Country #60: Switzerland
A few years back, a well-travelled friend of mine casually asked me how many countries I had been to. I brought out a notepad, made a list, deliberated over it for awhile and gave him an answer. He then produced his slightly shorter list, which he had had at the ready all along. What's ensued from that day has become an ongoing competition with an ever evolving set of rules and regulations (ie. merely landing at an airport does not count, you must leave the airport property; landing on a country's territory and landing on the country itself only counts as one; countries must be recognized by the UN) and not to mention, the occasional accusation of cheating. Not content to play with just one person, I have thrust my atlas at many an unwilling participant and demanded that they tally up their "scores". The result is that there are now about a dozen of us playing Count the Countries. That makes it especially thrilling when I