Bears in Bern

  Bern, Switzerland
Tuesday, July 11, 2000

I loved Bern. The Swiss capital was unlike another Western Europe capital I have seen. We had decided to hitch through France and Switzerland so we left Dijon during a break in the weather and hooked up a few rides and into Switzerland. We were about 50km short of Bern and we were losing the daylight hours fast. I was ready to set up the tent in a potato crop before we scored a ride into a rugged and stunning city with sharp hills and fantastic medieval style buildings clinging onto the slopes that led down into the swift flowing Emerald River Aare.



Our campsite was a fair hike along the river out of town but the campsite was wonderfully green and wooded. In town we hiked amongst the steep cobblestone roads and visit the Cathedral for a rustic clay red outlook on the rooftops of Bern. We visited the tourist centre for a very good show on the history of Bern and watched the crowd pleasing bears that live in the dig out beside the building. It was also raining a lot here but it didn't dampen our spirits, as it was such a stunning place. We also managed to find a decent camping store and brought oursleves a new camping stove. I also managed to snap my knife back when opening a can and put a decent gash in my finger, lots of blood, but I'm now o.k. thanks for the concern though.