Bern

Trip Start Aug 08, 2007
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Trip End Sep 05, 2007


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Flag of Switzerland  ,
Tuesday, August 28, 2007

This morning after eating the free breakfast at Martahaus (cereal coffee juice and toast- not bad and a nice breakfast hall) we had some internet time before checking out and heading to the train station. We had booked an overnight train from Bern, Switzerland's capital city, to Barcelona since out train schedule did not show a Zurich to Barcelona line.  Bern is about an hour by train from Zurich. We later learned that there were trains originating in Zurich to Barcelona on a more comprehensive train schedule (try the Thomas Cook book as opposed to the EuroRail pamphlet. This worked out really well however, since I did want to see Bern and it ended up being beautiful. We put our packs in some large lockers at the station when we arrived bt were bummed to see that it was raining, pretty hard at times! We tried to wander around the town center near the station in search of lunch but there was a ton of construction going on and the rain made it difficult. Finally we gave up and hopped in a cab to head to a restaurant called Altes Tramdepot that was recommended by our travel guide. When we got there we were wary because it was attached to a tourist information center but it was very large and cavernous and the perfect brewery setting to hide out in for a few hours. It also had a great view of the bridges, town, and river outside. As we waited out the rain, we at some traditional Swiss food like sausages that come with a Bavarian soft pretzel and mustard and we sampled some of their in house brews- yum! Finally the rain started to let up and we headed out on a walking tour path indicated on the free map we got at the train station. On the way out of the restaurant we passed the Bern "bear pit"- a rather sad concrete pit where they keep some bears for people to stare at. The bear is the symbol of the City. This part of the town was very beautiful- we went by parliament, city hall, a series of fountains lining the main boulevard, and chalet houses with window boxes full of flowers on the hills.  We tried to stop by the Albert Einstein museum as well however it had just closed at 5:00. The tourist information center recommended a few places for fondue- which we still had not tried- and so we stopped in one called Restaurant Harmonie which was quite old and traditional and made reservations. After plenty of pictures and wandering we headed back to the restaurant. We opted for the traditional and most economical "original fondue- your basic cheese and bread- however there were other options such as fondue with truffles and champagne as well! (And by traditional I mean over 25 bucks a person. For cheese and bread. Then again that's what some coffee and a muffin at Starbucks costs as well J ) The fondue was fun and delicious, very different from what I've had in the US because you can REALLY taste the sherry in it! After dinner it was back to the station to grab out bags and catch our overnight train. Overall Bern was very beautiful and not overrun with tourism- if you can afford Switzerland I would recommend it!
 
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