Our Trip Blog

The Events of Sunday, July 17, 2011

                I awoke at 5:30 feeling refreshed and ready to explore. So I walked behind our Swiss chalet apartment and wandered on a road that meandered between houses. I heard the soft sounds of cowbells as I passed the green pastures. Then my road ended in a driveway. I could see Lake Thun just down the hill, but I could see no legal way to get there. I walked back a ways and found yellow signs that said Wanderweg. Hmm. Wander is part of wanderlust, the urge to travel; weg is a street or way – so this is the wandering way … the walking path! In two minutes, I stood at the lakeshore. There before me stretched miles of gray waves, reflecting the pure light of sun rising over Swiss Alps. The wind churning over the lake meant that the cloud of mosquitoes that had been hovering over me on the road was now dispersed. It was a glorious place, a beautiful place to read a psalm, to pray and worship.

                By the time I returned home, it was seven o’clock, time to wake the troops. We got everyone showered, dressed and fed. Before we departed, Pam showed us a Rick Steves video vignette called “Berner Oberland, Switzerland: Hiking in the Alps.” With our appetites well-whetted to explore, we drove thirty minutes to the capital city of Bern. The TI was our first stop, and there we found answers to many of our planning questions.

1.      No, it will not stop raining today, but the rest of the week looks sunnier.

2.      Yes, there is a guided city walk, at 20CHF per person. (Currently 20 Swiss Francs is about $22. So, no tour for us, thank you.)

3.      Yes, we can help you plan your rail trip to Jungfraujoch. The best way for us will be to drive to Lauterbrunnen and take the train from there.

4.      No, the Swiss Pass will not be the best idea for us. At about 980CHF for our family, we could use the pass for discounts on some of our train rides and attractions, but not all. For our three kids under sixteen, rail tickets are free (once you pay 30CHF each for the annual youth pass) and many of the most expensive attractions will have discounted family or youth tickets. So it will be better just to pay for our expenses a la carte, so to speak.

So we followed our TI guides directions and went downstairs to the train ticket center to buy the youth passes. The train lady answered our more-detailed questions about the train ride from Lauterbrunnen through Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfraunoch. We can buy tickets in advance, she said, but there is no scarcity of supply so we can also buy on the day of travel.

                For the next several hours, Pam led us on a walking tour of Bern from our guidebook. Right from the start, we enjoyed the arcade walkways that allowed us to explore the city without getting too wet from the rain. Another repeated joy was discovering Bern’s colorfully sculpted historic fountains. The more modern fountain in front of the Parliament building was supposed to sporadically spurt water from holes in the granite square, but nothing was spurting. Maybe it turns off automatically in the rain, we thought. As Pam finished reading to us about the Swiss parliamentary system, though, we noticed little sprouts of water in the square. They grew to about ten feet tall, and then started to rise and fall, in a sort of waterful dance.

                More fountains, buildings, and squares led us to the Bern Cathedral. One of the  stained glass windows featured twenty rectangular scenes of skeletons interacting humorously with various townspeople. These scenes were so vibrant and strange, I wondered about their history and meaning. I looked for someone or something to teach me more about them, but found none.

                Next to the Cathedral we celebrated a wonderful discovery: free WCs! Now these are no ordinary restrooms. Far from it: the toilet bowl is funnel-shaped, more than two feet across and about two feet deep. (At first, the girls thought this was the seat and were afraid they would surely fall in.) The seat suspends upside down, above the toilet bowl. Those wanting to take a seat simply pull down the seat which then pivots perfectly into position. On the wall next to the bowl is a soap dispenser and water spout that empties into the toilet bowl. We you stand up again, the toilet/sink flushes automatically and the seat returns to its midair position. Technology is so cool!

                From the Münsterplattform, we enjoyed views of the River Aare far below us. But the drizzly rain and wet benches made this less than optimal for picnicking. Instead, we walked on a ways, to another arcaded street that had benches built into the support pillars. How handy! After lunch, we paused and read about the apartment where Albert Einstein (and his wife) lived for eight years, 1901-1909. It was during this period that Einstein enjoyed his annus mirabilis – year of miracles – in which he published five mind-bending papers, explaining both the general and special theories of relativity.

                Across Nydegg Bridge, we explored the historic pits for the “bears of Bern.” We saw lots of rock, and several well-fed rabbits, but no bears. When we walked a bit farther, we found the new Bear Park, set on the bank of the river. There we found a pen for the papa bear, and another pen for the mama bear and her two “baby bears”. Nearly as large as their mother, they nevertheless followed her around and nursed from her. I have never seen a bear nurse before, and for us it was a very odd sight: the mama bear sat back and reclined onto the slope of the hill as if sunbathing, while her cubs sat at her sides and slurped.

                Crossing back over a different bridge, we followed an alley to an indoor stairway, which led up to a chapel and back into the city center. We paused briefly at the clock tower to watch the mechanical figures perform their hourly chores. (Right under the clock tower is a much more interesting exhibit: the official standards of length: the Swiss foot, which divides into tenths; the longer Bernese foot; the elle, or elbow – the length of a forearm; the meter; and the double meter. We stopped again by the Cathedral to use those awesome WCs (and I did a more thorough job photographing the skeleton stained glass windows). Then we returned to the parking lot and drove to the nearby town of Murten (“MOOR-tuhn”). This is much smaller than Bern but plays an important role in Swiss history. In 1476, this town of 2,000 was put to siege by a Burgundian force of 20,000. When informed about the plight of poor Murten, villagers from nearby towns put together a force of about 10,000 to defend their neighboring town … and wiped out the Burgundian camp. Recognizing the power and cooperation, the people of the area united their “cantons” to form the “Helvetic Confederation”, which we know as Switzerland.

                Our walking tour took us to the small French church, past the large German church, up the town wall, and to the mechanism of the old town clock. The clock is placed, oddly, inside the wall, on the ground floor. It is a curiosity now, reassembled in 1991 by a mechanically-talented villager. Pam and Ben analyzed the complex interconnections of gears, wheels, shafts, weights, pulleys, and bells. We all waited eagerly for the chimes to strike on the quarter hour, and … nothing happened. Maybe that villager is not as gifted as we thought. The endpoint of our walk was Murten Castle, from which we admired the surrounding countryside and visualized the action during that rainy day in 1476, when the idea of Switzerland was born.

                We zipped back home to dinner and made last-minute preparations for the Big Event: the final game of the Women’s World Cup. The game began at 8:45 or so. Japan and the USA tied during regulation, 1-1. After two periods of overtime, they were tied, 2-2. So it came down to penalty kicks, and at 11:30, Japan prevailed (4-1) to win their first football championship ever. As the TV reporter commented, after earthquakes, tsunamis, and a nuclear meltdown, it was time for some good news. Congratulations, Japan!