Blogs from Berne, North-West, Switzerland, Europe - page 4

The arrival to Switzerland was a bit rocky with a little sickness and jetlag, but we made it to Bern regardless. Bern had a really old school feel to it, bell towers, cobble stone streets and alley ways. We stayed at a hostel in the heart of Bern. The first thing I remember on arrival was the drastic sound difference in the streets of Venice Beach Vs Bern. Every hour the bell tower would ring, subway trains would pass by, people were chatting, musicians were playing in the streets and bikes almost silently passed by. It was awesome. One of the coolest art things we saw was a sculpture of a pair of feet in mid step. It even had panted toenails. Next to the walking feet was a car with a trailer attached with what ... read more

Bern I had got a train ticket from Salzburg to Bern to avoid two 10 hour bus trips and a compulsory stop in Paris. I met Jack and Carol at the station in the morning and said hello, before, parting ways as they were in first class and I was in economy. The train was not too packed so I spread out and began to update my blog while intermittently checking for amazing views from my windows. Jack had told me the previous night that the trip was one of the prettiest anywhere in Europe and it definately did not dissapoint! Beautiful snow capped mountains between valleys that were almost too green was a sensational way to begin my day. The mountain lakes that appeared almost out of nowhere where so crystal clear and looked very ... read more

We set the alarm this am to get up for the rugby FINAL!!! And as we all know, not a great game, so intense and stressful but we got there in the end!!! Amazing!! i had Michael and Fedi but making me explain why people played rugby instead of football and how football was a so much better sport! They almost both got a boot up the butt at one point! Fedi was supporting France in his french football shirt while Michael had the all blacks flag drapped across his shoulders yelling and supporting them bless him! :) he was trained well! So a great start to the am! It was so tense that we all decided we needed massages before I left so all 3 of us swapped back and neck massages. training up 2 ... read more

Schlecht wetter (bad weather) We awoke to be in a cloud. But not to be deterred, took the train to Brig and then to Bern (Switzerland's Capitol) 2 hours. Spent a nice couple of hours in the old town. Lots of folks, Expensive stores etc. Saw one Rolex watch for $20k , Couldn't quite part with the moola! You got to be kidding!!! Switzerland is quite a bit over my pay grade. Would you believe a Big Mac at McDonalds is $15 ouch! Anyway my pictures were free!! Have a look Click on them to enlarge Warm wishes Lowell... read more

As forecasted, it is raining. Everywhere. So nowhere to escape it by train. We decided to go to Berne and visit the Alpine Museum and Natural History Museum. There was the usual chaos at the bahnhof and a very busy city but we eventually found our way down through the old town and over the river to the musems. Berne is an interesting city with contrasts of old and new. The shops and pavements are sheltered by stone arched verandahs. The main street is for people and trams only so it's people friendly. There are many buskers and one street is for the market only on a Saturday. Since we have been here several times before there's no need to talk about the Old Town. This is always a city well worth visiting especially if you ... read more