Switzerland - Berne

Switzerland is a beautiful country. The people are beautiful, the scenaries are breathtaking, the cities stand still in time, what more can i expect for a summer holiday. Located in the centre surrounded by Germany, France and Italy, Switzerland stands out to be a unique country. There is no swiss language and people speak either in German, French or Italian depending on which part they are nearer to. I couldn't speak any of them. Unlike Spanish which i think its quite easy to understand and learn, these 3 languages gave me a massive headache. I was so poor to the extent even combining with hand/body language, i still don't have a single clue on what the person was trying to convey. A local tried to helped me on how to operate the ticket machine at the train station once and he failed because i was too dumb to understand what he was telling me.




the Last Judgement at Berne Munster

Speaking of train, Switzerland has the best train service in Europe. Yes THE BEST! With the train as the main mode of transportation, it makes all the cities in Switzerland nearer to each other. Not only was it fast but it was convenient as well. Even small towns have access to the train. My experience of sitting the train in Switzerland gave me a whole new perspective on how cool a train can be. There were 2 classes of seats in the train, first class and second class. Similar to the plane, first class is more expensive, more luxurious and more space. I upgraded to the first class for a day and it was really a different experience from the second class. People are more well dressed and mannered, most consisted of business people. The seats were so spacious, it can accommodate two person of my size and there was more leg room. The one thing that i loved most was the smell, it smelled good! I am not saying that the second class smelled bad, in fact second class was clean enough to the extent there was no competition when compare to Malaysia's KTM or MRT. All the while i was in Switzerland, i never encountered any situation where i have to stand in the train. Most of the time it was empty. Everywhere i walked or went, it was just so spacious. The roads were wide, there were hardly any traffic. There were more space than people around you.




Zytglogge aka Bern's famous clock tower

The city made me felt safe and relax. It was common for me to be highly alert and cautious when i was traveling. I'll be looking out for pick-pockets, homeless people, addicts, gangs, beggars etc like some paranoid but not in switzerland. i was myself. carefree. letting loose. looking out at the amazing scenery that stretches to infinity, i let the experience absorbed and took all in. I took time to enjoy the sun, to breath the fresh air, to observe people and to appreciate the person in front of me. i felt a sense of freedom, life and enjoyed every moment of it. It was a beautiful summer vacation.




One of the fresco i saw while walking at the back lane

I stayed in the heart of Switzerland, a place called Interlaken. Because of its location in the middle of Switzerland, i saved a lot of time traveling to other cities because of the equal distance to everywhere. Most people in Interlaken were young and adventurous. The types with tattoos, piercings and mohawks afterall, its a place where you put your extremes to the test. The place offers river rafting, bungee jumping, sky diving, paragliding, mountain biking, ice climbing, zorbing and anything you can think of. I didn't spend much time in Interlaken except to collapse after a long day of exploring outside of the city.




looking out at the Aare river

i went to Berne, the capital city of Switzerland. Many times when people asked me about the capital city of Switzerland, the cities that ring a bell in my head were either Zurich or Geneva. Berne was never in my mind. Eventhough Berne was less famous than Zurich or Geneva, i never regretted stepping my foot there. It was one of the most beautiful medieval city i had ever seen. The city was really neat and sleek. Roads were very wide and straight. Buildings were well planed and laid out nicely.




one of the eleven statue fountain in Bern.

Berne got its name from a bear like how Singapore got its name from a lion. In Singapore the famous merlion was the landmark of the city. Similar to Singapore, Berne got its famous landmark too, a bear pit! The time i was there, there was only one bear left in the bear pit. I was speechless when i first saw the pit. It was old, small and looked abandoned. I didn't manage to see the bear because it was hiding in its pseudocavelikebuilding. The plan of closing down the bear pit was finally done just recently. It was a little cruel to keep the bears in the pit because of its small compound. There was not much space for the bear to run around.




Moses. One of the statue fountain

Albert Einstein once lived in Berne before. I didn't know about it until i saw his house. It was written Einstein Haus and became a museum for people to visit. I didn't went in because it looked small and the arrow to the entrance was confusing. The city itself was more to a museum to me because of it's medieval structures. Why go in a museum when you are already in a big open air museum.




6km long of shopping promenade. The LONGEST in Europe.

Switzerland post to be cont...