Bern

My next and last stop in Switzerland was Bern, the capital of the country. No it's not Geneva or Zurich. It's Bern. Although it's more of a de facto capital since Switzerland doesn't officially have one. Since the Federal Parliament and government are located in Bern, it is seen as the capital.

I walked from the train station to my hostel, which was a short distance away, but down a pretty steep hill. Going up and down hills and steep staircases isn't fun when you are loaded down with backpacks. I just needed to move slowly. I checked into my hostel, where I got upgraded from a 20-bed mixed dorm to a 6-bed female dorm. Score. The guy felt bad since there were 10 dudes in the mixed dorm. I was happy with the upgrade for sure. And I met a friendly girl from the US.

I went for a run along the Aare River. There were some great paths along the river and it really didn't feel like you were in the city. The weather was warmer, and I was definitely taking advantage of wearing shorts, even if it was a little rainy.

The Aare River.

Later that evening, I walked around a bit and looked for a grocery store to get dinner. I had a great view of the Parliament Building at night walking up the hill from my hostel.

The Parliament Building.

And as I headed back to the hostel, there was a light show. Even though it was raining, I committed to watching the entire show. It was pretty cool. I definitely picked up on the Red Cross theme throughout and later learned that this year's light show (6 years running) was honoring the 150th Anniversary of the Swiss Red Cross.

Parliament Building's light show.

The rain didn't really stop the next next morning, so I lingered for a while in the hostel, but chatted with my new friend, Shelby, from Florida. She's also a runner, but I didn't get her to go for a run. But she had a half planned that weekend and was looking forward to possibly running the Berlin Marathon next year. It's really cool to meet other runners on my travels. Especially since most people give me weird looks when I head out or return from a run.

City view on my morning run.

Falling for fall.

I spent the afternoon wandering around town checking out the sights.

Zytglogge.

I had to visit the cathedral, which actually went uncompleted for several hundred years. They finally finished the tower in 1893. Construction had started in 1421. It only took 472 years to finish.

Bern Cathedral.

Since Bern is located on a hill, there were a lot of nice views around town. I walked down hills, and across bridges to get all the different views.

One of many views of Bern.

Terraced gardens.

The Old Town buildings were really pretty, and I do love some plant decor.

Pretty facades.

I visited the Swiss Brand Museum. It was pretty small, but of course chocolate was included in the museum.

Yummy chocolate.

Eventually I made my way up the hill to Rosengarten to get a full view of the city from up above. I wish the sun would have made an appearance, but I made do. I sat on a terrace, made friends with a dog, and took in the view.

Bern.

After a walk around the Rosengarten, I headed back down the hill.

Rosengarten.

I wandered a bit more in town and eventually headed back to the hostel for dinner.

Plants everywhere.

Afterwards, I motivated myself to meet my new friend for a beer. I did have a few francs that I needed to spend before leaving the country. Apparently Switzerland has a lot of craft breweries. Something that I hadn't heard of, but will happily partake in. 

A Swiss beer before leaving town. 

Of course the next morning was gorgeous. Seriously I feel like every day that I choose to travel, it ends up being a gorgeous day. My bus wasn't until later in the afternoon though, so I did have a little bit of time to enjoy the weather.

Beautiful last day.

Roofs for miles.

Graffiti and leaves.

I backtracked a little bit around town, and I went to check out the bear again. I had seen it the day before, but it was a bit more active. Although I did feel bad that it was held captive.

Brown bear.

Signs of Halloween.

One last picture.

I got my bags, caught the local bus, and headed to the middle of nowhere to get my bus to Lyon. My time was up for Switzerland. Time to head to France. 

Lucerne

Getting to my next stop, Lucerne, proved to be slightly difficult. I took the bus from Schaan, Liechtenstein to Buchs, Switzerland, which was the easy part. I then had to get my train ticket to Lucerne. It was way cheaper to buy online I learned, so I went looking for wifi in order to do that. I was able to buy it no problem, but then the app didn't tell me any information when I wasn't connected (the German app was very clear and worked offline). So I had to get connected again. Now normally this wouldn't be an issue, but in Switzerland, in order to get connected to most wifi networks, you have to put in a code they send to you. Except I can't get the code unless I'm connected. See how that works? I got back on walking back to the free spot I had found, and then took a couple of screengrabs. I returned to the station and then I was confused. I didn't know what train I was supposed to get on. So I got on the one I thought I was suppose to be on. Except none of the towns were matching up. I think I was on the wrong platform. I have no idea. Once it got to the next stop about 15 minutes later, I went back in the direction I thought I should have been going originally. Of course I had to wait for another train to come.

Once the train arrived, I boarded, and ended up staying on it for a while. The one good thing about the Swiss trains, is that the screen onboard tells you the status of the trains at the next stop. So I learned that there was a train headed towards Zurich. This looked like a good option, so I boarded that one. I figured once I arrived in Zurich, I could get a train to Lucerne no problem. Fortunately, the screen came in for another win, and I got off an earlier stop for a train straight to Lucerne. Success. I made it.

I'm still not entirely sure what happened. I suspect there are multiple Buchs in Switzerland and I bought a ticket from a completely different town. Of course I was paranoid that I would have to pay extra when the train conductor checked my ticket. But no one checked it on the 4 different trains I took. It was a little stressful, but the closer I got to Lucerne, the better I felt. I mean, look at these views from the train. And I got myself to my destination without relying on an app. 

Train views.

When looking for a place to stay in Lucerne, I wasn't finding it cheap. I found a place a little further from town that included breakfast that wasn't that expensive. The reviews were good, so I figured it would be worth it to be a little further away. 

Once I checked in, I went for a run. It was a nice day, although evening was rapidly approaching. I accidentally did a few more hills than I would like. Also, the city wasn't as runner friendly as other places I've been to or at least where I had started my run, but I still had a few picturesque miles.

Lucerne Old Town.

I was quickly learning that Switzerland is expensive. I actually looked it up. It's the most expensive country to travel to. Good thing I'm here for less than a week. I don't remember it being this expensive when I visited 14 years ago. And I was a poor college student, so I would think I would remember. I went to find dinner and there were 2 pizzerias selling pizza and pasta for over 20 francs. The franc is pretty equivalent to the US dollar. There was no way that I was paying over $20 for pizza or pasta. Unfortunately all the grocery stores had closed at 4pm, so I was out of luck. I got a take away pizza and paid 13 francs for that. Highway robbery. I would be hitting up the grocery store the next day. The only one open on a Sunday of course. 

The following morning, I got in another, but longer run. My plan was to get to Rotsee, nearby lake in the city, and run around it. However, I took me a bit longer to get there so I didn't get to run along it for too long. But I did see that it was a pretty spot, and a great place to run. I kind of wish I had a longer run to do. Oh well. Next time I'll go all the way around it.

Rotsee and great running paths.

After cleaning up, I headed back into town to explore. I went straight to Kapellbrücke, a really cool wooden bridge running diagonally across the Reuss River. I also walked across the lesser known Spreuerbrücke. 

Kapellbrücke.

Jesuitenkirche.

Spreuerbrücke.

What visit to a new city isn't complete without some sort of view? I walked up the various towers on the city wall to check out the mountains. Or at least what I could see of them. My last stop on my self-guided walking tour was to the Lion's Monument, a monument commemorating Swiss soldiers who were killed during the French Revolution. 

View from Männliturm.

Löwendenkmal.

It was starting to rain at this point, and I was ready to sit down somewhere nice and cozy. I found a cute teahouse where I hung out for a while. It was really great. And had to be, I paid 13 francs for tea. Yikes. Seriously, you need to have a good salary to live here. I would have loved to go back there, but I didn't want to pay that much money for tea again.

On my second day in Lucerne, I was going to head back into town to explore a bit more and maybe take a boat ride, depending on the weather. However, I was chatting with my American roommate at breakfast and she inspired me to go hike Mount Pilatus. After getting some provisions, I walked to the start of the hike, about 10 minutes from the hostel. It was foggy out, so I didn't know how the weather would hold up, but I was trying to be optimistic. 

Foggy morning for a hike.

I found the trail head with no difficulty, and checked out the signage. It estimated over 5 hours to get to the top. Ok then. I'll track my progress and hope it would not take that long since it was now 11am. I hiked along and had some stunning fall imagery to enjoy. And I broke through the clouds. I would hope they would dissipate so I could see the lake later on.

Seriously. Fall.

I was tracking ahead of schedule, which was great. Especially since I had to stop and take a bunch of pictures. As I was going up the mountain, I kept my eye on the cable car line to ensure I was also on the right path. About an hour in, I came across one of the nicest bathrooms I've seen on a hike. It had soap and everything. Nicer than some bathrooms in restaurants. And I was in the woods on a mountain. Impressive.

I finally made it to a good spot on the mountain. I had some great views down below and I could see the top (or at least I assumed it was the top). I was getting closer and closer. At this point, there was a choice to go one way or another. One was a little shorter, and I suspected it was probably steeper, but decided to give it a go. And boy was it steep. I zig-zagged my way up the face of the mountain. There were points where I tried to not look over the edge as I didn't want to think about what would happen if I tripped. It was slightly terrifying. I told myself if that were to happen, fall to the right (to the wall). Fortunately, there was no falling.

The next phase of my hike.

I barely came across anyone on the hike, but towards the end, there were a couple of guys that were out there. I didn't feel alone, but I was wondering if I had made the right choice in my path. After a pit stop to take in the views from the church, I finally made it to the top. I got there in under 4 hours, which was over an hour ahead of schedule. Score. And I learned later on it was a level 3 hike, only for experienced hikers. I know I hike a lot, but not sure if I would put myself in that bucket. But now maybe I will. I reached 2,119 meters when I got to the summit of Esel. Not the highest elevation I've been to, but I think the most I've ever climbed. According to my Fitbit, it was 620 flights. As a comparison, the most I did on my Lares trek in Peru was 360 flights, and that was the day we explored Machu Picchu. There was a lot of ups and downs that day.

Breaking through the clouds. And trying to not fall off the mountain.

I took my time and explored the top of the mountain. There were various viewpoints, and they were all pretty spectacular. The fog didn't quite go away, but it did make for some amazing photos.

6951 feet later.

Stunning views.

I toyed with the idea of hiking back down, but I was tired. And it was getting late in the day. So I splurged on the Cog train down. It's Switzerland, so it wasn't cheap. But after hiking up the mountain, it was the least I could do to my body. I also thought about walking around town after catching the train back to Lucerne, but I was wiped. I headed back to the hostel to relax and make dinner.

The next day, before heading to my next stop, I spent a very short amount of time walking around Lucerne. It was too rainy, so I didn't last very long. I walked along the lake for a little bit and check out some other parts of the Old Town.

Rainy Luzernersee.

Old Town Plaza.

Even with the rain, fall you are doing your thing.

Before getting completely soaked, I headed back to the hostel to grab my stuff and catch the train to Bern.