Tip of the day: Make sure you have a good gap between your
trains if you have a connection to catch.I booked my trains between Paris
and Bern separately in order to give my self an
hour (otherwise the maximum time was 30 minutes) and it paid off when the train
from Paris was
over 40 minutes late. Being a travel nerd definitely has its benefits!
Glocke Hostel in Bern
seems to be brand new, with great beds and a lovely common room where the
tables are set out in almost a restaurant manner, with 2 separate louges. It
was to be the best hostel I stayed in for a while, and I spent my evening
watching “Faceoff” with a couple of Americans & Aussies, and taking the
piss out of Nicholas Cage.
Started off my stay in Bern
with a visit to the apartment where Albert Einstein used to live, followed by a
couple of hours in the historical museum to learn a bit more about Bern’s history. Apparently
it involved a lot of fighting, as shown by a collection of skulls showing the
effects of war (holes and cleave marks..ewww). I then wandered over to the
Barengraben (Bear Garden) to see the grizzly bears, the national symbol
for Bern.
Legend has it that the founder of Bern
declared that the first animal he killed on his first hunt in the area would be
the symbol for the city. Guess Winnie the Pooh was first on the list. The
female bear and her 2 cubs are housed on a steep bare hill with a few trees and
logs as environmental stimulation, with the male bear in an adjacent pen. The
open-air enclosures are free to view along the riverfront walk, and although
they are a big improvement from the original stone circle bear pit they used to
live in, they are still pretty average compared to the Aussie & Kiwi animal
enclosures I’ve become used to. I’d rather they charged a low fee and made some
better enclosures for the poor things.
The following day I caught an early train to Interlaken, a little town
situated between two lakes and well-known for its adrenalin sports (skydiving,
paragliding, rafting, skiing). I was planning on visiting the alpine villages
for a good hike or two. I left my gear at the Lazy Falken Hostel before
wandering back to the train station to hire a bike with which to explore the
town. Best decision ever. I spent the rest of the beautifully sunny day cycling
around the two lakes, stopping at Thunersee lake first before following the
river through town to Brienzersee, where I ended up cycling half way around the
lake to the town of Neiderden.
If I’d been more organized and left earlier I probably could have cycled around
the while lake in 3-4 hours, but my quick tour was pretty good. Amazing views
and reminded me a lot of Queenstown.
At the end of a long day I was happy to have the room to
myself, only to have 2 guys turn up at 10pm and stay up really late. Luckily I
can sleep through anything (including earthquakes).
