Blogs from Berne, North-West, Switzerland, Europe - page 14

Europe » Switzerland » North-West » Berne November 14th 2005

Hello Reader. After checking into my hostel in Interlaken, I headed up to see my bed. I was one of ten guys staying in the room. One of them was in the room, Caj, (pronounced Ki). He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and tight clothes. He was, of course, Sweedish. We talked for a bit then went to the kitchen for dinner. We took full advantage of 'happy hour' at the bar where drinks were two for one. We had a couple beers while watching the New Zealand vs. Ireland rugby game. Those rugby guys don't mess around. No pads, no helmets, just a bunch of barbarians tackling each other trying to get an egg from one side of the field to the other without breaking it... i don't know the rules, really... can you tell? ... read more

The Bears of Bern

Europe » Switzerland » North-West » Berne October 25th 2005

Bern your Bridges Down

CM and J

Today we took the train to Interlaken, the jumping off point for excursions to the Jungfrau. We made a quick 1 hour stop in Bern and had just enough time to check out the main street and see the famous bears of Barengraben. We found Bern to be quite bustling, with lots of shoppers and businessfolk alike. Bryan told us the main street, Marktgasse, was all torn up for construction back in September however we found it to be pristine! What's the deal with the bears? Well, in 1191 Bern was founded by Berthold V who named the new settlement after the first animal that he killed in the next hunt (a bear). The coat of arms of the town also features a bear. Brown bears have been kept in pits in town since the early ... read more

Why not pick some grapes...

Europe » Switzerland » North-West » Berne October 9th 2005

Flàsh

stewsnews

Reddening leaves on the vines frame the view across the lake with Europes finest mountains as a backdrop. My hands are sticky with sweet grape juice and the lingering flavour of cheese in my mouth reminds me of thoughts I had in China not long ago: Waking up to another breakfast of fish-heads, chicken feet and pig ears, I longed so dearly for the cheese, chocolate and good bread I had experienced in Switzerland years before. I also longed for some clean, cool water to swim in. Now I have it all! It sounds ideal... good food, friendly people, a beautiful location, and to be honest it is pretty close to it, just the aching back to keep things on a plain. Having spent the last half year struggling to understand the local languages, it is ... read more

weird

Europe » Switzerland » North-West » Berne July 29th 2005

Lissy

arrived in bern this morning. this place is so wierd. maybe it's just me, i don't know. i was walking down the main st at about 10am and there was no one around. this is a major road in the capital city of an entire country and i was the only one around. then i saw two little girls walking with goats on a lead. i know. crazy hey. i have no idea what they were doing but there they were. the rest of my time in lauterbrunnen was good. went on lots of hikes and now my legs and feet are killing me. did a little expedition to a place called grindelwald. very cute. went on the longest cable car in europe. i saw cows with bells around their neck. i was so excited. i ... read more

So many places with to little time.

Europe » Switzerland » North-West » Berne June 25th 2005

Ice Bar in Stockholm

Roxby

Well from Berlin we caught an overnight train to Stockholm in Sweden. We weren't really sure when we were to get off the train to catch the ferry across the stretch of water that seperateds the 2 but we guessed it would work out. Hopped on the train at 11:30pm and straight into a sleeper cab and to bed. Woke up at about 4:30am with the train still rocking and rolling gently along, only to find out when looking out the window that the train wasn't moving!!!. During the night, the train had reached the port of somewhere, driven straight onto the ferry and it was as simple as that - all just too crazy to imagine. We eventually arrived in Stockholm to find accomadation a bit light on due to some convention or something, but ... read more

Switzerland - Travel Diaries 3

Europe » Switzerland » North-West » Berne June 11th 2004

Train Over Bern Switzerland

Eurosteve

Switzerland is best known as a neutral country during most of last century. This is very surprising because Switzerland bordered war-torn Austria, France, Italy, Liechtenstein, and Germany during the great wars. The official language in Switzerland is German but most people do also speak a bit of French and English to some degree. The population is just over 7 million. There are over 11 million tourists visit this country annually. Geneva and Interlaken is just a couple of the many highlights this country has to offer. My stop was in the beautiful city of Bern, the capital of Switzerland. Switzerland is very expensive and is better known as a tourist spot than anything else. You’ll need to budget at least CN$40-50 spending money per day. The Alps is the main attraction to see visit Switzerland, with ... read more

10.5 hours in bern

Europe » Switzerland » North-West » Berne August 8th 2003

claveles

Spent not enough time in Bern, as i was there enroute to Wales. From what i saw Bern is BEAUTIFUL. Fantastic architecture and clocks on every tower. Ate a traditional german swiss meal: bacon, beef, egg, shredded potato, cheese onions and pickels all cooked in one cast iron skillet. Quite good, but really greasy. Saw 3 street performers playing with fire, and ate a great apricot studdel. I slept in a nice clean hostel, woke up early to take the train to geneva, then a TGV to Paris Gare de Lyon, then an RER to another RER (its like the PATH train) to the airport to fly to liverpool....... read more

Brief history of Switzerland

The Swiss Confederation was founded in 1291 as a defensive alliance among three cantons. In succeeding years, other localities joined the original three. The Swiss Confederation secured its independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1499. Switzerland...more history

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