Luzerne, Switzerland 102_0762.jpg digital photograph by Ted Szukalski
helvetiorum fidei ac virtuti
As I look at this moving photograph of a sculpture of dying lion in Luzerne all I can think of is a scene from a gift shop I witnessed, where an American tourist was purchasing a T-shirt. She liked one particular design but was really annoyed with the wording underneath, which did not say Swiss or Switzerland but only had letters CH. She was arguing with the shop attendant that since they are Swiss that is what they should put on these T-Shirts and not something totally unrelated.
To everyone's amusement the national pride took better of the sales person, who politely but very decisively said the letters CH stand for Confoederatio Helvetica (Swiss Confederation), which has existed since 13th century, long before any one from USA could come and ask for silly T-shirts. Remorseful and ashamed tourist bought the T-shirt and left quietly.
"Bertel Thorvaldsen's famous carving of a dying lion (the Lion Monument, or Löwendenkmal) is found in a small park just off Lowenplatz. The carving commemorates the hundreds of Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when the mob stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris." - source: Wikipedia
Photo Properties
| Make | Canon | Model | Canon EOS 30D |
| Aperture Value | f/3.2 | Color Space | sRGB |
| Exposure Bias Value | 0 EV | Exposure Program | Aperture Priority |
| Flash | No Flash | Focal Length | 53 mm |
| ISO | 400 | Metering Mode | Average |
| Shutter Speed Value | 1/15 sec | Date/Time | Wed 25 Jul 2007 04:33:37 AM EDT |
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