Life in Bern

Living in Bern is pretty darn sweet. Since I'm not working I get to play a lot more than Darrell, but he does manage to get out in the afternoon for a run and then a swim (or more accurately a float) down the Aare River near our apartment.

There are trails on both sides of the river, and also a steep trail that takes you 1,000 feet up to the top of the Gurten, our local hill. The funicular is quicker than the runners and definitely faster than the cows.

Funicular in background and cows grazing on steep hills by the Gurten trail

The river is the main summer joy in Bern and hundreds of people enjoy floating down the river! I've attached a 58 second movie and two photos to give you a sense of the playland of the Aare River.

Floating down the Aare River

Fixed "surfing" on the River with a line attached to a tree on shore!

For young children, since the Aare is definitely not safe water, parents can take their children to public pools or to splash in the fountains on the plaza in front of the Parliament building.

Cooling off in the fountains

Tourism is alive and well in Bern in the summer so you can listen to street musicians while you ogle 14th century buildings and refill your water bottle at the 15th century fountains!

Filling water at one of the many fountains

Playing the alpen horn near the "new" city gate

 And, common to European life everywhere, you can always find a café for a great cup of coffee!
 

Finding love at the bottom of a cappuccino

The Bern Buskers Festival

The Bern Buskers Festival has upped the beat of the medieval heart of Bern each August since 2004. Roughly 150 world artists perform in Bern's old town — a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Music, dance, theater, street performances, and acrobatics take place on a rotating schedule on 25 stages set around the town. The streets, alleys, and plazas throng with 70,000 folks of all ages trying to catch as many performances as possible over the three-day event. It is incredible.

Darrell ready to enter Buskers Bern

I was hungry, par usual, and there were 63 gastronomically delightful stands from all over the world ready for me to try - including Brazilian Coxinhas, Chilean Empanadas, Brienz Cheese Roasters, Crepes and loads more. We chose our food and drink based on the shortest lines, as we rightly assumed everything would be terrific.

Cooking my Chilean Lomito - que rico!

Music venues included folk music from Cyprus, Norway, British Isles and Ireland, there was Oriental Brass and Big Beats, Senagalese Afropop, Polish Jazz Fusion, and lots more! One of our favorites was an Australian Blues and Roots single man show, Claude Hays.

Claude Hays, Australian Music Man extraordinaire!

It was so fun to weave between people of all ages and find the stages next to the 15th century arcades (covered shopping areas) and the 16th century fountains - more on both of those later!

There were also activities for children and adults from street theater and acrobatics to participatory writing.

Typing thoughts to share or keep to yourself

The girls below got their awe-inspiring hair done at another booth, and were now at a giant blowing bubble table.

I may not have understood a word, but the Botox Box theater below was still incredibly funny!

I've always enjoyed the juxtaposition of old and new. I love the Panda Buns food booth below the Bern Minster, a Swiss Reformed cathedral, built in the Gothic style beginning in 1421!

Another highlight, reminding me greatly of my favorite paleontologist, Dave Gillette of the Museum of Northern Arizona, are the walking whatever-they-are!

The exuberance of the crowd and the grand celebration of this musical and artistic cultural mix was incredibly heartening. Viva the Buskers Festival and all the amazing artists and other people that created this amazing annual event.

Note: You can see many more great images here from the official website.

Biking by Glacial Lakes

On August 17th, Darrell and I took a train to Spiez, and then biked along both the Thunersee and the Brienzersee, large glacial lakes fed by water from the Alps.

We biked along the south shore of both lakes, mostly on bike trails with a few busy roads and some great back country hills away from the lakes as well. The total route to Meiringen was 48 km (29 miles) and it was a great day!

Map showing the area (but not the route) from Spiez to Meiringen

After getting out of the train station in Spiez, we immediately found our signpost (see photo above) and then rolled down the hill to Faulensee, about the cutest town you can imagine. I loved the little boats you could take out for a slippery slide into the lake!

Are you ready for a quick entrance into cold water?

From their the route went along the lake to Interlaken, a crazy tourist town with access to popular hiking trails in the Alps. Then along the Brienzersee until we started up and down a rolling series through farmland and forest.

Darrell ready to enjoy the downhill after a steep climb up

After all the hills it was nice to ride with a tailwind on the flat valley to Meiringen. It was beginning to rain so we took refuge in the Sherlock Holmes Museum. Here is some edited information from their website: The museum was opened in 1991 on the 100th anniversary of the "death" of Sherlock Holmes with the Sherlock Holmes Society of London and Dame Jean Conan Doyle, daughter of the author of the Sherlock Holmes detective stories, in the English church in Meiringen. The museum contains carefully collected authentic exhibition pieces of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes and the Victorian era. It has the unique feature of a faithful reconstruction of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson's living room at 221B Baker Street according to clues found in the stories.

The reconstructed 221B Baker Street Apartment

The museum is in this location because Meiringen is home to Reichenbach falls where Holmes met his demise at the hands of his nemesis, James Moriarty. Cheers to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for creating a character that continues to live on in Meiringen and well beyond!

My private consultation with Dr. Holmes

Return to Switzerland

Darrell has happily earned a sabbatical, and we have returned to Bern, Switzerland seven years after we lived here on our previous sabbatical adventure. We will be here (with some traveling) until early January, 2019.

Our Flagstaff home is rented to a lovely family from near Lyon, France pictured below. Diane (left) and her brother Marceau (next to her) will be attending a Montessori school in Flagstaff. Caroline, a speech pathologist in France, is in the center. Robin will attend some day care, and Guillaume will be working at the USGS's Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center studying sediment transport. We hope they enjoy Flagstaff and our home!

Diane, Marceau, Caroline, Robin, and Guillaume

Darrell arrived in Switzerland in mid-July, and I stayed home to wrap up my work with STEM City and to sort, throw, donate, pack, store, etc. our copious belongings. Oh, and clean the house. Thanks to daughter Lindsey for giving me some serious scrubbing help!

Darrell met me at the train station and we caught the tram towards our new apartment in a sweet neighborhood south of the town center. We are only a couple of blocks from the Aare River which is wonderful! We had appetizers and Prosecco on our patio for my "Welcome to Bern".

Our apartment is in the complex with the red dot - the University is in the upper left. Old Town (a World Heritage Site) is in the bend of the river at the top labeled Bern. The Gurten hill is just below our apt off the photo. It is a great town!

The next morning I climbed up the Gurten, the hill just south of our apartment. We gain about 1,000 ft in elevation and there is a tower at the top of the hill that adds a little more, plus gives you a good 360 degree view. The sky has been hazy though so this isn't the clearest view. I'll add a photo of the Alps when the sky is more clear!

View north to old town. Our apt is just above the left side of the tallest tree in the foreground.

A whimsical sculpture at a cafe at the base of the Gurten

One of my favorite things to do is bike or walk along (and take swims in) the Aare River. You can see hundreds of people floating down the river in rafts, or just with life jackets or inflated dry bags. People of all ages walk upstream and then float down the river over and over again. The river is moving at a good clip, and is refreshingly cold as it comes down from the Alps. The temperature is actually at a record high of 23 C (73 F) with the heat waves across Europe and much of the rest of the globe...

Boaters go under the pedestrian bridge south of Bern

I tried using the bike left by the folks we are leasing our apt from - but after dropping the chain, having the fender rub against the front tire, and generally feeling unstable on it, I decided to buy a second-hand bike. I now have a hybrid Trek 7500 that includes some new parts. It is also under warranty so I will be able to get free repairs for at least a few months while we are here.

My new used bike!

My first ride was along the Aare. It doesn't take long to reach some country life at the edge of town, and it is hard to get lost with all the sign posts along the way! More adventures to come!

Farm on the bike path just south of Bern

Typical path sign to ensure you can get both home and away!