Trips

Tues., 6/17/14 – Lucerne, Bern, and Montreux
       We boarded the bus at 8:30, made sure our bags were on the bus, and then headed toward Bern.
       Bern is the capital of Switzerland and is a well-preserved old town.  We began our visit like most tourists at the Bern bear pits.  The bear is the symbol of the town and the canton (or State) of Bern.  Three bears were in the pit for us to see while their enclosure was being cleaned: Papa bear, Finn; Mama bear, Bjork; and Baby bear, Urs.

Flag of the Canton of Bern	Swiss Parliament building
One of the Bern Bears	Next we crossed the River Aare (famous crossword word) and were dropped off in Old Town.  We walked with Sara to get our bearings and visited St. Vincent Church with its 100-meter high spire.  Above the main door is an elaborate design of the Last Judgment surrounded by prophets and angels.        We walked up the main street past several of the 12 ornate fountains, each with a different design or figure: Justice, Sampson with his hand in a lion’s mouth, an Ogre swallowing a baby, etc.
St. Vincent Church, with a sun dog	City trolly and famous restaurant
Moses Fountain	Ogre Fountain
Samson Fountain	Zahringen fountain (memorial to the founder of Bern)
We arrived at the famous astronomical clock before 12-noon to see the mechanical procession of painted figures.  The clock is the largest in Europe, was built in the 1400’s, and is still wound by hand for 20 minutes every day.  At the top a man rings a bell with a hammer (it chimes the hour), a rooster crows, a jester rings two small bells, Father Time’s mouth opens and shuts, and bears dance in a circle.  Beside the timepiece is an astronomical clock.  It was fun to watch.
Astronomical Clock	Cellar doors along the main street
Einstein's house (he was working in Bern when he developed his theory of relativity)	Like flags and license plates, we photograph interesting manhole covers in each place we visit.
Typical Swiss construction with curved eaves	We drove from Bern to our next city stop, Montreux.  Before arriving at our hotel on Lake Geneva we toured Chillon Castle (or Chateau de Chillon), immortalized by Byron’s “Prisoner of Chillon.”  The castle was a prison and a fort as well as a castle for many generations of the Savoy family.  We entered the dungeon where the Prisoner of Chillon (the monk François Bonivard) was supposedly imprisoned chained to a post.  Byron made it sound much worse and longer than it was in reality but the poem made the castle famous.  One room contained wooden chests that would have held necessities for the royalty as they moved around their lands.
	Chateau de Chillon
Chateau de Chillon	Chateau de Chillon
Plaque commemorating Byron in the Chateau de Chillon	Chest in the Chateau de Chillon
Lake Geneva	Interesting fence
Aretha Franklin	Jazz Park Montreux has a famous Jazz Festival every year and sculptures of past performers are memorialized in this park

Wed., 6/18/14 – Montreux, Gstaad, and Gruyeres
        Today we took to the countryside of the Vaud Alps in the French part of Switzerland.  We drove past many vineyards and wide green meadows and looked up above tree line to rocky peaks with some snow. 
        We had a photo stop to look at Glacier 3000.  It is a 3000-meter high glacier.  It had a waterfall and a gondola/cable car that went to the top and across the glacier.
            We had a morning stroll in the fashionable ski resort of Gstaad.  It had many fancy shops for the rich people who come to visit mostly in the winter.  The town is host to the Yehudi Menuhin violin festival and will soon host the Swiss Open Tennis Tournament.  They also have a volleyball tournament of some kind.  The stands were being assembled for the VB and tennis.  

Scenery on the road to Gstaad	Edelweiss - potted because it is past the season to find it in the mountains
Sign advertising the Swiss Open Tennis tournament	Installing the court for tennis and beach volleyball
	We headed next to the fortified old town of Gruyeres that produces Gruyere cheese that is used in cheese fondues.  We stopped at the Gruyere Cheese Factory, saw the cheese wheels aging in the storehouse, and tasted young and old cheese.  It has a unique flavor.        The old town is a walled city with a castle at the highest part.  The streets are cobblestone and lined with shops and restaurants.  We sat on a bench under a tree and ate our sandwiches that were bought at the Co-op in Gstaad.  It was a very picturesque town.
Gruyere Cheese Factory	Aging Gruyere cheese
Gruyeres	St. Theodul’s church
Painting over gate into town center	Fortress
Gruyeres Castle	Back in Montreux, Gale went out to the grocery and bought bread, a tomato, juice, and dessert and we ate egg, cheese, and tomato sandwiches for dinner. It was a nice dinner for only $10.  Eating out in Switzerland is very, very expensive so we have been going to the Coop (a nationwide grocery chain) or local grocery stores whenever we can.

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