Road trip #1 : Bern, Switzerland

Road trip #1 : Bern, Switzerland

I am writing this article a looot later than I thought I’d be… But they’re coming I promise.

We are back from 19 wonderful days of roadtriping around Europe (it was in August). We drove thousands of kilometers but it was well worth it. We have great memories and we’d like to go back very soon.

We left Lyon (France) the 31rd July 2014, very early. First stop to our European roadtrip was Switzerland and more precisely Bern. We stayed there a night and a day. The photo above pictures pretty well what we saw during our trip to Bern. Greens and fields. Calm and slow.

We booked a room in a youth hostel (this one for those of you who are interested in knowing). Breakfast is included in the price which made things easier, it is a buffet breakfast and there was a lot of things to eat (jam, cheese, bread, meat…etc.). You have to pay an extra for the parking place though.

The room was tiny tiny and there were bunk beds but it was clean and calm. The restrooms and showers were shared with the entire floor and we got some serious laughs there.

We arrived in Bern around 4pm but we were determined to go and visit a little bit. It is a charming little city. The youth hostel was near the river flowing through the city, very nice view.

The river near the youth hostel We have seen some funny things like these underground shops, it looks like a basement door but it is in fact often pubs or restaurants. Nice idea.

We also got the chance to see the Zytglogge tower and clock in action while we were wandering around the streets. There are tiny little puppets going out of the black thingy when the clock is ringing. It was pretty cute.

We got on the bridge and it was beautiful. I really enjoyed the view.

Then we head up near the Bellevue hotel (which is a very chic hotel) to take some landscapes photos.

Bern is green and beautiful. I wanted to eat something really typically Bernese so we walked quite a lot before sitting on a terrace to eat. I didn’t find my Bernese restaurant but we found this restaurant that was not that bad but a bit pricy. Anyway, Switzerland is not known for being cheap.

I took the menu of the day for 16 CHF (about 13€/16USD) that included a starter and a main course. The starter was a cheese and onion soup served with a simple salad. It was really good but too salty to my taste.

The main course was a meat loaf with mashed potatoes, gravy and crispy onions. The mash was pretty good but there was something really strange with the texture of the meat, eww. Not that bad just weird. Also too salty. Is it a thing in Switzerland ?

Meat loaf and mashed potatoes My husband decided to go for a main course only. He took the Gemischte Rösti for 13,80CHF (about 11,50€/14USD). It was grated potatoes with ham, bacon, cheese and onions. He added an egg for an extra 1,90CHF (1,50€/2USD). That egg was clearly overcooked but it was still good. Should I add it was a tiny bit too salty ? Yeah.

When we asked for bread, we got served bread in a plastic wrap. Funny.

We didn’t get any desserts as we were very full.

And to finish, a photo of Bern’s bear(s) -they’re normally two but we just saw one- that are too cute :

Next step : Innsbruck, Austria !