We landed in Zurich at 10 am Swiss time (1 am our ol' Flagstaff time). We were a little groggy but not so impaired we couldn't get a ticket for the right train, and who should be on the platform waiting for the same train but Yarrow Axford and her husband Chris! They were on there way to do a hut-to-hut hike in Zermatt. It was great to have a brief hour to catch up with them before Darrell and I exited in Bern.
We took a taxi to our apartment - which is about half the size we expected (what is it with those fish-eye lens?) so you can see we have no pull-out couch for visitors - but we can find a little floor space if you are willing to sleep with your head under the small table...
Sorry this is back lit - but you are looking at the entire apartment - complete with the door on the left edge of the picture, a small balcony behind Darrell, the bed (which takes up 25% of the total floor space) and the kitchen which is barely visible in the back right.
The kitchen is literally an arm's length across in both directions. There is a second burner to the stove (basically a hot plate) which is the same size as the one pictured. Both of them can be raised up in case you need counter space (ha, ha) and their is a mini-fridge underneath the two burners. No oven, no microwave, no coffee pot, no deluxe Swiss fondue pot. Knowing how much I enjoy cooking, though, this should not provide too much of a hardship!
The bathroom is clean and functional. It is just as you enter the apartment to the right and then there is shelving to the left. That little area then leads straight to the first picture I showed you. That's it!
It took us only a few minutes to unpack everything and try to get it out of the way - then we went for a walk into the old town of Bern. I am only leaving you with one pretty picture though - to tempt you to log in tomorrow when we plan to take an extensive tromp through town to find the visitor center, a bank, where Darrell will be working, etc.
This is the River Aare which winds around town. It is too cold and fast for me to think about swimming in yet!
