Friday, December 22, 2000. Departure from Piazza Garibaldi on the train to Rome. From Rome, we caught the overnight train to Bern. Sorry, no pictures from this day. My cameras were packed and I didn't feel like digging them out. It was a long and boring trip. Most of it was after dark so there wasn't much to see anyway.
Saturday, December 23, 2000. We arrived in Bern at 9:00am and had breakfast at the motel. The rest of the day was spent walking around Bern. Most of the people in the group did some last minute Christmas shopping. Downtown Bern has more than four miles of covered shopping areas. Most of it was built during the middle ages.
Sunday, December 24, 2000. Short walking tour of Bern in the morning and early afternoon. 'Bern' is German for bear. Their is a legend that the cities founders decided to have a hunt and name the city after the first animal they caught.
Initially there were huge bear pits located outside the city walls. They city is surrounded on three sides by the river; the city walls, along with the bear pits posed quite an obstacle for armies trying to overtake the city.
The Cathedral, also known as Stiftsgebaude or Chapter House.
Statue of a bear that guards the city.
The old industrial area along the river.
The Bern Historical Museum.
The far end of the industrial area (pictured above) and one of the first chocolate factories in Bern. It is no longer a factory, but has been converted into appartments. Lindt still makes chocolate and is considered to be the best Swiss chocolate by many.
Monday, December 25, 2000. Merry Christmas! Day trip to Mt. Schilthorn (9,744 ft) and the famous revolving restaurant, the "Piz Gloria". Along the way, we stopped in Thun and Lake Thun. The Piz Gloria and Mt Schilthorn were the setting of the James Bond movie, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service."
The city of Thun and an unknown mountain in the background.
Another view of the unknown mountain, this time from the water front of Lake Thun.
Another view of Lake Thun.
Still another view of Lake Thun.
The Piz Gloria restaurant on top of Mt Schilthorn.
Mts. Eiger and Monch are visible in the clouds behind Piz Gloria restaurant.
Mt. Gspaltenhorn is barely visible through the clouds.
Looking back at Lake Thun. Mt. Schwalmern is to the right.
Looking North from Mt. Schilthorn.
A better view of Mt. Gspaltenhorn after the clouds have cleared.
The last leg of the journey to the top of Schilthorn via the aerial cableway from Stechelberg.
Tuesday, December 26, 2000. Our last day in Bern. We went on a tour through the Emmen Valley, where Emmental cheese is made. Stopped for a tour of a dairy in Affoltern where we learned how the little holes get into the cheese. There aren't many pictures here yet because the film is still in my camera.
From the picuture it looks like spring in the Emmen Valley. It was hard to believe that it was still late December.