They are the most inscrutable of all the European races. Bret Dawson reports.
Theirs is a small country with a big heart. A paradise of order and efficiency and neutrality, nestled in the heart of the Alps.
They are the Swiss, and their country is Switzerland.
The Swiss are a fickle lot. They only call their country "Switzerland" when they are speaking English, and they do not speak English well or often. They prefer the languid, silky tones of German, Italian, and French.
As near-masters of industrial design, they produce chairs and kettles of exquisite beauty. Their water bottles are almost as lovely as the Italians'.
Briefly, in the 1980s, people who were not the Swiss envied the Swiss. For the Swiss had translucent plastic, and they used it to make watches. People who were not the Swiss thought this was the bee's knees.
Then the people who were not the Swiss discovered watches with glowing blue faces. These were also the bee's knees, but the Swiss did not manufacture them.
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