Anniversary in a Palace

Trip Start May 22, 2005
1
22
107
Trip End Jan 22, 2006


Loading Map
Map your own trip!
Map Options
Show trip route
Hide lines
shadow

Flag of Switzerland  ,
Thursday, July 7, 2005

We picked the Swiss capital of Bern to spend our fourth anniversary. We splurged and stayed at the five star Bellevue Palace, the best hotel in Bern and the official residence of visiting dignitaries. We arrived from Interlaken, exhausted from all the waiting, and strolled into the Bellevue Palace with our backpacks and sneakers. We got some interesting looks from the society ladies sitting in the lobby. The hotel staff weren't phased one bit and treated us superbly. They brought us to our suite on the top floor which overlooks Bern's historic centre.

There were complimentary perfectly-ripe apricots and peaches waiting for us on a silver platter in our sitting room and a fresh rose bouquet to decorate the room. When Paul tried to find the ice machine, a helpful hotel worker insisted that Paul return to his room and that the ice would be "arranged". Upon Paul's return, our doorbell promptly rang and a man in a white tuxedo delivered the ice in a silver bucket on a silver tray along with some unsolicited almonds (why almonds?). So that's what the extra stars are for.

Sadly, all of this was rendered deeply unimportant by the news of the London bombings. The bombings really hit home because we had so recently been in the city and ridden the Tube and we will be there again in August. Humankind is so disturbingly capable of twisting and warping any religion and ideology (both western and eastern) to justify its own depraved actions and causes. We both called home to assure our parents that we were nowhere near London and to ensure that Mel's sister, Eunice, had already returned home to San Diego from her European trip.

The city of Bern was named after a bear and is a UNESCO-protected World Heritage site. Since 1857, they have been keeping bears in a bear pit in the centre of the city. We have to admit the bears were amazing. We have never been so close to a bear and were even able to feed them snacks from our daypack. They would roll over and do tricks for peanuts on their own accord. Regardless, it was troubling and sad to see God's magnificent creatures in antiquated pits where anyone could feed them anything. There were no trainers regulating people's interaction with them nor were there any signs giving us guidance on how to do so. However, it was one of the most unique experiences we've had so far.

The rest of Bern is distinctly medieval with six kilometres of covered shopping promenades, a number of whimsical fountains dating back to the 1500's (one featured an ogre eating children) and clock towers with moving figurines. The River Aare bisects the city and ran in front of our hotel.

We enjoyed our visit to Switzerland, the only blight being the unjustifiably high food prices. The land of Heidi, cowbells, cuckoo clocks, chocolates and cheese exceeded our expectations.
Print this entry