The next log of my Europe trip, continued after Paris.
November 17, 2023
I turned on the heater last night to try to dry the clothes I'd washed. It didn’t work. I wrapped them up with the damp parts inside, so I could transport them without getting the rest of my luggage wet.
My train tickets weren’t until almost noon. I tried another boulangerie for breakfast. It was really good, and I wish I'd found it earlier. I had bad luck finding good food in Paris.
I left my hotel early, with lingering paranoia from my last train ride. I got to the train station almost an hour and a half early. I wasn’t thinking straight, because I couldn’t seem to find my train to Frasne listed anywhere. There was one that left at the right time, but it wasn’t listed as the Frasne train. I wandered around, looking for information. I sat and waited for half an hour, expecting the train to pop up on screen a little later. Someone was playing a piano. They were doing a good job, but the piano was slightly out of tune. Not surprising, since the room wasn’t sealed from the elements. Still no sign of the Frasne train. I talked to a staff member, who pointed me in the right direction (and I finally remembered that the train was listed by it’s final destination, and Frasne was not the final destination). I got on without any trouble.
Made it to Frasne no problem and transferred to another train. From there, I just watched the scenery. It was the best so far. As we got toward the Alps, the fall colors became stunning. Golden trees, which darkened to orange and red the farther we travelled. For a while, we were riding alongside a river. Cliffs and ridges rose up around us, and some of the highest distant peaks were sprinkled with snow.
Finally we arrived in Bern. I hauled my stuff across the station and to the bus stop. I’m always nervous with new public transit. Each place has been so different, and I didn’t even know what the main language was in Switzerland. The last train had been announcing most of the stops in French, but the names didn’t look French. And most of what I heard spoken was German.
As I boarded the bus, I showed the driver the name of the stop on my phone, to make sure I was headed to the right place. The bus was packed and I could barely squeeze in with all my luggage. But I arrived okay, and luckily my hotel was right next to the bus stop.
This was my nicest room so far. Spacious, with a huge bed and big shower. The only funky thing is that you don’t get a normal sized blanket. You get two small ones that only cover half the bed. That’s a first. Clearly meant for two people, though I am only one.
I headed next door to the Co-op market. I grabbed some snacks for a simple dinner. But when I tried to check out, the lady told me something about the apple. I couldn’t understand her, and she left, taking the apple with her. The guy behind me explained that I was supposed to weigh it back in the fruit area. She returned with a sticker that covered about a third of the apple, and I headed back to the hotel. With a detour to pet a friendly cat.
November 18, 2023
didn’t have any reservations for Bern. I did look into a tour, but none were available today. I could just walk around town and relax. It was nice, after worrying about public transit and ticket times every other day.
My map marked the main sites around Bern. The town is a Unesco heritage site. Just around the corner from my hotel was a rose garden. I didn’t expect much action in November, but I went to check it out. There were actually some flowers! But even better, the rose garden was on top of a hill. Across from us was a stunning view of the old town of Bern. The river wrapped around the town, and the water was bordered by autumn-colored trees. The cathedral tower stood high above everything. In the distance, snow-covered mountains melted into the clouds.
After I took in the view, I headed toward the resident bears. They have a nice hillside enclosure beside the river. I wasn’t sure if they would still be awake, with winter fast approaching, but two of them were up and about.
I watched them for a while, then crossed the bridge into Bern. It was after 10, but nothing was really open yet. There’s a big, beautiful old clock tower in the middle of town. Though it kind of ruins the effect when there’s a McDonalds and Gamestop at its base.
There was a little stand selling roasted chestnuts. I sat by the path, peeling the chestnuts and breathing hot steam (I wrote a poem about that memory).
As I continued on, I spotted a tea shop and headed inside. I said I was interested in oolong, and they told me about the different types they had, offering to brew some for me. As it steeped, I talked to the lady there. I think I’m kinda desperate to talk to people since Paris, where I no longer understand the language. It’s a strange kind of lonely isolation. I’m tempted to say things even if I overhear people speaking Spanish or Japanese. I think I chatted too much to the lady there, and she deflected me when she could. I turned away, kinda embarrassed and wondering if I was babbling.
The guy who had been brewing the tea for me returned with a tray and invited me to sit down. He had four cups –for the both of us to try both teas. He poured the first kind, explaining the difference in flavors and origins. I’ve never been good at telling the details of tea flavors (As Uncle Iroh would say, I’m fine with some “hot leaf juice”). Though I can tell if I don’t like a tea, or if it’s too flavorless. But with his descriptions, I found that I could sense some of the differences. Even when the tea sat for a few minutes, there was a shift in flavor. He told me there were six kinds of tea, all made from Camelia sinensis (green, black, oolong, pu’er, white, and yellow). Some teas are so reliant on quality plants that they’re hard to find. I’ve had pu’er twice, but never really liked the flavor or feel. He said that it was probably made the cheap, fast way. I’ll have to try the good kind someday.
I was there over half an hour. It was good to have someone to talk to, and I learned more about tea! Back when I read The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane, I went on a quest to get a tea tree of my own. It took over a year to find one though. Earlier in the year, I’d dug out a big root ball from a sickly pittosporum, and planted my tea tree there. I harvested just a few leaves, not wanting to stress the new plant. I tried making tea out of it, but messed up and made the leaves too crisp. They didn’t have any flavor.
I continued exploring. The houses are beautiful, with unique shapes, or angled roofs with towers.
I crossed the river, heading for the natural history museum. The second floor was a hall of animal skeletons. I had fun trying to identify them before looking at the signs. Some of them are really bizarre, like the dugong. The shoebill skeleton was cool – I’d love to see a living one.
Then there was the exhibit on St. Bernards. Crossing the Great St. Bernard Pass was so dangerous that there have been shelters there since Roman times. At an elevation ot 2,500 meters, it could snow at any time of year, and could catch people unprepared. In the 1000’s, Bernard of Menthon built a hospice at the top of the pass. Anyone was welcome to come in – the doors were never locked. Every day they sent out guides to help people. Some time in the mid 1600’s the guides started taking dogs with them. The guides and dogs saved over 2,000 people. Bernard was canonized in 1123, hence the name of the pass, and the name of the St. Bernard dogs. Originally the mountain dogs were a variety of breeds – St. Bernards became more common later. Oddly enough, present-day St. Bernards have been bred in directions that no longer make them ideal dogs for mountain rescues. And you know how you often see images of St. Bernards carrying little barrels of rum around their necks? Yeah, that never happened in real life.
The creepiest room was full of bottled specimens. Including a few shelves of puppies in jars. That’s enough to make you a bit queasy. It turns out that this museum has the largest collection of pedigree dogs (all dead from natural causes, luckily). Scientists use this collection to study how dogs descended from wolves.
They can use ibex horns to study climate change – because the chemicals in the grass they eat leaves traces in their horn growth. And fish specimens can show historical amounts of plastic pollution.
On the bottom floor, they had a crystal display, with nearly 2 tons of quartz.
Back across the river, and to the cathedral.
I bought a ticket to climb the tower. It was a looong climb. And it definitely makes you breathless. But luckily my legs are quite tough now, and I made the climb remarkably fast. Keeping with my last Europe tradition, I took one of my goofy videos during the climb up. The view was stunning.
Because I was chatting to the camera during my climb, I didn’t really notice how long the spiral staircase was. But climbing down in silence, it never seemed to end. Finally I was back out in the town again.
Both here and at the train station in Paris, you have to pay to use the bathroom. I get it in Peru, but not here. Luckily it was time to eat, so I found a restaurant and used their bathroom. The panini was really good: spinach and tomato, and something called la bouze cheese. Creamy and melty like brie, but not as salty. I haven't been able to find it anywhere since.
In addition to the storefronts, there are basement-areas with trap doors. Many of these open up into shops! One of them had boba, so I had to get one. It was really good.
I headed back to the hotel, crossing the bridge. There was a restaurant near the bears, and they had a sign for gelato. I hadn’t had any since I last came to Europe (not good gelato, anyway). The great thing is that you can pick two flavors. I got dark chocolate and marzipan. It was amazing!
I decided to take the slightly longer route back, through the rose garden again. The city was starting to light up for the night.
People were sitting on the wall, looking out over the city. I joined them, watching night fall. The dusk deepened, and lights along the streets made Bern look like it was crossed by glowing streams.
The cathedral bells started chiming. When dark fell, I felt a couple rain drops and decided it was time to go. The stone wall had frozen my butt, and it stayed cold until I took a hot shower.
