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<p>Yet again I'm a day late writing this!</p> <p>Yesterday we woke up a little earlier than the day before in the hope of arriving before lunchtime. We set off to Bern along a ‘red' road (an A road really, though most countries on the continent use ‘A' for motorways), after a petrol stop in Luzern. A little way along, and we were in the most beautiful countryside I've ever seen! It's quite a pity we were on the bikes, as there weren't really any opportunities to stop and take any photos. I'm sure the memories will last though - streams and waterfalls along sheer rock-edged valleys, rolling hills and heavy forests, log cabins nestled alone up in the hills surrounded by colourful flowers and flags - astonishing.</p> <p>After a fair while, we were joined by several other bikes, which was entertaining! We had a little staggered convoy going, I quite enjoyed it! The bikes in front of us turned off and we were joined by some more from behind, and so I was the leader of a little biker gang for a few miles at least!</p> <p>We stopped in a little village in the Emmental region (hoping to get some cheese), but apparently picked the wrong restaurant to eat in. We were greeted by a crazy German (?) lady who most likely hadn't had a visitor for a long time, who kept making funny noises with her mouth and apparently didn't sell lemonade! We each had a cola and promptly left, to get lunch in Bern instead. The lady waved us off and we were on our way.</p> <p><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/B.Hymers/EuropeTrip/photo#5113184803711260626"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/B.Hymers/RvWufPgil9I/AAAAAAAAARk/MbgC3Gsf2bE/s144/100_0241.JPG" class="alignright" /></a>The view of Bern when we arrived was very impressive indeed - a small group of old buildings raised up on a steep-sided hill located in the centre of a meander of the river, with a single bridge to access it. It turned out this was just a tiny part of the city, but it was a very pretty tiny part!</p> <p><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/B.Hymers/EuropeTrip/photo#5113184395689367442"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/B.Hymers/RvWuHfgil5I/AAAAAAAAARE/GB_CoZGehtU/s144/100_0200.JPG" class="alignleft" /></a>We parked up in the city and sat at the nearest restaurant, which happened to be a pizzeria. We each had rather delicious pizzas; we were both very impressed. We then walked up the street a little and stopped in an internet café to check email, weather and so on. <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/B.Hymers/EuropeTrip/photo#5113184481588713378"><img src="http://lh5.google.co.uk/B.Hymers/RvWuMfgil6I/AAAAAAAAARM/Ob_vWeu5eI8/s144/100_0205.JPG" class="alignright" /></a>Interestingly, it was in the cellar of another shop - it seems that buildings and their cellars in Bern are completely separate, in order to jam in more shops! It was very... eclectic.</p> <p>A bit more of a walk, and we were in the main part of the city. I wasn't too impressed - it was just your average commercialised town centre, and the only buildings worth seeing were hidden underneath cranes and scaffolding. We had a rest in a park, and listened to a little live Spanish-sounding jazz whilst watching two people play giant chess. <a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/B.Hymers/EuropeTrip/photo#5113184683452176322"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/B.Hymers/RvWuYPgil8I/AAAAAAAAARc/a5bf9xmMXV0/s144/100_0224.JPG" class="alignleft" /></a>When we were rested, we carried on and found a giant chess set of our own. This took up the best part of the rest of the day. The winner is not important.</p> <p><a href="http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/B.Hymers/EuropeTrip/photo#5113184580372961202"><img src="http://lh4.google.co.uk/B.Hymers/RvWuSPgil7I/AAAAAAAAARU/AXU2OZgwpTo/s144/100_0214.JPG" class="alignright" /></a>A little bit more of a walk along the outer edge of the hill and we came to a bridge out of the city, with a castle/chateau at its end. I wanted to snap a few pics so we crossed it, and were greeted by a mob of Africans! Apparently it was some kind of “Côte d'Ivoire” festival we'd stumbled upon. We bought a scrumptious mango smoothie (since by now we were very thirsty) and were on our way.</p> <p>Since it was getting late we headed back to the bikes and took the motorways back to the campsite. Dinner consisted of a chocolate éclair and two stamp biscuits for me, and just an éclair for Helen (we were still quite full from the huge pizzas we had at lunch!). Then it was sleep time.</p> <p>Overall, I quite liked Bern, if you ignore the busy commercial bit. The city is beautifully situated, the area in general is spectacular, and it's generally just plain nice. Strangely enough, though, it was the ride there that I preferred!</p>
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