An Der Aare Bern

... We were interviewing him for our international security papers, and spent an hour and a half talking about Afghanistan, climate change, international law, soft power, negotiating in conflict, state sovereignty, education, precedents set by powerful countries, the role of the United States, and failed states. After this interview, my classmates and I were on such a high, and kept remarking "This is why we are in Switzerland." Dr. Murphy was also the first self ...

... br>Switzerland is expensive! Other people Kiplyn and I have met here agree. In fact, while we were eating fish and chips at an English pub in Bath, England, we met a couple that chatted with us for a while. They warned us about the high prices, and told us that Switzerland is expensive for everyone. A typical meal in a modest cafe would cost at least 20 US dollars. Our only salvation was the grocery stores!
Yesterday, Kiplyn and I ...

... accurate public clocks in the world, right in the center of the city, called the "Time-Bell", or "Zytglogge". After Bern we headed up to the mountains above Bern known as the Bernese Oberland, where some of the best ski resorts in the world are located. It looks like a picture book of Switzerland and the Alps. . We didn't jsut ...

... cool, but the sun was still shining. We wandered for a while and then stopped in a Brasserie for some lunch, though i got a crepe rather than restaurant food... actually i had 2 - one was ham and cheese, and the second was the trusty nutella! We wandered for a bit more exploring the massively overpriced shops (Montreux is where the rich and famous hang in Switzerland) - fancy a €500 silver tissue box? Not realy in my budget. After Montreux we drove 5 minutes down the road ...

... Watched the game on big screen in street
-incomprehensible chants (tune of Seven Nation Army)
-Bosh launching a full pint can into French fans after Holland scored 30 seconds after France to make it 3-1
Bern population: 125,000
Bern population today: 275,000
conversion of entire street into a urinal trough
Smitty's conversation with some woman on the train ride back (he ...

... Mal gefragt hat "Kanadische Dollars?" hab ich nicht realisiert, dass ich ja eigentlich Australische Dollars wollte *g*. Habs gemerkt, als der Transfer abgeschlossen und der Bankangestellte Richtung Geldausgabe marschiert ist, weil mir der Wechselkurs etwas komisch vorkam. Er hat's dann zum Glueck rueckgaengig gemacht und mir die Dollarchen gegeben, die ich auch brauche. Und weil ich fuer die Travellers Cheques an den Bankomaten musste, hab ich ihn gefragt, was das ungefaehr kostet ...

finally! switzerland! all that geneva wasn't, bern is, minus the snow-capped alps b/c my eyes aren't good enough to see that far. so needless to say, bern is a really pretty and chill town. only two problems: everyone on the street seems to be cheering for germany in today's world cup match (go sweden!) and saturday at 4pm, everything, EVERYTHING (except ...

... local park and when we were there, we had 3 different groups ask us if they could have their pictures taken with us. We were like local celebreties, it was really weird. One of the ladies in the tour group asked us if her mother could have a picture with us and she was like 85 but so happy about it. After that we went back and had a couple of beers and had the funnest night so far in all of Europe. We started drinking with a couple of people from our hostel and headed ...

... nd b*con on top, nice *nd w*rming *nd filling *nd yummy). Then ch*tted to our dorm room m*tes (one re*llllly *nnoying *rrog*nt (*nd sort of n*ive) *meric*n guy, gr) until bed time. This morning we woke up to overc*stness *nd r*in :o Oh no! wh*t *bout our l*ns to go hiking. We w*ndered *round the tourist shops (i bought some needle *nd thre*d for my p*nts th*t h*ve * split se*m), *nd bought some groceries (inc. swiss chocol*te of course) for the next couple of d*ys, good w*y to s ...

... had had enough of that, we went and played in the park...oh how I long to be in kindergarten again! On Friday night, Eva had volleyball class, and because I'm a huge volleyball fan, I went along to watch. Somehow I ended up joining in the class though. Yep it was just me, the coach(who I was also older than) and a bunch of 11/12 year olds. I felt like a monster, but oh well, it was fun!! Cathy arrived on Friday night too. On Saturday, Eva, Julia, Cathy and I played some sort ...