Luzerne, Switzerland — After the great nation of France, our pilgrimage group arrived in the world's cleanest, greenest and most beautiful country of Switzerland, the land of Swiss knife and golden chocolates, as well as the most trustworthy Swiss Bank, where many of our richest taipans and tycoons, oligarchs and dirty politicians, as well as dictators and plunderers of third world countries are hiding their stolen trillions or gold bars and antique heirlooms and jewelries.
Switzerland is bounded in the north by Germany, in the east by Austria and the tiny Liechtenstein, in the west by France and in the south by Italy, our next destination. It is the headquarters of most of the United Nations special agencies, like the ILO (International Labor Organization, WHO (World Health Organization), ITU (International Telecommunications Union, WTO (World Trade Organization) and many other famous organizations. It is the country where the International Red Cross as well as the Red Crescent Movement was founded. It is also the homeland of Roger Federer who holds the unsurpassed records of 20 Grand Slams in men's tennis. Switzerland, according to the World Bank, holds the distinction of having the world's highest wealth per capita.
We are here in this charming hotel, the Astoria, nestled in the foot of the Alps Mountains, positioning ourselves to take the three-tiered cable car ride to the 11,000 meters above sea level, apex of Mount Titlis, perhaps the highest point in the whole Europe, and its ranges are being shared by France and Austria. Switzerland is officially known as the Swiss Confederation because this great and prosperous nation is an alliance of 26 small kingdoms in the medieval ages, now known as cantons. Its political capital is in Bern but most of its commercial and trade transactions are done in Zurich where one of the busiest international airports is located. It is quite a big country but more than two thirds of its territories are forests and mountains, and it has only a population of 8.5 million people.
Three of the top ten cities in the whole world in terms of quality of life: Zurich, Geneva and Basel. The entire environment is perfectly clean, without any trace of garbage nor pollution. The grazing lands are landscaped and perfectly maintained like a giant backyard of a gigantic castle or palace. The rivers and lakes are totally and absolutely clear and any one can even drink the water flowing from them without fear of being poisoned or be infected. I have not seen a single mosquito or fly or rodent and the city is like a well-maintained community of disciplined and well-behaved citizenry who loved their homeland and respect both nature and the laws.
I am amazed by the mountains and lakes, rivers and falls, and the hundreds of tunnels and I am awed how nature favors the people of this country. Switzerland is the only country in the world which was never been attacked by any other country both in the first and in the second world wars. It has maintained its stand as a neutral country, neither allied with US and NATO nor of Russia and its allies.