Bern Nightlife

White people love traveling and wine.

            I’m sitting in the Zürich Airport waiting to head to my gate for the flight back to Dublin. It’s been my best travel week yet, and I would stay in Switzerland forever if my bank account (and the Swiss government) would allow it. Since I’ve resolved to keep up with this blog (or at least make a better attempt), I’d better keep up on Switzerland before parents visiting (yay!) and exam studying (ugh) take over my life.

            Last time we left Emma in Switzerland, she was leaving Geneva and heading to Bern. Bern, meaning “bear” in German, is the capital of Switzerland. We (meaning my friend Erin and I) figured that the capital city was probably worth a visit. We arrived in Bern fairly late Monday and, with the help of a friendly train station employee, found our way to the HI hostel. We decided to take an easy night since we arrived fairly late and if we had been in Dublin, most pubs would be nearing closing. Even though it was 11 by the time we were settled and caught up on Internet, people were just getting ready to go out. Apparently, we weren’t in Dublin anymore. We learned from one of our roommates that Bern wasn’t a fantastic city to spend time in, but the nightlife was pretty good. Exhausted, we figured it wasn’t quite worth the effort that night. Instead it would be worth staying the next night to experience this great Swiss nightlife. We didn’t have any definite bookings until Interlaken on Wednesday, so we figured we may as well make the most of the time we had.

            The next day we toured the capital. First stop: Parliament. We handed over our passports and were shown up to the gallery, which reminded me of the House and Senate Galleries in DC, except I couldn’t understand what these people were saying (languages heard: French, German, even Spanish, but no English). We saw one legislator on Facebook, which pretty much made the day. After leaving the gallery, we tried to figure out if we could wander around the building. There were groups on tours, but they all seemed very organized (read: school groups which we were thankfully not part of). After wandering around through the main area looking very confused and semi-sneaky, a man came up to us and asked us if we had lost our group, first in German and then in English following our blank responses. We said no, just on our own. He seemed surprised to find American tourists in the Switzerland Parliament for no other reason than to see Parliament, but I guess we are just that kind of awesome tourist. Well then he said, enjoy walking around; and then he gave us some suggestions of places to go.

            We tried to find these places, unsuccessfully, before being asked by a security guard if we had lost our way because individual tourists were only allowed up to the gallery and then back out. I guess our helpful direction man didn’t quite have the same rule-book as everyone else. Yes, of course we were hopelessly lost and confused, not at all trying to wander around Parliament alone, and could she please show us the way out? We made it back to collect our passports and continued on.

            There are 2 exciting things about Bern: fountains and bears. Bern is a city of 100 fountains, and we made a game of finding (and taking imitative pictures of) all that we could. The bears occupy a reserve at one end of the city along the river in a sort of single-exhibit zoo. The bears were adorable, and two seemingly younger ones were wrestling and running and having a grand time, which of course was entertaining and awesome for us to watch.

            Other than these two highlights, we walked through a market, around a rose garden, and saw some great views, though no mountainscapes anywhere near as good as in Geneva. Our afternoon finished with an extended search for soft pretzels, which we had seen multiple times that morning but of course couldn’t find anymore. Later than anticipated, we headed back to the hostel to rest for the big night out. I crashed almost immediately and slept for 3 hours. At 10, we woke up and began preparations. We expected to see other people getting ready, based on the previous night’s activities. Last night was a Monday, after all. If Monday was exciting, why not Tuesday?

Well, no one was anywhere to be found, except a few stragglers in pajamas. No worries, maybe the school groups just had a big day tomorrow. We’d stayed an extra night specifically to go out, and that was just what we were going to do! We dressed up, made ourselves presentable, and headed to tackle the night. We had a few areas in mind and had read that around the train station was a good place to start, so to the station we went.

            And we wandered, and wandered. To the left of the train station, to the right of the train station, in practically every direction imaginable. And we found nothing. Not a single bar or pub, not anything resembling a club, not even a late night store where we could buy a bottle of consolation wine. Nothing. A little disappointed and a lot amused after the hype of Bern’s “great nightlife” we headed back for a much earlier night than expected, resolved to head out early for Interlaken. After all I had heard about Interlaken, I was seriously hoping it would live up to the hype and make up for our disappointing (yet highly comical) “night out” in Bern.

            

Oh Mr. Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun...

Let’s be honest, I fail at updating this blog. It’s not that I don’t have things to say. Really, I’m to busy making memories to write about them! Since my last post I’ve been in 6 different countries, experienced St. Paddy’s Day in Dublin, and attended Trinity Ball (that’s right, we had a ball) just to name a few. I’m going to try to go back and post about some of these things, but I don’t want to let being behind prevent me from posting anything. Long story short: Dublin is amazing, you should probably be at least a little jealous of my life, it’s been an incredible last few months and it’s only getting better!

            I’m in Switzerland this week. No, it isn’t spring break, and it’s not as if I never go to class, it’s just that Trinity…never has class. Students don’t have December exams, so all modules from fall and spring terms are assessed in May. To make sure students can do well (or at least that’s the explanation I’ve come up with, though it could also be a chance for profs to catch up on grading, as I have yet to receive feedback in most classes), these exams are preceded by a 3 week “study period”. According to one Irish student, it’s cheating if you keep up with reading or open books before this time. Since this isn’t quite my pattern, I feel okay taking a week away from studying to travel. So far, it’s probably one of the best decisions of my life.

            It’s been 2 days and I’m already in love with Switzerland. It’s not much of a secret that I love the sun. Dublin is incredible and the weather isn’t as bad as I expected, but I haven’t worn short sleeves outside my room since I arrived in January. My friend Erin and I flew into Geneva Sunday morning with no plans other than a general timeline of locations and a reservation for a hostel in Interlaken Wednesday and Thursday nights. We found a hostel, stashed our things in a locker, and went exploring.

            At this moment my love affair with Switzerland began, though the views of the alps as we flew into Geneva certainly contributed. The sun was absolutely glorious. For the first time since January, I walked around in a short-sleeved t-shirt and jeans, and I was actually warm. Not “warm right where the sun is but still cold because of the wind”, not “it’s a good temperature and not rainy, just cloudy”, not “don’t worry it’s only Irish rain”: no, I was actually, finally, gloriously warm. I felt like a flower after winter, as if something had been missing or part of me had been hibernating and my body was finally recharging after months of never being quite 100%. I was done with classes, traveling, carefree, and in a blissful state of happiness that only the sun can bring about.

            We wandered down towards the park with the goal of hitting the botanical gardens. As if the sun weren’t enough, I finally am traveling during spring, so the gardens were blooming and beautiful. Everywhere people were enjoying the day: sitting with picnics, playing soccer and frisbee, walking along the paths and napping in the sun. I know Ireland is supposed to be green, and the Connemara region was full of beautiful and idyllic Irish scenery, but I think maybe Switzerland has it beat. The colors of green in the garden were amazing. Everywhere I turned, every step we took, brought another gorgeous site. And then before us, past the trees, I saw the sight that made me ready to move to Switzerland: before the garden was the water, sparkling in the sun, and beyond the water, the craggy, majestic, awesome craggy peaks of the alps. Snow capped the tops of many of the more distant peaks. Nothing could have prepared me for this sight. Standing in this park, looking across at ships sailing on the water, and gazing up at the snowy alps, I couldn’t imagine wanting to be anywhere else.

            Before I left on this trip, my sister told me that she left her heart in Interlaken. We head there tomorrow or Wednesday and I couldn’t be more excited, but I’m a little worried that mine might already be stuck in Geneva.

PS  I realized that this wasn’t quite finished, as it needs a little tie in to the theme, so here goes:

            White people love snowboarding, and NOT to think about snowboarding when looking at the Alps.

            White people love 1^st world travel. We’re playing the part by carrying backpacks, staying in youth hostels, and (of course) riding in trains. White win for us!