A Quick Trip to Switzerland!

At the end of our visit to the Italian cities we decided that we would like to take a quick trip into the mountains of Switzerland. After reading through our handy-dandy Europe guide (thanks Lauren!) we chose, based on what appealed to us to go to Lucerne and then move onto the capitol city, Bern.

We were very lucky and able to find couchsurfers for all four nights we were spending in Switzerland. We left from Venice and after a very scenic, but very long train ride we arrived in Switzerland.


View from the train window, somewhere around Lugano.

We got in around 8 pm and met up with our couchsurfers. The next day we were up bright and early to wander around the city. The weather in the mountains was a far cry from the warm weather we had in Italy!


Fall was in full swing... across that lake is a really beautiful view of the mountains that we never got to see.





Very quaint city.

The famous Kapellbrucke that burned down in 1993, but has been rebuilt and partially restored.

Everything looks like a ski chalet!

"The Dying Lion Of Lucerne"

I think this is a whomping willow.

From the top looking down at the city.

Kurtis holding the roasted chestnuts, which are very popular and we felt we needed to try.



At the wine tasting with our couchsurfers and some friends.

The next day we took a beautiful 1 hour train ride through the Swiss countryside and ended up in Bern. We headed straight to our couchsurfers apartment where we were greeted and shown to our room. We would be staying with Thomas and Nia for the next two days. When we arrived in Bern, we had great, clear weather, so Thomas suggested that we head out for a nice walk along the river to the famous Barengraben (Bear Pit) to see Bern's most famous residents.


Nice view of the bridges.

Amy with the bears!

Kurtis and Thomas with the bears.

Momma and one of her babies!

View of the other side of the river from the Bear pit.

Bear themed stuff all over Bern... It is the cities mascot.

After seeing the bears we hiked up the hill to the Rose Garden for a spectacular view of the sunset, we also met up with Nia!



After watching most of the sunset, we wandered towards the grocery store by way of the main strip in Bern. Most of the shops we closed or closing, but it was still awesome to see.


We stopped at the grocery store and Nia and Thomas picked up the ingredients for a traditional Swiss fondue. We met up with Nia's friend Sophie and headed back to the apartment where we were treated to fondue. The Swiss dip the bread into a cherry flavored liqueur before dipping it into the cheese, both Kurtis and I thought it was a little too strong! It is supposed to help with the digestion of all of the cheese!


The next day Kurtis and I walked down to the old town and got to see the city in the light.

Fountain featuring giants eating children. Bern has a small river that runs through the middle of the main street that comes up in many fountains.

And we had to visit the Einstein museum! Did you know that Einstein left his wife for his cousin? Well now you do!

On our last evening, Kurtis and I made tacos for our hosts and then we all headed out to the light show on the capitol building. The light show was intense and awesome... the photos really don't do it justice.






The next morning, we hopped on yet another train, this time to the south of France. We arrived in Nice after about 7 hours on two different trains.