Monday, July 15, 2019: Day 9; Bern, Lucerne

Checked out of the Interlaken hotel and started toward Bern. We drove about an hour and arrived in Bern around 10:30 am. We took a quick drive around the city and then stopped at the Rose Garden/Bear Park to see the Bern bears and pick up our local guide. The bears did not seem excited to see us and the rose garden needed some serious dead-heading. But it was a nice place.

Bern is on a peninsula surrounded by the river Aare. It is the capital of Switzerland and has a population of about 140,000 with a similar amount in the surrounding communities.

Not a live bear!

The day is cool and overcast with a temperature around 60F. A bit chilly. Upon leaving the bears, we drove to the old part of town and started a hour's walk.

All along the street of shops, there were these curious "cellar" type doors. At first I thought it was for delivery of goods to the shops, but upon closer inspection, they lead down to other shops below the shops at street level.

There was a fountain sculpture of a baby half stuffed into the giant’s mouth, and a sack full of three alarmed tots slung over his shoulder presumably for later snacking. The unsettling sculpture is no modern work of art; built in 1546, it is one of the oldest fountains in the city of Bern. No one knows for sure why it is there or what it is supposed to represent.

Man eating baby

Former Bern Theater

After the walking tour, we had lunch at the Bellevue Palace hotel.

We were given about an hour's free time and then departed for Lucerne at 2:00 pm. We arrived in Lucerne at a little past 4:00 pm. The first order of business was to get a group photo at the Lion Monument. That done, we took some individual photos.

We then checked into the Hotel Schweizerhof for the last two nights of the tour  (https://www.schweizerhof-luzern.ch/en/). It is an interesting hotel. Built in the mid-1800's, the wing we are in was added fairly recently. Each room is themed by someone who stayed in the hotel. Our room has Van Morrison memorabilia in it.

From our room's balcony:

Tonight we dine in the hotel's Gallery Restaurant.


Tomorrow, we are scheduled to do a relatively short (90 minutes) walking tour of Lucerne and in the evening, take a lake cruise over to the Seehotel Baumgarten for our farewell dinner, featuring "family style" traditional Swiss roasted meats buffet with traditional wine and music. Should return to the hotel around 9:45 pm.