"Tour" Day 3 - Bern, Switzerland

Note : Please read the previous blogs to catch up on any of the adventures you may have missed!

Thursday, September 7th

So we woke up the next morning to an awesome feast awaiting us in the grand dining room of the Chateau. The table was set for 10, so all guests ate at the same dinner table (but you could come and go as you pleased). The breakfast consisted of granola, pastries, homemade jams, REAL American-style coffee, yogurts, and fresh bread. When we were all full and satisfied, we packed up and left the Burgundy wine region….on to the chocolate and cheese capital of the world!

We drove 3-4 hours to our next destination and the capital of Switzerland, Bern. (This city was recommended to us from one of my friends from EY who works in the Zurich, Switzerland office.) The drive to Bern was really scenic and beautiful which made the time go by quickly...also making the time go quickly was the fact that Audrey was feeling “chatty,” so the conversations were flowing and bouncing around from one thing to the next.

As we were pulling off our exit for Bern, the directions said to go left. Some how I got distracted and turned right. Long story short, we found our hotel but after a 30 minute unexpected tour of the city! The guy at the front desk must have sensed my frustration, because I said “Look, I parked right down the street…please tell me I can keep my car there for the night.” Welp, he just told me to park in the spot right in front of the hotel…even better for unloading (and re-loading) the luggage!

We asked our concierge for a map of the city (because a map is the key to successful touring) and he gave us a nice walking route; basically we were going to be making a big circle around the whole city. First we went through a gigantic rose garden-slash-park at the top of a hill overlooking the city. Needless to say, this place provided a great view of Bern. Also, the roses were all sorts of random colors that I haven’t seen before in a rose (aka “Something really cool that I didn‘t even know about!” - Frank the Tank). The whole area was just very green, the river in the valley below was flowin’ and the hills in the background were a rollin’. Kinda sounds like a CCR song don’t it?

Then we walked past the visitors’ center, which has a huge cage/pit with a few very large bears (the bear is the local “mascot“ in Bern). Moving right along we went window shopping on some of the pedestrian streets, saw the famous chiming bell tower, went into a church to see the architecture and then stopped to grab something to eat in the city’s central square.

Unfortunately, we had a crazy server who was a bit annoying and liked to get in our business. For example, Andrea said to US at the table that she just wanted a burger and our server butted in and said something like, “Oh no. You don’t want that. You can get that in America.” Then she went on and on about something that none of us understood. When we actually ordered, Fred was like “I want THIS salad, and that’s what I want.“ Needless to say, we ate and then got out of there before she followed us….

We walked on a few more cobble stone roads and stopped at a few vendors and markets. During that time frame we picked up some seriously good chocolate. Fernando and I were also doing some serious window shopping for Swiss Watches. Honestly…you’d think that they would be cheaper in Switzerland, right? Not quite, my friends. At minimum, they were 1,000 CHF (Swiss Francs)…that’s roughly $850. Ouch!

Anyways, then we went down a few other streets and then started heading back to our hotel. The city was hopping! It was around 5:30-6:00pm and people must have just gotten off work. Big Fred held off the crowds by putting up a block with his crutches, so that was key!

Side note on the crutches. Freddie was only supposed to be putting about 25% pressure on his left knee. Sometimes he would see something and in mid-stride (e.g., when his crutch should have been supporting him) and say “Look at that!” and point with his crutch…as he kept walking. Needless to say, we got a couple of funny looks from people who must have thought he was faking it!! I could only chuckle at the man!

As we were walking back we crossed over a bridge, and we stopped to look down at the river. We were probably 150 meters up and you could see all the way to the bottom of the river! The water was crystal clear and beautiful and the current was ridiculously strong…I have never seen anything like it before. So this is what fresh mountain water looks like? Could you imagine standing on Columbia Bridge and seeing to the bottom of the Great Miami River?? Not so much.

As we were about to move on, I glanced back down to the river and noticed the strangest thing…people started floating by! Honestly, we were standing up there and then 4 people came swimming, actually floating, down the river! I was so jealous and wanted to just float down the river with them. It looked so cool and was probably the most awesome feeling!

I got over my amazement and jealousy when we start walking on because Ag and I had seen a beer garden at the top of the hill we were headed towards. Well, of course we should go see how the view is from that angle (and grab a beer in the meantime…). We get to the top, grab seats and take in the brilliant view. Rolling hills, bell towers and church steeples to be seen, people buzzing around below, it was great.

After a few beers we headed back to the hotel, stopped in for just a few minutes and then walked up the street to a small Italian pizza joint for dinner. After our pizza we headed to bed ready for tomorrow’s adventures: Interlaken and Luzern, Switzerland.