a note from me, the Swiss Miss (for now)

hallo from Switzerland!

i'm in the capital of Switzerland, the town where every Toblerone bar in the world is made, a town of only 122,000 people, a town called Bern which means bear.

a few interesting facts a i learnt about Switzerland:

- Switzerland is a very neutral country and has not been involved in war for about 200 years but it's one of the most paranoid countries in the world, they have the biggest fear of war, they refuse to the join the EU and only just joined the UN in 2002.

- every man in Switzerland is in the Swiss army which means every man has a gun and if they are stopped in the street by an army official they have to on the spot say where their gun is located and where the nearest gun access point is.

- apparently, word on the street is that every access into the country (road, tunnel, river etc.) is lined with dynamite so that they can block access to the country if they feel under threat or war breaks out.

- our tour guide told us that every building has to have as much floor space below ground as above ground, i don't know if this is true but every building definitely has an underground. 

- supposedly, Switzerland has 25 years worth of food stored incase they have to block themselves off from the world.

- there are heaps of man made hills throughout the country side and these are actually disguised plane hangers that you can't make out from the air.

also, i have learnt that this is one of the most expensive places on earth. ouch.

i love photo's like this which have hidden messages you don't discover till later on

Bern has hundreds of fountains with water good enough to drink

LOVE Pez, almost bought a Hello Kitty one in Paris, here is someones colourful collection

Pablo the bear (Bern has a big association to bears hence the name) and there are a lot of clocks here (think Swiss watches)

an overly priced, way too rich meal but we tried traditional Swiss food: cheese fondue and potato rösti