Switzerland Archives ⋆ The Passenger

August 16, 2021April 14, 2022

Grüessech

For some years I tried to avoid trips to Switzerland. It is a nice country with beautiful nature, but the prices are just horrible. During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 I was searching for places I could reach by train and as I’ve never seen the capital city of Switzerland, I booked my ticket. But then our Swiss neighbors held a large yodel festival (really!), and the infection numbers were increasing dramatically. Therefore, it took me another year before I could do the trip.

August 16, 2021December 19, 2021

Dählhölzli

Visiting the zoological garden of Bern is quite a surprise. It is not a giant zoo, but a good one: focused on local and European animals and aiming for providing them a suitable environment. They reduced the number of animals to give them more space. Dählhölzi is a place that you can visit with a good conscience.

August 15, 2021December 19, 2021

Swiss pyramid

The Niesen is a 2362 meters high mountain close to the Thunersee. It is a mountain that is easy to identify because of its special shape: the mountain looks like giant pyramid and creates a shadow in the form of a triangle. Amazing views await those that take the long and steep trip to its top. Since 1856 a restaurant can be found there, and people had to hike all the way – but in 1910 a funicular was opened, the Niesenbahn.

August 15, 2021April 14, 2022

Life at the water

I’ve never heard much about the city of Thun, Switzerland, so far. I just saw that trains from Germany run through it. But as I wanted to get closer to the Alps it looked like a perfect destination for a daytrip. Booking and using trains in Switzerland was so easy (thanks to the SBB smartphone app) that I did it several times during my short visit.

August 15, 2021December 18, 2021

Schloss Burgdorf

To be honest, I just stumbled upon Schloss Burgdorf because of a silly thought: I had visited the Emmental – the valley of river Emme – to see how the famous Emmental cheese is made. But close to the cheese factory the river wasn’t visible and therefore on my way back I just jumped out of the train at a city called Burgdorf: to see the river forming the valley giving the cheese its name.

August 15, 2021December 16, 2021

Emmentaler

Emmental cheese is well-known throughout the world. It is a medium-hard cheese with large holes in it which is called Emmentaler or Schweizer Käse in Germany. The name Emmentaler refers to the geographic origin of the cheese as it produced in the valley (‘Tal‘) of river Emme. The second name Schweizer Käse or Swiss cheese brought the cheese its place in everyday German language: if something isn’t solid it is called porous like Swiss cheese.

August 14, 2021December 14, 2021

Murten

A nice option to travel back in time is a trip to the medieval city of Murten. There, the typical structures of cities belonging to the house of Zähringen have been preserved. You can explore the small castle with good views on the lake Murtensee, you can walk through the historical Berntor gate and best of all: you can climb on top of the old city walls and walk around the city – with marvelous views on the roofs of this old town.

August 14, 2021December 13, 2021

Gurten

After exploring Bern, you might be ready for a refreshing hike in its neighborhood. The first address for this is the local mountain, the Gurten. It is especially a good option as you can have a wonderful view on the city from up there and you can easily reach it by the funicular Gurtenbahn. The Gurten is 858 meters high and located in the neighboring community of Köniz.

August 14, 2021December 9, 2021

Floating in the Aare

It’s a unique pleasure I’ve so far only observed in Switzerland: citizens jumping from bridges and floating in rivers through their cities. But who would want to blame them when the river is so clear and has such a beautiful color like the Aare? It is the longest river of Switzerland; it originates in the Alps and runs into the Rhein.

August 14, 2021December 9, 2021

Museum für Kommunikation

It is one of these interactive museums you can only love and enjoy: the museum of communication at Bern, Switzerland. It was founded in 1907 as the museum of the Swiss Post and is today a large playground about all facets of human communication. It is very modern, well designed and it activates and involves the visitors.