After our all-too-quick stay in Lauterbrunnen, we left early for what would be a full day of sights (the kids love that). We started in Bern, the Capital of Switzerland, with a brief city tour of the highlights. For the kids the best part was the bear pit. Bern’s city symbol is the bear and they keep a couple of them right in town. Bern is also the city that Albert Einstein wrote most of his Nobel Prize winning papers that would later shock the world, including E=mc². After publishing several papers, his growing reputation won him a prestigious teaching position in Zurich in 1909, and later it was on to the United States when Hitler took power in nearby Germany.After Bern it was on to Murten, a perfectly preserved medieval town, complete with the old fortification walls. One of the main events in the town's history is the 1476 Battle of Murten, a huge victory against Burgundy. As a reminder of this battle, there are several cannon balls (well over 500 years old) still lodged in the wall surrounding the city.
After Murten we headed for Gruyere. Best known for its cheese, the little town was loaded with tourists. We walked up and down the town’s one street, checked out the town castle, visited an alien bar (see photo), learned about the cheese, and then headed for the next place we would call home. Before leaving though, we did buy some cheese and made our own fondue for dinner. Angie and I loved it, but the kids were a little on the fence about the whole thing. After dinner we unpacked for three more nights, and over those three days managed to consume a massive amount of cheese.
The weather turned a bit rainy the next couple of days, something we haven’t dealt with in a long time. Day one of rainy weather activities took us to a 350 year-old cheese factory (that’s still making cheese under the same roof using the "old world" methods) and a well-known Swiss Chocolate factory, but more on those in a future post. Day two of rainy weather took us castle hunting. We headed to Lake Geneva, and after a quick look through Vevey and Montreux, we found our destination. Chateau de Chillon is built on a small island on the eastern end of Lake Geneva, and this castle had it all. Situated along a strategic north-south trade route, it’s always been occupied and thus maintained. From draw-bridges and canons to dungeons and look-out towers, this giant castle kept us busy all day. It even had the original 700 year-old toilets. (And if you’re curious, they were seats with a hole suspended three stories over the lake. A little drafty come winter.)
Cole and Mia loved guessing where the next fountain would pop-up in front of Switzerland's Capital.
...whereas Ella preferred to stay outside the perimeter.
Albert Einstein's house.
The main drag in Bern.
The Murten Police Station.
Walking the city walls in Murten.
Main street (and the only street) in Gruyere, Switzerland, leading to the town castle.
Totally out of place in Gruyere is this alien museum. The creator of the Alien movies bought a chateau here, and now uses this unlikely spot to display his creations.
Chateau de Chillon
As we take a break in the ballroom, Cole maps out our next move.
Montreux is most famous for its annual jazz festival. Here's Cole hanging out with B.B. along the lakeshore.
