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!