Switzerland, Day Zwei

When we woke up this morning and looked outside, we could tell it was going to be iffy taking the lift up to the top of Shilthorn. Still, we got ready, ate quickly and booked it down to the tourist office to buy our tickets and hop on the bus. When we got there we discovered the office didn't open for 15 minutes but the bus left in 5. So we thought we missed our chance. Then we looked at the schedule more closely and realized another bus left at 9:20. Perfect. But as we waited for the office to open, we checked out the livecam of the Schilthorn and everything was covered in clouds, it was 2 degrees C and snowing. We decided not to spend 140 francs to look at whiteness. As Jason said, we'll do it next time.

We got over our disappointment by hanging out in the cozy TV lounge of our hotel and then taking an earlier train into Interlaken. We wanted to window shop, but Interlaken Ost was not near the town center so we walked over to the Coop instead and had a tasty lunch. As we waited for our train into Bern Jason took a nap and I inwardly shunned the rainy weather.

As our train pulled into the Bern station I eagerly looked for Martina, and when I saw her I started to wave madly. Thankfully she waved madly back. :) It was nice to see a familiar face, and good to have someone to show us around. She helped us navigate the station, as it is in a state of construction because the city is hosting the Europe Cup next summer and expecting loads of tourists. On the way we were able to sample leckerli, a traditional (and delicious) Swiss treat. It sort-of reminded me of gingerbread. Sort of.

From there (as the weather had temporarily cleared) we headed into the Old Town --- the original city mostly focused around the Aare River. A fire in the early 1400s forced the city to rebuild, and they used beautiful sandstone. We saw the old prison, the city cathedral (gorgeous, and perhaps the first Protestant church we have toured) and walked under the trademark arcades. We saw the clock in action at 16:00 and then headed towards the river and the city mascots --- the bears. Two bears live in pits near the river and people came come and look down on them. As it had started to rain again, we couldn't linger long, but we got a few pictures of these creatures. We also figured out that they are older than Jason by 4 months. :)

Martina wanted to show us a movie on the history of Bern that started at 17:20, so we sat in a cafe and had a very tasty Swiss soda called Rivella that is made of 30% milk until the show started. It was pretty entertaining, with a film and a model of the city and lights and water oh my --- all in about 15 minutes.

From the film pits we walked up to the Rosengarten (rose garden) and ate at a restaurant overlooking the old city. It was a gorgeous view, and fantastic food. For me, it was good to eat something not involving pasta or potatoes. :) Jason had sausage and potatoes, but didn't eat his spinach. :) After we ate, we talked for a good hour and then the three of us split the most scrumptious strawberry sundae of our lives. Mmmm good. Why is the food, even simple things, so much better over here??

After our meal, we took a bus back to the station because it was chilly, picked up our bags from the lockers and said our goodbyes to Martina as we boarded our bus. She is such a nice girl (and a great tour guide!), and will be visiting Idaho with her family next year. I will be glad to see her. It was a short trip to our stop and a shorter walk to our pension. Somehow I booked us a room with two twin beds --- not very romantic, but perfect for resting up before 4 nights in Paris.

Sidenote: it barely dawned on us that today is Independence Day at home. When it did, I became quite homesick as we always spend today with extended family and friends. And what is July 4th with no fireworks? Alas, it was just another rainy day here in Switzerland. We'll have to make up for it next year. To our families, we love and miss you. Have fun celebrating. :)