Day 15 - Bern

I am so utterly upset that we came all the way here to the heart of the Alps and did not get to see the mighty Matterhorn! This morning I stared for a while in the direction where its peak should have materialized from the clouds but no chance... All I saw were clouds and more clouds. White, whitish, grey and greysh... We stayed in Täsch, about 1800 meter altitude, but Matterhorn, which is the highest mountain placed entirely in Switzerland, is over 4000 meters. Quite a beast, a national symbol and an obsession. Even if I didn't see it, I saw his picture on posters, ads, napkins and calendars, it was painted on walls, towels, and train tickets... Ad nauseam! 

Oh, at least the scenery was breathtaking, temperature was reasonable, and Swiss pastries soothed our guts.

We also had a second disappointment today. The Swiss! I got ripped off at the train station in Zermatt, where I paid for first class tickets to Visp (on the way to Bern) but I was handed 2nd class tickets (half price) and I didn't notice. The train conductor did! Although I was confident  that speaking English or Italian will make me less of a prey to such rip-offs, even the Swiss are thieves. Seriously! 

But the best part of the day was actually visiting Bern.  The old town has rows of houses with pointy roofs in different shades of rusty reds and with a gorrest of attic windows and chimneys. Again, flower posts (petunias and geraniums) hanging from windows somehow make up for the lack of trees.

Below these columns in some places are more stores, which are located in the basement and therefore are accessed by stepping down below the side walk.  These are their entrances locked of course, because on Sunday there is NO store open in Bern! 

Also, very often street lights hang in the middle of the street with wires, since there are no lampposts on these mostly pedestrian streets with an occasional tram or trolley bus.

The Aare river meanders through beautifully. 

One can hear a bell sound of some kind - either from a town clock or a church- every hour and half hour. 

We passed by the Einstein House, next to which was a place I had to laugh at - definitely not to be associated with genius!

We wandered around the old town Bern and found the Münster Platform overlooking the Aare. Saw some incredible gardens there by the river.

We then stopped to eat a snack of perfect simplicity and taste in a park by the river.

Traditional Swiss bread, mouth watering cheese, and an offendingly delicious ice cream... Excuse me, Starbucks, all you see in this picture was €18, whereas a small cappuccino and a grande refresher at Starbucks were €13! 

Final impressions of the day: 

1. We saw so many Chinese tourists, it often felt like we were back home in Arcadia, 

2. I find Swiss people cold and stiff. They don't smile and chat like Italians or other warmer blooded Europeans.  Or maybe that's because I don't speak in German to them. 

3. Traditional Swiss food from this area is heavy.  Examples: raclette, fondue and capun, as well as many entrecôte kinds... But I forgive them because the berries are to die for. 😄