Bristol Bern

We let the girls sleep in and then broke the news that we were going to have a quiet day in the hostel because it was raining and that they had to do a few hours of homework. Looking at the screen in the hostel, you could see that it was snowing heavily on the mountains.

By afternoon, the rain had turned to drizzle, so we ...

... br>One day, I went to Worb, where there is a beer factory that every saturday has a beer festival. The workers there call it Oktoberfest without the benches!! It was great being around local people, and I think I'm the only american ever to go to worb, germany!! it's timy, and the beer kegs there were still delivered by horse and buggy!! so cool!

... unsuccessful until a guy came in with an Apple shirt on. Turns out he worked for Apple so he tried to help. He, too, was unsuccessful. You know the story has an eventual happy ending because I am posting this blog entry by way of wifi, but you’ll have to wait until the Paris entry to hear about how I got to this point. The story involves being lost, running, and department stores.

One ...

... la difficulte a comprendre et a se faire comprendre en francais malgre que louest de la Suisse soit tres francophone....ils parlent francais aussi pourtant mais bon...on a arreter de se poser des questions en arrivant a Berne et en constatant que notre allemand etait plus que rudimentaire. On apprend les expressions les expressions dici "sans soucis" et "file moi une goutte" (pour donne moi une gorgee ...

... A new habitat for the bears is being built along the river's edge. After viewing the bear pits, we stopped in a local microbrewery for a taste of the town's lager, and enjoyed some rare early-afternoon sunshine while conversing next to lovely views of the terraced old town. After our beer, we climbed the hill to a rose garden park--somewhat barren in October--and were treated to a very pretty view of the entire old town ...

... there was a lot of mist obscuring the tops of the mountains, but it was still a spectacular drive. The Lauterbrunnen Valley is like something out of a fairytale. Apparently it was the inspiration for Tolkien's Rivendell and I can see why. We are staying at a little chalet owned by the Hotel Oberland, on the main street of town. It is very cute and very Swiss. Our room has a balcony with views out over the Valley and to the JungFrau. Spectacular!! We barely had time to ...

... with a moo-moo cow, don't ask!) July 31, 2006 I felt EXTREMELY Heidi-esque today as we ventured into the Swiss Alps to Mt. Pilatus. The air was so purifying as we took our trek to the summit although the stone steps were exhausting! The views were seriously breathtaking with the clouds dipped behind the mountain peaks, which were dotted with rows of alpine trees. This place was seriously so peaceful and the air really detoxed me. Nothing like a good old mountain hike!

... we took a train to Montreux. It would have been perfect... if that was the city we had reserved our hostel at...yeah. When we got there we asked someone for directions. They knew where our hostel was, in Vevey...two cities away. We probably should've checked mapquest a little more carefully when we made those hostel reservations. So, we hopped back on a train to go back two cities, and the train did ...

... concrete is known about Luzern until 1178, when an abbot established a lay order at the Kapellkirche (now St Peter's Chapel), indicating that quite a substantial settlement must have existed in the area. Around 1220, the opening of the Gotthard pass further south created new impetus for growth, with merchants and travellers setting sail from Luzern for the long trans-Alpine journey (the first lakeside road was built only in 1865). Eyeing the prosperity flowing ...

... English since I arrived because the American accent is different and she understands less than she speaks... SO, Spanish, Spanish, Spanish. Jacob, the 11 year old, tries really hard to speak to me in a hodge podge of French, Spanish and English. Or he recites lyrics from American pop songs and then asks me to tell him what he said because he has absolutely no idea. Sarah, she is 9, when I talk to her, basically, Sarah stares at me then yells, "mama, mama, french this ...