Eurotrip Part I: How I Spent my Home Exchange Vacation

 A Good Start

Swiss Hertz rental agent to Dave:

   “Mr. Brooks, if you drive a stick shift, you could rent this roomy Ford that needs to be returned to Rome instead of the tiny, automatic Opel you reserved… and we will reduce your rental fee by $600.”

    Dave, who has not driven a stick since he was 20, after imagining using a clutch to maneuver steep, Swiss mountain roads and the traffic-congested streets of Bern, while also considering the stare down from his budget-conscious wife, to Hertz: 

    “I, uh, of course, I drive stick.... We’ll take it. ”

    Let the lurching begin.

SWITZERLAND

 (Note:This blog doesn't allow me to publish most of my vertical photos so many of my best shots aren't shown here. I am sure you are disappointed. But check out my Facebook page for more photos.)

Home in Bern 

    Two hours later, after six stall outs and a whole lot of cussin', we arrived at our exchange host's home in Bern, the German-speaking Swiss capital so lovely that it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Our new residence was a little townhouse on a dead end street overlooking a huge soccer complex. It had apple and pear trees in the small, lush yard. The house, with 2 bedrooms and a second floor bath,was brightly furnished with no-frills, Scan style furniture. And, it was in a fantastic location, just 5 minutes from a bus stop. 

       An odd, decorative light sat on a tall post attached to the railing of the balcony outside the bedroom. It was hard to tell exactly what kind of light it was because the balcony door was locked, but it seemed to be in the shape of a half-peeled banana.  
   That first night we watched the light repeatedly change from purple to green to red, casting its colorful glow through the sheer curtains and onto the bedroom walls. After a few minutes, Dave --and forgive me for being crass--but Dave noted that it really looked more like a penis.  And once he pointed it out, I could definitely see the resemblance, yes, indeed. So, we spent our stay in Bern sleeping in a bedroom with a gaily lit banana/penis light  to  guide us throughout the night. Alas, we failed to take photos.  
    We found that the Swiss have an approach to traffic calming that works. The residential streets are 2-way, and wide enough for exactly 2 cars. Yet parking is allowed on both sides of the street. Say what? This is possible because parking alternates from side to side: 4 cars parked on the right (so you drive on the left), then a few yards open, and then 4 cars parked on the left (so you switch to the right side). This means you must drive very s l o w l y, weaving from side to side, and constantly yielding to oncoming cars. Speeding is physically impossible on Swiss residential streets.

Cannabis Tea: "Fantastic Natural Feeling." 

                   Heavy food + exorbitant prices =  often eating at the house. 

No, we did not inhale.----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bern -- "bear" in German-- has maintained a bear park along the Aare River since 1857; yes, that is a bear in the lower left. Joggers running along the river (tiny figure in red) get a great look at them, and with a field of sheep nearly adjacent to the park, the bears get a good view, too.

Bern government building at night. The Swiss love flowers along their windows.

Colonial Williamsburg Swiss Style

     We went to the Swiss open air museum, Ballensweig, on Sunday to see how life once was in Swiss Alpine villages. Most everything was in German so we didn't learn much, but it was a lovely place, spread across a valley ringed by mountains. And, they were having a donkey exhibition! One donkey, appearing to be a cross between a llama and a donkey, was a sad and lonely fellow. He kept trying to make donkey friends, but other donkeys, the suave, short-hair type that fit in with the crowd, would turn and give him a swift kick. This rejection led Mr. Lonely to utter the most forlorn series of brays that echoed across the valley. Then, as barking dogs often do, several other donkeys --  too far away for me to see what they looked like -- answered with their own series of haws. I can only hope that they were llama-donkeys, too.

The lonely llama-donkey of Ballensweig. 

   We hiked the very long path to a hilltop where there was a crafts fair going on. After standing in line for 30 minutes, we snagged 2 plates of a most delicious Swiss concoction comprised of battered apple rings fried and sprinkled with cinnamon.

Organ grinder at crafts show.

Mmmm..donuts. Swiss style.

Green hills, mountain backdrops, Swiss chalets, and perfect weather. (Excuse the cheesy photo set up; It won't be the last....)

Gruyere: Of Cheese and Chocolate

Cailler's tasting room. So many chocolates, so little time.

     
    After one failed, bucking (stick, remember?) attempt to get out of Bern and into Gruyere  --curse you, oh GPS which does not understand when exits are closed due to construction -- we finally got to Gruyere later in the week.

     We learned that Switzerland has four official languages: French, Italian, German and Romansh. The Swiss around Bern speak German, and despite rumors to the contrary, we could find virtually none who also spoke English. Turned out, that was not a big deal because there were pretty much none who wanted to talk to us anyway. The Swiss have many fine attributes,but warm and fuzzy is not one of them. However, when we visited the French-speaking part of Switzerland, including Gruyere, there was a marked thaw in attitude toward tourists. Between their good natured efforts and my meager high school French, we were actually able to piece together a conversation with a Swiss person. 
    We toured the Maison du Gruyere cheese factory with an audio tour narrated by Cherry, the cheery talking cow, and saw some cheese rounds being poured. It was pretty interesting. We also sampled the cheese. We then headed to the highlight of the trip, the Cailler chocolate factory; Cailler was the first to combine milk and chocolate for candy, giving birth to Swiss chocolate.We enjoyed the Disneyland-type walk through the history of the coco bean but the big payoff was the chocolate sampling room. And that most delightful buffet was all-you-can-eat.

The old town of Gruyere, where we met Chuck and Sue from Philly. English speakers immediately gravitated to one another since there seem to be so few of them in Switzerland.

The cobblestone streets of old Gruyere lead to a hilltop castle..and the best gelatto of our trip.

Boat and Castle Tour

      From Interlaken we hopped on a boat tour of gorgeous Brienz lake that included admission to two castles. We chose the castles in Spiez and Thun ("Toon"). There was not another living soul in the Spiez castle, and Dave and I had a great time exploring every nook and cranny of the period-furnished castle, including the uppermost towers, up 4 flights of narrow, creaking stairs. The castle in big and bustling Thun was not as enjoyable; it was crowded and filled with factoid posters and uninteresting displays, more a museum than a castle.   

Approaching the town of Spiez.

Arrow in Speiz castle-see below photo for explanation. Obviously predates Swiss policy of neutrality.

    In every city of size --such as Interlaken--there are hundred of bikes available for free use, usually at a train or bus station, with a 20 CF deposit. Swiss are married to their bikes like we are to our cars. That, and the fact virtually all of them seem to smoke, explains how they stay fit in spite of their love for sausages and cheese.

View from the top of Spiez castle.

Next blog: Jungfrau