Today was a wonderful adventure! And I'm not saying that just because I'm blogging. We took the train to Bern. We had just gotten our half-price train passes and I think Dan was wanting an adventure in which he didn't have to drive. So we boarded the train in Morges, switched in Lausanne and headed to the capital city. It was about an hour trip, maybe a bit more.
When we exited the train station we immediately passed an outdoor terrace and saw people drinking these amazing looking coffee drinks...so OF COURSE we stopped! We had one flavored with caramel and the other with amaretto. WOW! The kids had hot chocolates and everyone was happy.
Bern has an amazine "main drag". Both sides of the streets are lined with shops and the sidewalks are all covered. We also noticed cellar doors open at every few shops and realized that there were also shops underground! The buses run up and down this street. They are electric and quiet and you really have to watch where you are walking because there are also people walking in the street. We couldn't quite figure it out, it wasn't quite a pedestrian street because there were cars every now and then. But the architecture is great, very different from Lausanne. We stopped at some great fountains and the kids had huge pretzels. Zoe ordered them for us.
The first stop we made was at Albert Einstein's Haus. Sam, Zoe, and I took the tour. This is where he developed the Special Theory of Relativity. He loved Bern and I can see why. It was just cool to say we were there.
The weather began to turn and we were grateful for the covered sidewalks. It was also a good time to stop for lunch. Pizza and pasta. After lunch it was still really raining and we were trying to figure out how to keep Ben dry. The stroller doesn't really do it and he doesn't have a raincoat. Dan had an old Sendik's bag in his raincoat pocket and we popped a few holes in that and "raincoat". He looked so cute!
Our next stop was Barengraben a.k.a. Bear pit. Bern has some hairy residents that enjoy being fed by tourists who purchase the fruits and veggies they sell for them. The kids loved it and the bear seemed happy too. It was raining pretty steady so we stopped into the tourist office next door and discovered the Altes Tramdepot restaurant. They brew their own beer, perfect. We ordered the sampler and got to taste four of their brews. Sam and Zoe split an orange Fanta, their new favorite soda.
The sun peeked out again and we headed to Munster Cathedral. Dan, Sam, and Zoe climbed the steeple stairs for a fantastic view. Ben ran around courtyard and chased a pigeon. He also flirted with some European girls. One of the girls worked at the University of Minnesota for a year. Small world. After the stairs we made our way back to the train station. Stopped for an ice cream on the way and boarded the train. A really great day. Dan added the pictures to our Flickr account so check them out!
When we exited the train station we immediately passed an outdoor terrace and saw people drinking these amazing looking coffee drinks...so OF COURSE we stopped! We had one flavored with caramel and the other with amaretto. WOW! The kids had hot chocolates and everyone was happy.
Bern has an amazine "main drag". Both sides of the streets are lined with shops and the sidewalks are all covered. We also noticed cellar doors open at every few shops and realized that there were also shops underground! The buses run up and down this street. They are electric and quiet and you really have to watch where you are walking because there are also people walking in the street. We couldn't quite figure it out, it wasn't quite a pedestrian street because there were cars every now and then. But the architecture is great, very different from Lausanne. We stopped at some great fountains and the kids had huge pretzels. Zoe ordered them for us.
The first stop we made was at Albert Einstein's Haus. Sam, Zoe, and I took the tour. This is where he developed the Special Theory of Relativity. He loved Bern and I can see why. It was just cool to say we were there.
The weather began to turn and we were grateful for the covered sidewalks. It was also a good time to stop for lunch. Pizza and pasta. After lunch it was still really raining and we were trying to figure out how to keep Ben dry. The stroller doesn't really do it and he doesn't have a raincoat. Dan had an old Sendik's bag in his raincoat pocket and we popped a few holes in that and "raincoat". He looked so cute!
Our next stop was Barengraben a.k.a. Bear pit. Bern has some hairy residents that enjoy being fed by tourists who purchase the fruits and veggies they sell for them. The kids loved it and the bear seemed happy too. It was raining pretty steady so we stopped into the tourist office next door and discovered the Altes Tramdepot restaurant. They brew their own beer, perfect. We ordered the sampler and got to taste four of their brews. Sam and Zoe split an orange Fanta, their new favorite soda.
The sun peeked out again and we headed to Munster Cathedral. Dan, Sam, and Zoe climbed the steeple stairs for a fantastic view. Ben ran around courtyard and chased a pigeon. He also flirted with some European girls. One of the girls worked at the University of Minnesota for a year. Small world. After the stairs we made our way back to the train station. Stopped for an ice cream on the way and boarded the train. A really great day. Dan added the pictures to our Flickr account so check them out!
2 comments:
Again great pics! I'm loving the pink tram and the huge pretzels! Keep enjoying and exploring!
Great pictures. Bern seems very pretty. I wish we would have gone there with our trip. Orange Fanta was my favorite soda in Europe too. It tastes different then the American Fanta. It is really good. It seems like fun to go to the Barengraben. I would love to feed a bear. Pretzels as big as your heads. AWESOME!!! My mom and I shared a pretzel that big in Straussburg in Austria.
Hayley
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