After being back in the Netherlands for several months, me and my former flatmates from Melbourne were sure about one thing: it was time for a reunion trip to somewhere in Europe. Destination: Bern, Switzerland! I can hear you think, how do you all afford this extremely expensive country after just having spend thousands in Australia? Well, to be honest, this trip would not have been possible without Ana's overly sweet grandma who let us stay in her house, cooked for us, and gave us chocolate, cheese and train tickets to really get a taste of Switzerland.
After a short flight from Amsterdam to Basel and an expensive train from Basel to Bern, we immediately dove into Swiss life as Ana's grandmother took us to see a performance of the choir Ana's aunt was singing in. There were songs in German, French and English from both past and present, making it a very fun and diverse performance. After the show, we took the train to our home for the next few days and after a lovely dinner we walked to the nearby lake to see the last bits of the sunset. With some full days ahead, we decided to head to bed quite early, but not before a short ab-workout with Loïs.
The next morning, me and Loïs woke up early enough to attempt a run around the lake. However, we got lost somewhere along the way and decided to turn around before we would be too late for breakfast. In the end, we still ran some three kilometers and had some nice views over the lake, but our goal hadn't been reached yet... So on Tuesday morning we made another attempt and with some tips from Ana's grandmother on directions we managed to run the almost 4 km around the lake! So much for our work-outs in Switzerland though, of course you are more interested in what we saw of this beautiful country!
The first city we explored was Bern, we walked around town, saw the Zytglogge, an old clock tower that is part of the Old City of Bern, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. The old city itself is stunning as well, with the cobblestones, old fountains and tallest cathedral of Bern. It is surrounded by the river Aare on three sides and sits on a hill, giving a beautiful sight of the surrounding valley.
We had our lunch at the bear pit, which until 2009 hosted bears in a tiny concrete space, but due to protests of their living conditions, the government decided to build a big park for the bears. So with our feet dipped into the cold river, our faces in the sun, and some bears in the background, we enjoyed our sandwiches before walking to a different part of town. There we got one of Ana's favourite ice creams and it was definitely worth a try and went to a big swimming pool next to the river. Ana and Loïs were brave enough to take a dip into the fast-flowing icy water, while me and Victoria enjoyed some sun on the side. In the evening, we had dinner at Ana's aunt and uncle's place to celebrate her uncle's birthday, and at night we sat by the lake for a while. A full but relaxing day!
On our next day the weather had turned from a sunny 27 degrees to a rainy 20, but it didn't stop us from seeing more of the country. We took an early train from Basel to Interlaken (meaning: between lakes) with amazing views on the alps, the river Aare and the lakes. In Interlaken we experienced quite some rain, but even with raincoats and umbrellas we could see the beauty of both the city and its surroundings. From Interlaken we took a boat to Breinz over one of the lakes. With the alps surrounding us on both sides, the views were stunning, but the hot chocolate in Breinz was definitely necessary to warm up from the drive. After a short walk around the city and some photos at a viewpoint, we decided to hop on the train to our last destination: Lucerne.
This was a good choice, because the sky cleared and the sun came through, warming us up from the cold and rainy morning. Lucerne is quite a big city and famous for not only its sights of the Alps, but also for its Chapel Bridge and historic city centre. We wandered around the city for a while before heading back to Bern for dinner.
Tuesday was quite a relaxing day, well apart from our second run around the lake. We first went to Shoppyland, a big mall near Ana's grandmother's house. Because who doesn't want to go to a place called Shoppyland right? But after a short walk we decided it would be more worth it to go back to Bern because on Sunday all the shops had been closed. And so we took the train to Bern, walked around the city for a while, tried on some fancy clothes and bought almost nothing due to the prices, but we had loads of fun together. We had a final dinner at grandma's, delicious pasta with zuccini and enjoyed a cosy night in with books, chocolate and face-masks.
On our last day, we decided to see some more of Basel, as we had only seen the airport on our first day. So we took the expensive train back (a one-way train ticket was as expensive as our two-way flight) and walked around town with grandma for a while. We saw the big cathedral, went for another hot chocolate, took the ferry across the river and said goodbye to this very sweet grandma, before trying to find a place for dinner and heading to the airport. A lovely couple of days with amazing people in a stunning country!
After a short flight from Amsterdam to Basel and an expensive train from Basel to Bern, we immediately dove into Swiss life as Ana's grandmother took us to see a performance of the choir Ana's aunt was singing in. There were songs in German, French and English from both past and present, making it a very fun and diverse performance. After the show, we took the train to our home for the next few days and after a lovely dinner we walked to the nearby lake to see the last bits of the sunset. With some full days ahead, we decided to head to bed quite early, but not before a short ab-workout with Loïs.
The next morning, me and Loïs woke up early enough to attempt a run around the lake. However, we got lost somewhere along the way and decided to turn around before we would be too late for breakfast. In the end, we still ran some three kilometers and had some nice views over the lake, but our goal hadn't been reached yet... So on Tuesday morning we made another attempt and with some tips from Ana's grandmother on directions we managed to run the almost 4 km around the lake! So much for our work-outs in Switzerland though, of course you are more interested in what we saw of this beautiful country!
The first city we explored was Bern, we walked around town, saw the Zytglogge, an old clock tower that is part of the Old City of Bern, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. The old city itself is stunning as well, with the cobblestones, old fountains and tallest cathedral of Bern. It is surrounded by the river Aare on three sides and sits on a hill, giving a beautiful sight of the surrounding valley.
This was a good choice, because the sky cleared and the sun came through, warming us up from the cold and rainy morning. Lucerne is quite a big city and famous for not only its sights of the Alps, but also for its Chapel Bridge and historic city centre. We wandered around the city for a while before heading back to Bern for dinner.
