SWITZERLAND – Alpine Vistas

Switzerland is an insanely scenic country.  And the International Olympic Committee knows where to pitch its headquarters – in Lausanne, Switzerland. With its story-tale view of Lac Leman with Les Jumelles mountainous silhouette rising from it, Lausanne must be one of the most beautiful spots on the globe.
And that’s where I found myself for another sabbatical year to spend with the Ecole Polytechnique Federal in Lausanne as a Visiting Professor. A French-speaking branch of the famous ETH Zurich, the EPFL has its campus in the Lausanne suburb. In their pragmatism, the Swiss do not hesitate to appoint foreigners even to permanent professorial posts so prestigious in their society.

And one can function and lecture in English – the whole campus, even outside of it, speaks it quite fluently.  My colleague there, quite a distinguished gentleman and scholar, graduated from the UC Berkeley and we had our bio-thermodynamics in common.
To provide a background connection, I should mention that he was also a high ranking officer in the Swiss army. Yes, the proverbially ‘neutral’ Switzerland has an army and quite a powerful one.  That’s because they believe in ‘neutrality with strength’ and it seems that everybody has a tank in their barns or at least a machine gun in the closet. And they keep honing their military skills on weekends.

When I was blissfully skiing one of the wonderful resorts close to Lausanne, a screaming duo of jet fighters suddenly popped low over the ridge and dove down into the valley, skimming the rugged mountain contour, much faster than my downhill speed. And I almost went into a similar dive head first hearing their engines mighty roar as they ascended from the valley again skimming the opposite mountains. Insane crazy pilots !
When I mentioned this experience in our EPFL cafeteria, my ‘army-professor’ casually remarked:  “Oh-yes, it must have been Carl from the neighbouring department, he is a jet-fighter pilot and they practice their runs on the weekend”. I also learned that their magnificent flying machines actually fly out of the mountain where they are hidden underground. Crazy pilots, crazy Swiss airforce !

Along the same line, as their eyes are pointed upwards admiring the gorgeous mountain vistas, a few tourists in Switzerland notice the cut-contours in the surface of Swiss highways. These are anti-tank obstacles that would rise up in case of danger. Also numerous mountain tunnels are constructed and equipped for their role as back-up military storage depots or hospitals. Well, just realize that there must be a reason why the pope’s safety is guarded by the Swiss guard.

But that’s all under the surface, none of it is conspicuous at all in the peace and tranquility of those majestic mountains providing challenging and view-rewarding hikes everybody undertakes at the echoing sounds of cow-bells from all over.

Apart from the Swiss military surprise, I was flabbergasted at the sight of an already retired, extremely rare and extremely powerful super-computer exhibited in one of the EPFL hallways. Only the Pentagon and NASA had a few similar ones. One can do some thermodynamics with such gizmos around.
We did what we could – and enjoyed the views and hikes too -



After the demise of the exquisite Swissair airline, “Swiss air” became a recent country brand term - in addition to famous “Swiss banking”, “Swiss knife”, “Swiss watch”, “Swiss cheese” and other quite effective marketing of the Swiss brand. This kind of national promotion breeds togetherness that is an envy of other nations.  

The “CH” label on Switzerland-registered cars means “Confederatio Helvetica” (latin). This is not common knowledge and the title dates back to 1291.

Switzerland is a fine example of modernized historically based democracy. Its four official languages do work for the country, as does the cantonal basis (26) and frequent referendums.

Apart from its breathtaking natural scenery, Switzerland is renown for hard-work ethics and togetherness of its people, excellent educational system, technological prowess and independence.

Switzerland is the birthplace of the Red Cross, home to numerous international organizations, including the second largest UN office. On the European level, it is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association, but notably it is not part of the European Union, nor the European Economic Area. However, the country does participate in the Schengen Area and the EU's single market through a number of bilateral treaties.

" Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno" (Latin) , " One for all, all for one" is a Swiss national motto (traditional), thus NOT necessarily an exclusive one of the three mousketeers.

And another "Swiss" delight - Swiss raclette, wonderful food togetherness - look :