Bern, Switzerland

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June 21, 22, 2008

Bern / Interlaken, Switzerland

Our first day in Bern was Sunday. A perfect day to visit downtown and all the shops. They are nearly all closed on Sundays !!!

We did a good walk about the old city center and visited the park where they keep the city mascots, bears. Bern is a very nice city. Not a lot of real touristy things to do in the city but a very nice old city that has been well restored and maintained.

Bern sits on the edge of The Alps with some very nice views of the mountains and typical “Post Card” scenery. A short drive from Bern is Interlaken, a small city right in the mountains. We enjoyed a ride on a very new funicular, on a very old track ( over 100 years ), up the side of a mountain for some very beautiful views of the mountains, city, and the 2 lakes on either side of Interlaken.

Interlaken is a place to put on your list as a “ must see place ". We met some Irish visitors, on their second visit to Switzerland, that highly recommended a train trip to the “ Top of Europe.”

Monday morning was a very early start to our day to catch the early train ( 06:55 train departure, an hour from our hotel ) to “ The Top Of Europe ”, a cog wheel train ride, about 90 minutes, to 11,300 ft altitude where they have built a first class facility to view the spectacular Swiss Alps. The scenery is incredible !!!

The Swiss are famous for their mountain trains and now we know why. Everything is first class !! The train goes up the mountain at a very steep angle but the ride is smooth and comfortable through some breathtaking scenery to the top of the mountains, above the glaciers. This system is over 100 years old and the train makes the last part of the trip completely inside a mountain tunnel to the mountain top facilities that for the most part are also inside the mountain. On the top is a viewing area with 360 degree panorama views. SPECTACULAR !! Put this on your list.

The photo ops continue on the way down to the station, There are a lot of very ambitious hikers that leave the train at several stops on the way up and down to do their thing in the Alps. The whole area contains train trips and cable cars to many different villages and ski resorts in the immediate area. You could literally spend a week here just taking the trains and cable cars that are all connected throughout the mountains. The city of Interlaken is a beautiful place with two lakes and the usual water sports, swimming etc.

And --- The food in Switzerland is great with a mixture of all the European styles.

We finished our day with a 2 hour drive to Geneva for the next part of our adventure.

Switzerland is definitely one of our favorite places and we’ll be back someday soon.

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