Yesterday was another travel day with not too much to report. We visited Bern on the way back into Germany (where we had to drop our rental car). I had to admit ignorance and that I had no idea that Bern was the capitol of Switzerland. In my head it was Geneva, but that’s probably because of all the conventions/the Olympics? I don’t know. I have a pretty great depth of knowledge when it comes to the arts and history, but those blasted geography Jeopardy categories just kill me.
We had a short time in Bern but I feel like we used the time well, and it was long enough to give me yet another city in Switzerland I need to go back to. Bern (which sounds more like the American “bear” than “burn”) is home to a pretty awesome bear pit - the Bern bears are active and adorable and made Jared talk weird, so it was an all around win. I knew going in that bears were the symbol of Bern, what I didn’t know was that St. Bernards came from the area as well - the whole town was full of large painted dog statues and we sort of put two and two together with one of those “oh. . . Duh,” kind of light bulbs. The whole town is a UNESCO World Heritage site because it’s so old - a good portion of the town dates into the Medieval period, including a particularly famous clock I saw on a Rick Steves episode once that was built in the early 13th Century. We happened upon it a few minutes before it chimed. Truthfully it was a little “meh”, I felt, but it was awesome to see something so old work so well for as long as it has?
After Bern we went across the border into Germany to our hotel in a town called Weil am Rhine where we dropped our luggage, then went to return our rental car and to head into Basel back in Switzerland.
The fun thing about improvising as you travel is that you often end up doing something totally wonderful and unexpected and quirky. That happened several times last year when we found some random hikes, new National Trust sites, and the ever memorable (if bizarre) Mystery Play in York. It also means that sometimes you come across some true wastes of time. That was Basel for us, unfortunately. We went in the direction of what was assumed to be the old part of town (always a good bet for tourist options), but ended up walking through what must be the armpit of Switzerland down a seriously sketchy street where I saw at least one drug deal actually go down. Eventually we found what we’d been hoping to see - the Three Countries Bridge where you can view France, Switzerland, and Germany all at the same time. This also ended up being a bit of a joke because it was in the middle of a little peninsula in the harbor that we had to walk about a mile to get to and away from, only to find that it wasn’t actually a place where you could stand in all three countries as we’d thought. Ah well. Best laid plans? The night ended well, at least. We blew all our change in a grocery store on as many Haribo gummy bears as we could afford. (In truth, I also bought some cough drops, not because I’m sick, but because they have different flavors to try! I’m a sucker for things like that. . . )
Today we started the final leg of our trip by heading into London. They say that when you’re tired of London you’re tired of life, and I can tell you right now that I will never tire of London. I adore this city. I love the cacophony of languages and sounds and smells around every corner. I love the culture, the history, the people. So help me, one of these days I’m going to move here and never come back.
I got to embrace the life of a solo Londoner for a bit tonight when the boys went off to Les Miserables and I went off to see An American in Paris. It’s tradition for me to see a show every night I’m here, but coming with two men who are interested in theatre but aren’t exactly theatre junkies meant playing it a little safer in the selection of shows than I normally would in such a short stay, and the other two shows we’re seeing are shows I’ve seen before. I went rogue tonight and I’m so glad I did, partly because I enjoy time by myself and partly because Gershwin music is so dreamy. The musical was more poignant than I anticipated, had an absolutely perfect cast, and was enough to turn this cold-hearted “romance will never find me!” cat woman into a puddle of “LOVE PLEASE COME FIND ME AND PLEASE SING LIKE THAT.” Oh, London. You always make me feel as though I were born in the wrong place in the wrong time.
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