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THE HERALD OUTLOOK Saturday May Page 13 Switzerland is more than cheese chocolate and clocks By VINCE Travel Thomson News Service You know of course how most of us carry on when outsiders describe Canada as the land of mountains moose and Mounties Well the Swiss are similarly miffed when the rest of the world dismisses Switzerland as a country of cheese chocolate and cuckoo clocks The towering and eternally snowcapped Alps are equally pro minent in the worlds mental im age of this landlocked republic so much so that the attractions of its eminently livable cities tend to be forgotten For one of Europes smallest countries about 16000 square miles 65million inhabitants its surprising that Switzerlands cities are so diverse That diversity stems from the tangled historic relationships between Switzerland and the larger countries that sur round it but it is maintained today by the linguistic and cultural mix About per cent of the Swiss have German as their mother tongue for another per cent its French and for per cent its Italian Those are official languages is a na tional language confined to a relatively small group in the rural canton of Grisons The German French and Italian linguistic groups impart their own colorful characteristics to their particular regions but always with a unique Swiss overlay Here then is a look at a leading city in each of the official- language areas Each city makes the most of its setting on an attrac tive lake fed by Alpine rivers GERMAN LUCERNE Lucerne is the most scenic and historic city of Germanspeaking Switzerland or perhaps of the country as a whole It has grown and prospered along the shores of the river and Lake Lucerne and almost m the shadow of the 2500metre Mount Pilatus Its most famous landmarks are two covered wooden footbridges spanning the river in the heart of the city the Kapellbrucke with its eightsided stone watertower in the middle built in 1333 and the Sprauerbrucke dating from J408 Both are handsomely decorated with centuriesold overhead pain tings Many visitors to Lucerne happily put in a full day at the lakefront Swiss Transport Museum a fascinating and allembracing col lection of airplanes together with Swissair crew uniforms over the decades locomotives cable cars motorcycles and so on But marry more come to Lucerne where tourism is almost the sole industry to steep themselves in the Teutonic charm of its Old Town where the richly painted townhouses of ancient German aristocrats and merchants still stand after all the centuries Swiss hotels are noted for their elegance none more so than the celebrated Palace which for 83 years has gazed serenely out across the lake toward snow- peaked Mount FRENCH GENEVA Geneva the foremost city of Frenchspeaking Switzerland is just inside the SwissFrench border where the great Rhone river flows Into Lake Leman Not enough has been said or writ ten about the beauty of Genevas many green and leafy parks and its inviting lakeside promenMes Rather the rest of the world ems to think of Geneva only in terms of its historic role as the city of the Protestant Reformation preached by Jean Calvin as the site of countless multinational public agencies from the League of Na tions on through its offshoots and successors and as a birthplace of the humanitarian movement that produced the Geneva Conven tion to ensure the civilized treat ment of prisoners of war Naturally as a destination fre quented by diplomats convention delegates and taxexempt func tionaries with generous expense accounts Geneva has an array of deluxe and firstclass hotels that is probably unmatched by any other city of its size people These facilities tend to be built in the grand manner of the Belle Epo- and to take advantage of the view over sparkling Lake as does the dignified Hotel dAngleterre on both counts RED CROSS For a visitor staying in any such topflight hotel it may be unsettl ing to touf the stark new Interna tional Museum of the Red Cross on a suburban thoroughfare facing the Geneva headquarters of the United Nations The Red Cross Museum open since last November graphically depicts the human tragedy of war with special emphasis on the suf fering of the wounded and prisoners of war Henry a Genevabased author and humanitarian was the leading spirit in the founding of the Red Cross movement 125 years ago Also of interest to museumgoers is the elegant Watch and Clock Museum which this summer is holding a special exhibition of rare and expensive products of Philippe one of whose watches was recently auctioned off at a record price of million Cana dian equivalent The next best thing to a visit to Genevas Watch Museum is to stroll the fashionable shopping streets of any major Swiss city windowshopping at the countless displays of beautiful and pricey products of Switzerlands famous watchcraftsmen ITALIAN LUGANO Lugano on the international Swiss and Italian lake of the same name is the primary city of the Italianspeaking Swiss canton of Ticino Its subtropical setting against a northern background of an Alpine range makes Lugano a painters delight The border between the two countnes runs in an eccentric and apparently senseless fashion throughout but theres Ashgrove WI discusses Alzheimers By DORIS McNABB WI For their Family and Consumer Affairs meeting the Ashgrove Womens Institute met at the home of Muriel McClure on May 16 with 19 members and nine visitors at tending President Pat Stark chaired the meeting In reply to the roll call What I can do to keep mentally alert members suggested using their heads instead of a calculator exer cising reading and looking after their physical health The motto Keep your face towards the sunshine and the shadows will fall behind was given by Betty Brownridge She read excerpts from Greg Clarks book of Apples in which he told how he made a lifetime friend and even met Franklin Roosevelt because he always looked ahead of himself and not behind Carney introduced the guest speaker Kathlene Crit tenden- who spoke on Alzheimers Disease Kathlene is a nurse at Credit Valley Hospital and a member of the Board of the Alzheimers Society for Halton and She said very few families are not affected by the disease as per cent of people over will develop it We must be optimistic and remember the other per cent will escape it Support groups have been set up and there are groups in Milton Ac ton and Oakville They help the family and support the caregiver who is looking after the spouse or relative with the disease A video narrated by Dr Donald McLachlen followed the life of a patient and his family as they learned to accept and cope with the disease Two letters reply to our re- quest for a sign to identify the rural cluster were read by Doreen She noted that the location of Ashgrove can be seen on the 1988 OntarioCanadian Official Road Map Those members who took the landscaping course will be creating a new flower bed at Church Mary Jane outlined the plans for the first work meeting on May The correspondence read by assistant secretary Bird in cluded a letter from Beth Burnett announcing a day of leadership development to be held on June at United Church and the spring newsletter from Share outlining thefr programs Members were reminded that Wednesday May 31 is tion Day and each one should do 15 minutes of exercise and call in their activity to the Hills rec department Mary Jane Wingfield reported that the POWER garage sale had been most successful and that they would still welcome new members The meeting closed with a social hour and lunch served by Ethel Wilson and Doris McNabb GREEN MEADOWS NURSERY GARDEN CENTER For All Your Gardening Needs 8731200 WfM SAVE in MAY Federal Sales Tax Goes Up June 1st CADILLAC 320 QUEEN ST BRAMPTON CRAFT SHOP jry MAIN STREET SOUTH Sears Agency 310 GEORGETOWN LIMO SERVICE M ELEGANT CARS FOR ELEGANT PEOPLE ATANAFFORDABLEPRICE 8732022 nothing haphazard about the im peccable public gardens that line much of Luganos lengthy But it takes more than land scapes and a pleasant yearround climate to attract the tourist trade these days Lugano like Geneva has more than its share of grand hotels including the famous five- star centuryold Splendide Royal Its Old Town is a colorful maze of crowded walkways with in teresting shops And it offers an almost endless program of high- calibre music festivals from classic to jazz But at the top of Luganos list of manmade attractions stands the noted Villa Favonta a museum reputed to hold the worlds second- greatest collection of 14th- to 19th- century surpassed only by the collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth it is said GOLD AND SILVER Currently on display until July is a special exhibition of centuries- old gold and silver jewelry and ar tifacts from the private collection of the Villa owner jet- setter Baron ThyssenBomemisza The museum in the suburb of is best reached by one of the frequent shuttle ferries that crisscross Lake Lugano A distinct contrast is in store for visitors who take the ferry to the opposite shore a few minutes away to see the Swiss Customs Museum Entire villages in once depended for their livelihood upon the SwissItalian smuggling trade and this absorbing museum shows how Swiss Customs agents dealt with the illicit trade or sometimes lost their lives in the attempt Lugano and its neighboring Italianspeaking cities such as Locarno and have within the past decade become much more accessible to visitors to mountainringed Switzerland with the completion of the St Gotthard Pass road tunnel and the inaugura tion of a feeder airline Crossair partly owned by Swissair and operating Saabbuilt How to help those orphaned animals With spring fast approaching veterinarians can count on receiv ing a number of phone calls about orphaned baby birds and rabbits and squirrels In our concern for the welfare of these little ones we frequently rescue them them home and in so doing almost guarantee that they will die baby birds and animals have very demanding requirements which can only really be met by their parents If such a tiny creature appears to have been abandoned it should if possible be put back in its nest with the minimum of handling Next best is to DO NOTHING just observe it from a distance for at least hours almost always the For All Your Fine China Silver Crystal 227 MAIN ST MILTON 8780050 parents are watching from nearby Everything possible should be done to make the area safe a cat or dog threatening to harm the lit tle creature can be removed from the scene and kept away If the baby turns out to be truly abandoned the kindest approach is to take it to your local veterinarian In many cases they will look after it at no charge but this should only be done as a last resort Injured wild birds can be taken to the Wild Bird Clinic at the On tario Veterinary College in Guelph The phone number is 5198238840 MM meat chop IOPEN7DAYSI 8732151 Sun 1 Mon Wed 9am 6pm Saturday Are You a Run- Down Dieter Most diets focus only on calories or worse draw their entire regimen from only one of the food groups When you begin a program that falls into one of these categories your body misses some of the nutrients it needs to function properly your energy level drops and you feel tired all the time The only way around this loss of energy is to focus on nutrients and not calories and to see that you eat a balanced diet At Diet Center you learn to eat a people find that while they are on wide variety of fresh foods that are the Diet Center Program they packed with the nutrients your body ally have more energy than they can needs to function properly Many remember ever having Business Number Home Number 8530780 Mill St Georgetown Personal Consultation By Appointment S3