Bern, Switzerland

Oh Switzerland, I love you.

This may have been my favorite stop all week. We left France by six am and realized that instead of a three hour drive, we had a six hour drive ahead of us. Not the best way to start a day, but both kids slept for the majority of the drive and watching the sunrise over the French countryside is in no way a bad start to a Sunday morning. It was a beautiful drive and I was enchanted with the old chateaus and the French farms. We almost ran out of gas and had to make a detour in a small town, where we picked up some bread and fresh cheese for breakfast.

After a long and beautiful drive, we pulled into Bern. It was warm and quiet. The city shut down for the sabbath and the quaint swiss streets were scattered with a tourist here and a tourist there. We hopped on the train and set off to see the city center. Our main purpose was to swim in the river, so we were glad for the heat that day. As the train crossed the bridge overlooking the river my jaw fell onto my lap. I had never seen water so blue. I had never seen mountains so green. I had never seen anything like Bern in my life. It was right out of a postcard and my eyes were glued.

We first stopped at the famous clock and walked through the streets down to the community swimming pool.

We are in Switzerland

The famous clock of Bern

Love him.

Bern river

Look at this water

The community pool in Bern was really nice. In fact, they had about four pools to choose from ranging from a little tots pool to an Olympic sized pool with diving boards and all. It was such a fun environment. People were filling the grass area playing games, having picnics, or just lounging around. The area was overshadowed by the enormous parliament building in the background and surrounded by the breathtaking river. Ah, it was just plain amazing. Leon took Ellie to swim and she had a blast in the kiddie pool. Jet even joined the fun. The only thing that we struggled with was Ellie stealing other peoples toys. The girl needed her some blow up toys. She especially loved the blow up dolphin the other kids were playing with. She would look at it longingly and try to follow it around the pool hoping it would become vacant. But we did our best by throwing her in the air and racing her to and fro to get her mind off it. I think it worked.

Daddy throwing Ellie high

Ellie wins again

Dad is always so much fun

Jet and Mom

When the kids had enough of the pool, I decided I needed to try out floating the river. The river had a strong current and I could see people exerting themselves trying to get out. But there were many sections that were specially made with handrails and steps to aid the swimmers as they entered and exited the water. The water was cold yet refreshing and the beauty of the mountains surrounding you as you floated quickly by was unmatched by anything in all the world. I just floated on my back and as my ears were submerged in the water, all I could hear was the rushing current, all I could see was the green mountains, and all I could feel was pure bliss. Leon and the kids were cheering for me as I floated which made me smile. They met me about a quarter mile down the river and Leon got a chance to jump in as well. It would have been fun to float together but the current was much too dangerous for the kids. So, they were happy just cheering us along. This was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. I could have floated down the river for hours, just me and Switzerland.

My little cheerleader was very worried about me

Love this family of mine

It was getting late and we were all getting hungry. We got the opportunity to walk around a little while we looked for a place to eat. We settled on a spaghetti factory and grabbed some McDonalds for Ellie. The happy meal cost six franks which is basically six dollars. Talk about an expensive country. After dinner we went to visit the church and see where Albert Einstein used to live. Ellie found a water fountain that she loved drinking from. There were many interesting water fountains around europe, this might have been my favorite.

Jet and Daddy by the church

Ellie with her "Ellie" Smurf (Smurfette) from her Happy Meal earlier. She always photo bombs our pictures with her little figurine toys.

Albert's old digs

We made our way to a fountain on the other side of town. This allowed us to cross the bridge and take in the view that stole my heart when I first laid eyes on Bern. We watched as swimmers relaxed in the water and a tight rope walker practiced his talent. At the other side of the bridge was a beautiful fountain that Ellie naturally wanted to put her toes in. So as we were taking off our shoes to cool off our toes, we saw two other children begging to take a dip in the fountain as well. They ripped all their clothes off and ran around the fountain completely naked. I mean this little boy had to be around six or seven and he was literally stark naked in this fountain. So I told Elle if she wanted to swim she could as well but she had to keep her suit on lol. It was wonderful to just sit there with her and cuddle. What an adventure we were on and what amazing memories we were making.

Bern river

swimming in the fountain

Bern is also famous for its population of wild bears. Obviously Leon wanted to check this out, so off we went on our very own bear hunt. It turned into another stroll down the river. I couldn't help wanting to just jump in again, so I did. It was just as amazing and refreshing the second time. Leon and I took turns for about an hour as we walked down the river in search of the bear reserve. We never found it, but we did find a playground and some ice cream to cheer us up. 

Thats my little head popping up in the middle of the river

relaxing on my back

exiting the river

Elles was having such a hard time not being able to go in the river too, so we had to be sure to let her put her tootsies in too. 

Leon and Jet at the paddling pool near the playground

We headed back to our four star hotel and took warm baths and rested. We cuddled and watched Nomeo and Juliet in German. It was a beautiful day and I will forever be in love with Switzerland.