Swiss Utopia

Bern is the best. Seriously. I only wish that we had a couple more days here, and that I wasn't sick...then we would have an even more amazing time in this city.

But we did what we could today! We went on a walking tour around the downtown area, which was pretty cool and informative! We learned quite a few interesting things about Bern...some of which are:

1. While Bern is considered to be the capital of Switzerland, it technically isn't. Instead it is a "Federal City"

2. There was a secret language (almost like Pig Latin) among the poor part of town hundreds of years ago. Only around 200 people or so can speak it today. They came up with the language so they could talk about illegal things in front of the police (like burglaries, prostitution, etc)

"The barrel full of gold is not buried here" In the Pig-Latinesque dialect

3. Switzerland considers Bernese people to be slow (including walking and talking slow), and a study actually proves that the Bernese are slower than the rest of the Swiss! Basically...they just like to take life easy. =)

4. The Old Town area of Bern is a World UNESCO Heritage site.

4. All the buildings are made out of sandstone, and they have to be in order to maintain its appearance.

Overall, our tour was great, and our guide was very sweet and knowledgable about the city. Unfortunately because I wasn't feeling super great, it was hard for me to keep up. But what I did learn and see, I was able to enjoy!

Aare River. You can swim in the river, and it's super clear! Only wish we were able to go in!

After the tour, we grabbed a bite to eat, and then went back to the apartment so I could get some rest. Later in the afternoon, we took the bus up to the Rose Garden. It's a beautiful park (with roses of course) that overlooks the city. From there we got to see some great views that also included views of the Alps. Breathtaking!

If you look closely, you can see people floating down the river

That pretty much wraps up our day! We really wish we had another day to spend here. Bern is a gem, and there's so much we wanted to be able to see/do. But next time! Luckily, Adam kissed the city of Bern (aka Berna) to ensure our return. ;)