Bern, Switzerland & Fondue

Fri, Aug 21st 2015
 Oh, what a day! Breakfast was a buffet of meat, cheeses, yogurt, croissants, cereal & hard boiled eggs. We all met at 9am for a short bus ride. We visited the Rose Garden which was nice but not enough time. There was an incredible view of the city! Not too many flowers blooming but I got some pics.



 Then we did a walking tour through Old Town. We saw the Parliament Building & Cathedral. The cathedral was amazing- 14th century. We weren't allowed to take pics inside. :( We saw the famous Clock Tower (Zytglogge) from the 1100's. Before each hour, mechanical animals & things do stuff- kind of like a cuckoo clock. The bell is cool- there's a man statue up there with a hammer that strikes it.



 We all split up to have the day on our own. A couple, Jay & Reda, wanted to go to a place on top of a mountain = Gurten. I was game as well as 2 other couples. We got bus passes at the hotel for $1.50 & headed out. They all wanted lunch to go at the supermarket. I went to the Harley Davidson store & got shirts! Then we got the bus to this place. The bus is really nice & efficient, kind of like the metro only on the road. It stops all along the way. You can hop on & off anytime. Nobody checked for tickets! I think people use it for free all the time. Just dumb tourists pay for it. :)
 So we get off & walk uphill to the Gurten Bahn- a funicular that took us up the mountain like a roller coaster. Holy cow was it steep!! When we got out, we were all amazed & speechless. The view of the entire city was crazy cool, like you couldn't get up any higher. We sat on benches & ate our lunches. They had nice walking paths so we roamed a bit. I was very tempted to roll down a grassy hill. This place was huge!



 Some people bring bikes up on the train & ride around paths. There was a huge kids section where they had a climbing area by a big tree with a bridge & slide. There was an area where they had mechanical toy stuff- interactive things to step on to make a ball move & crank handles that did stuff. Kids rode on little cars on a track & a train ride. We walked to a restaurant for drinks.



 Jay, Reda & I climbed up a tower to get even higher. WOW! It was spectacular! Just like being up the Eiffel Tower! But good Lord- there must have been 100 steps to get up there. I was huffing & puffing! But oh my word...the panoramic views!! It was totally worth it.



We came back to town & did some shopping. This was our last chance cuz we'll be out of town the next 2 days. I palled around with Ken & Deb from MA. They live 5 minutes from where Eva's draft test was! How crazy is that? What a small world. We had such a nice time. I spent a lot for a Swiss leather collar & leash & cowbell for Eva. We got lots of Swiss chocolate at the grocery store. It's so delicious, I'm going back for more! I stopped at a fine chocolate place to get some fancy stuff too.
 We unloaded at the hotel & went back out for dinner. We went to a place recommended by a shop keeper for the best fondue. It was a bit expensive ($23.50  a person plus extra $$ for veggies) but worth it for some authentic Swiss food. My feet & hips ache a little from all this walking but it's worth it too!