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| Terraced houses along Aare River |
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| Happy Shoppers |
Oct. 3, 2015-Bern Again
We had a lazy morning sleeping until 10 AM. We needed that. Today was to be shopping and strolling. We accomplished both.
I love this city. I fully understand how someone would want to live here. It's easy to get around, picturesque, everything is available, and around every turn is a breathtaking view. We wended our way through open air markets interspersed on plazas and overlooked by dignified, stately buildings. We bought two bananas at one stand and were given a gift of an orange. We bought ten dates at an Iranian vendor (they cost $3, more was too costly) and were rewarded with the same gracious service as someone who bought a kilo. David pigged out on olives. We found ourselves in a handcraft market and as we peered over a low wall the magnificent scene appeared:terraced gardens, charming buildings, the River Aare. Bliss.
We had pho for lunch, but only we called it that. We went to a Thai restaurant on the main drag and, judging by their menu and pictures thereon, we saw what we call pho. I asked (in German yet) if they had pho. I got a blank stare. David tried "soup." She said in English they had Thai noodle soup with beef. I asked if it was pho. Blank stare. Then it dawned on me. Pho is Vietnamese. I said as much to her. She nodded. Whatever they call it, it was delicious. The beef was tender and more like brisket than the thin sliced boiled beef we get in the States. Several Asians came and went while we ate. The owners and they spoke Chinese, not Thai. In the end, $26 each for soup.
A little shopping at Loeb's was on our agenda. It's a family owned store that's been in Bern for generations. Found what we wanted then started our search for ice-cream. Gelato shops are available but not always with a place to sit down. We opted for a bench on the street and people-watched.
With relief we bussed back to our hotel to drop our bags and walk to the university. The hotel was locked and the sign said that reception was closed from noon-5PM. We were to swipe our key for entry. If there was a problem we were directed to press a button to call a hotel where someone could buzz us in. We did, and they did. We were in the lobby and had to go through a door leading to a courtyard, a door to another building of the hotel, then up to our room. We got through door one, but door two wouldn't open. We buzzed again and were told they couldn't get us any farther. We were now locked in the courtyard. That they could fix. We were let back into the lobby. Fortunately, it was 4:00 PM and we only had an hour to wait.
The reason we were having all the trouble was that we extended our stay a day and they hadn't up-dated our key. As we sat, new guests arrived dragging luggage. We let them in, pointed to a pile of keys with names on the desk, and directed them to their rooms. When the receptionist finally arrived, we explained our dilemma. She fixed our keys but didn't seem to care.
Don't know if I've mentioned the red lights of a theater visible from the courtyard of our hotel. Anyway, we explored the alley in front of it. Just as I thought, it's a porno theater. You'd never know it by how nice and safe the neighborhood is.
We did walk around the university's gracious buildings. By the time we'd finished we were almost downtown at the train station. We began our hunt for dinner and came upon La Mazot, an "authentic Swiss restaurant." They served fondue, rachlette, and rosti. We shared a rosti. We were seated next to a South Korean couple now living in San Diego. When they left, two men from the D.C. area sat down. They were here for a European scientific conference on space. Ah yes, Switzerland is the home of the CERN Hadron super-collider. These two were right out of the Big Bang Theory. One was a physicist; the other was an astrophysicist.
David forgot our bus passes when we left for dinner. That meant we chanced getting caught and incurring a fine or walking. We chose to walk off dinner and arrived at the hotel the same time as did the bus we would have taken.
We catch the train to Milan tomorrow around 1:30 PM, pick up our car at 4:30 PM and hit the road. Here's to our Garmin!
Toby
We had a lazy morning sleeping until 10 AM. We needed that. Today was to be shopping and strolling. We accomplished both.
I love this city. I fully understand how someone would want to live here. It's easy to get around, picturesque, everything is available, and around every turn is a breathtaking view. We wended our way through open air markets interspersed on plazas and overlooked by dignified, stately buildings. We bought two bananas at one stand and were given a gift of an orange. We bought ten dates at an Iranian vendor (they cost $3, more was too costly) and were rewarded with the same gracious service as someone who bought a kilo. David pigged out on olives. We found ourselves in a handcraft market and as we peered over a low wall the magnificent scene appeared:terraced gardens, charming buildings, the River Aare. Bliss.
We had pho for lunch, but only we called it that. We went to a Thai restaurant on the main drag and, judging by their menu and pictures thereon, we saw what we call pho. I asked (in German yet) if they had pho. I got a blank stare. David tried "soup." She said in English they had Thai noodle soup with beef. I asked if it was pho. Blank stare. Then it dawned on me. Pho is Vietnamese. I said as much to her. She nodded. Whatever they call it, it was delicious. The beef was tender and more like brisket than the thin sliced boiled beef we get in the States. Several Asians came and went while we ate. The owners and they spoke Chinese, not Thai. In the end, $26 each for soup.
A little shopping at Loeb's was on our agenda. It's a family owned store that's been in Bern for generations. Found what we wanted then started our search for ice-cream. Gelato shops are available but not always with a place to sit down. We opted for a bench on the street and people-watched.
With relief we bussed back to our hotel to drop our bags and walk to the university. The hotel was locked and the sign said that reception was closed from noon-5PM. We were to swipe our key for entry. If there was a problem we were directed to press a button to call a hotel where someone could buzz us in. We did, and they did. We were in the lobby and had to go through a door leading to a courtyard, a door to another building of the hotel, then up to our room. We got through door one, but door two wouldn't open. We buzzed again and were told they couldn't get us any farther. We were now locked in the courtyard. That they could fix. We were let back into the lobby. Fortunately, it was 4:00 PM and we only had an hour to wait.
The reason we were having all the trouble was that we extended our stay a day and they hadn't up-dated our key. As we sat, new guests arrived dragging luggage. We let them in, pointed to a pile of keys with names on the desk, and directed them to their rooms. When the receptionist finally arrived, we explained our dilemma. She fixed our keys but didn't seem to care.
Don't know if I've mentioned the red lights of a theater visible from the courtyard of our hotel. Anyway, we explored the alley in front of it. Just as I thought, it's a porno theater. You'd never know it by how nice and safe the neighborhood is.
We did walk around the university's gracious buildings. By the time we'd finished we were almost downtown at the train station. We began our hunt for dinner and came upon La Mazot, an "authentic Swiss restaurant." They served fondue, rachlette, and rosti. We shared a rosti. We were seated next to a South Korean couple now living in San Diego. When they left, two men from the D.C. area sat down. They were here for a European scientific conference on space. Ah yes, Switzerland is the home of the CERN Hadron super-collider. These two were right out of the Big Bang Theory. One was a physicist; the other was an astrophysicist.
David forgot our bus passes when we left for dinner. That meant we chanced getting caught and incurring a fine or walking. We chose to walk off dinner and arrived at the hotel the same time as did the bus we would have taken.
We catch the train to Milan tomorrow around 1:30 PM, pick up our car at 4:30 PM and hit the road. Here's to our Garmin!
Toby
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