6]. Swiss neutrality was seriously questioned by the Grimm-Hoffmann Affair in 1917, but it was short-lived. In 1920, Switzerland joined the League of Nations, and in 1963 the Council of Europe.During World War II, detailed invasion plans were drawn up by the Germans,^[7] but Switzerland was never attacked. Switzerland was able to remain independent through a combination of military deterrence, economic concessions to Germany, and good fortune as larger events during the war delayed an invasion. Attempts by Switzerland’s small Nazi party to cause an Anschluss with Germany failed miserably. The Swiss press vigorously criticised the Third Reich, often infuriating its leadership. Under General Henri Guisan, a massive mobilisation of militia forces was ordered. The Swiss military strategy was changed from one of static defence at the borders to protect the economic heartland, to a strategy of organised long-term attrition and withdrawal to strong, well-stockpiled positions high in the Alps known as the Réduit. Switzerland was an important base for espionage by both sides in the conflict and often mediated communications between the Axis and Allied powers.

Switzerland has a stable modern mixed market economy, with a nominal per capita GDP that is higher than those of big western European economies, United States and Japan ranking 6th behind Luxembourg, Norway, Qatar, Iceland and Ireland. If adjusted for purchasing power parity it ranks 13th. The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report currently ranks Switzerland’s economy as the most competitive in the world.^[18] For much of the 20th century, Switzerland was the wealthiest country in Europe by a considerable margin.^[19] Its median household income in 2003 was an estimated 96,000 CHF, the equaivalent of roughly $54,000 USD in pucharsing power parity, considerably higher than in other post-industrial-countries, such as the U.S., Canada or UK.^[20]Switzerland is home to several large multinational corporations. Notable among these are Nestle, UBS AG, Zurich Financial Services, Credit Suisse, Novartis, ABB, and The Swatch Group. Switzerland is ranked as one of the most powerful economies in the world.^[19]Banking, tourism, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals are important industries in Switzerland. The manufacture of precision instruments for engineering is important, as is watch-making, and the biological sciences industries as well enjoy a high place in the Swiss economy. The many international organizations in Switzerland contribute to the Swiss economy and labor market.