The trip through Switzerland felt like we had been transported into one of the fairy tales we read as children. We stayed in the capital of Switzerland, Bern, and spent all of our time in the “old town” city center that mostly looks like it did hundreds of years ago. We arrived shortly before a busking festival was set to start, and saw some of the artistic flourishes that would accompany it.
Views from the train
Remnants of old stone buildings are scattered across the countryside (as they are in all of the countries we’ve visited in Europe).Some people paragliding off of the high cliffs aboveFields of sunflowers are plentiful, both here and in Spain and ItalyThe Swiss Alps tower in the backgroundLake Geneva was a huge expanse of crisp mountain water.Love the VW Bus/Truck in the driveway
Bern
The view from our windowEveryone appeared to be having a great time in BernExploring on our first evening in Bern.The main clock tower in BernA drinking fountain Bern is full of statues like this. This guy eats kids apparentlyThe river is an amazing color of greenish blue…but perfectly clear.Since the 1700’s, Bern has had kept bears in their bear pits. No charge to see them; they’re right off the main street that goes through Old Town. Over the street next to the bear house. Waiting to go into the bigger area, filled with vegetation and food.Lunch time for the bears. Eating vegetables and fruit put out by the keepers.An older bear pit now used as a cafe and museum.Love this man with his pipe perfectly placed.Contemplating the universe with Einstein. (He lived in Bern for four years while working on his theory of relativity.)It was raining on and off, and on our way up to the Rose Garden, Paxton spotted this gigantic snail; almost as long as his 9-year-old index finger!Just a few of the many beautiful roses in bloom at the Rose Garden on top of a hill overlooking the city.Another Einstein with Bern in the background.Hard to see, but Paxton’s on there.We thought this was a food truck that we could eat from, but it turned out to be a film prop!Later we saw this film crew taking a break due to rain. Perhaps the crew that used the food truck prop?We’ve seen these digital characters throughout the countries in Europe. A small handful of local guys were playing games of chess, and some were quite the characters as they moved pieces around and said things to try to throw off the opponent.Switzerland’s Federal Palace; equivalent of our White House (without any crazy security needed!) The back side of the Federal Palace Paxton in front of what we thought looked like a gingerbread house.People were “swimming” down the river…which meant they got in and let the quick, strong current carry them down to one of the many ramps to get in and out of the river. Right near the river was a free swimming complex with multiple pools, a playground, pingpong tables and more. Part of the preparation for the busking festivalSetting up some visual art for the festival.More busking artMaking food for some sort of crew (film or busking festival?)A really cool independent movie rental store we stumbled upon that had musicians jamming out front the night before the busking festivalA cozy room to discuss movies (and life)We visited the apartment Einstein and his wife and son lived in for four yearsThe actual crib used by his sonPaxton is sitting in Einstein’s former living room reading about his life and work.
