In the year 2006, my mom was transferred to Switzerland because of her work. Because of this, my dad and my three older siblings moved there as well. A few years later, in 2008, I was born there. After staying there for a few months, we left for the Philippines in May 2009. Before we left we were given this plate with the cities of Switzerland on it in order for us to remember the fun memories we had there. This Swiss plate contains some of the popular cities in Switzerland. The several coats of arms around the flag of Switzerland represent the cantons (provinces or regions) in Switzerland. We use the plate for wall decoration now. It is a ceramic plate with a diameter of 19 cm.

Each city, town, and canton contains a memory of our stay in Switzerland. We stayed in Lausanne, which is a city in the southern part of Switzerland. Lausanne is a city on a lake and is in the canton of Vaud, a french-speaking region. There are a lot of tourist attractions in Lausanne like the International Olympic Committee headquarters, the Olympic Museum, Château d'Ouchy, and Promenade, and the Place de la Palud.

Another city that we always visited is Geneva. Geneva is both a canton and a city in Switzerland. It lies at the southern tip of the expansive lake of Geneva. In this part of Switzerland, they speak the German dialect. It would take you around 47 min to travel from Lausanne to Geneva. This city or canton is surrounded by the Alps and Jura mountains. It also has views of Mont Blanc. Mont Blanc is one of the highest mountains in the Alps and Western Europe, rising 4,807.81 m above sea level. Another place that you can visit in Geneva is Jet d'Eau (Water Jet), Temple de Saint-Pierre, and Place du Bourg-de-Four. In 2007, my family went to Geneva to visit the United Nations Office Headquarters there. They were invited by a Filipino family friend who works there and got a tour of the entire office.

We also visited Lucerne multiple times during our stay there. Like Geneva, Lucerne is also both a canton and a city. It is a canton in the central part of Switzerland and it is also known for its museums, lakes, and peaks such as Mount Pilatus and Rigi. In the city of Lucerne, they also speak German, but the main spoken language is the local variant of the Alemannic Swiss German dialect. Lucerne is also known as one of the old towns in Switzerland. My family visited one of the popular museums in Lucerne, The Museum of Transportation. This museum displays a large collection of railway locomotives, vehicles, boats, and aircraft, as well as exhibits from the field of communications.

Truly, Switzerland is one of the most beautiful countries in Europe. It has amazing mountains, lakes and a beautiful village, which makes up most of the beautiful sceneries there. They also speak four different languages such as French, German, Italian, and Romansh. Surely there are many places that you can go to when you visit Switzerland. These places are what is shown on the plate.

References:

9 reasons why Switzerland s the best country. (n.d). Studyinginswitzerland. https://studyinginswitzerland.com/why-switzerland-is-best-country/.

14 Top-Rated Attractions & Things to Do in Geneva. (n.d). Planet ware. https://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions-/geneva-ch-ge-gen.htm.

16 Top-Rated Attractions & Things to Do in Lausanne. (n.d). Planet ware. https://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions-/lausanne-ch-vd-lau.htm.

Arago, Marivic. Switzerland. By Angela Arago. Oct 2021.

Geneva. (n.d).Britannica.https://www.britannica.com/place/Geneva-Switzerland.

GENEVA FACTS FIGURES. (n.d). Hello Switzerland. https://www.helloswitzerland.ch/magazine/-/geneva-facts-figures#:~:text=Almost%20two%2Dthirds%20of%20the,French%2C%20and%208.34%25%20Italian.

Lake Geneva. (n.d). Switzerland. https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/destinations/lake-geneva/.

Lausanne Switzerland. (n.d). Britannica.https://www.britannica.com/place/Lausanne.

Lucerne. (n.d). Switzerland. https://www.myswitzerland.com/en/destinations/lucerne/.

Mont Blanc mountain, Europe. (n.d). Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Mont-Blanc-mountain-Europe.

Switzerland. (n.d). Traveler. https://www.cntraveler.com/gallery/most-beautiful-countries-in-the-world.