We arrived early at Bern. Bern is the capital city of Switzerland, is built around a crook in the Aare River. It has a population of 120,000. It traces its origins back to the 12th century, with medieval architecture preserved in the Altstadt (Old Town). The Swiss Parliament and diplomats meet in the Neo-Renaissance Bundeshaus (Federal Palace). The Französische Kirche (French Church) and the nearby medieval tower known as the Zytglogge both date to the 13th century. The river was beautiful and there were bears that you could see in an inclosure. We toured the streets and visited outside the house where Albert Einstein lived. We saw the cathedral and the clock tower. We then went back on the bus to a local farm. This farm was just so picturesque. It was a farm with buildings from the 15th century. We had a beautiful 3 course lunch with all local fresh produce, just delicious. Fresh milk, bread and cheese, topped off by meatloaf. We bid our farewell and our next stop was to see some huge waterfalls inside a glacier. We travelled by a steep cable car to get to the 10 cascades inside the mountain.
The Trummelbach alone drains mighty glaciers including the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau. It was loud and moved with such force. There were lots of steps (over 600) and the air was fresh. Our legs are still sore.
Later in the afternoon we arrived in Lucern and our the hotel where we are staying in is over 500 years old.
Lucerne, a compact city in Switzerland known for its preserved medieval architecture, sits amid snowcapped mountains on Lake Lucerne. Its colorful Altstadt (Old Town) is bordered on the north by 870m Museggmauer (Musegg Wall), a 14-century rampart. The covered Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge), built in 1333, links the Aldstadt to the Reuss River's right bank. This bridge is the oldest covered bridge in Europe and has old pictures in the peaks. They are all about death.
The first night we went to Stadkeller, a folklore theatre restaurant, an entertaining night with cheese fondue, beer drinking competitions, horn blowing and yodelling. It was a fun night and if you dropped your bread in the cheese fondue you had to kiss the person next to you. The old lady on the otherside of Mark left him panicked and he made sure he didn't drop his bread.
Lucern has a population of 400,000. It is a cool 5 degrees. We started off with a walking tour around the city and we visited a beautiful little church. We saw the old Château Gütsch on the hill that has experienced an exciting history, accommodating famous guests including kings and queens, diplomats, world stars and, of course, the citizens of the city of Lucerne.
It is now a hotel. Lucern has so much history and everything remains intact as they were not involved in our world wars. Documents that were released in 1990's revealed that Switzerland negotiated with the Nazi regime to allow the trains to travel through Switzerland to take the Jews to the concentration camps in Poland. This deal was so Switzerland would not be invaded by the Germans. A past they are not really proud of. Also Switzerland didn't have many resources that the Germans wanted, only water and timber. It has great shopping with lots and lots of watch shops and Mark did enjoy all the different knives you can buy here.
We then caught 2 cable cars to Mount Pilates, it takes about 30 minutes to get there. Unfortunately it was a little bit cloudy and visibility was not that good. It was cold and snowing. What an experience, we had a nice hot chocolate and hot coffee to warm us up. In the afternoon we wondered through the shops and found a little bar and tasted some local wines and beers. We had a final dinner for our tour that evening. We were lucky to meet 2 other Aussie couples from the Hunter Valley and Gold Coast and the six of us enjoyed many meals and drinks together. Some of our other tour passengers were not really people we would choose to socialise with. Lol.
We just loved Switzerland, the freshest of water, food and the cleanest of air. The beer and wine was also good. The people are so kind and friendly. The streets are clean and we didn't feel unsafe here at all. Everywhere we looked was just picture postcard. Such a wonderful experience and one we will not forget. It was expensive though and we were pleased we chose the tour option. The tour was really good and our hotels were centrally located. The tour guide was really nice, she spoke 7 different languages and her knowledge was extensive. Next stop Nice.
Robert
2019-05-16
A beautiful country! but it was never ravaged by war? movie shots are interesting?