Bern

     I stayed in Bern with Cherine and her mother my entire stay in Switzerland.  Bern along with Lucerne were my favorite places in Switzerland.  On June 24, 2013, Cherine took me around the city where she was born and raised.  We had such a lovely time seeing the bears, rose garden and wandering around town.  We also stopped in a cheese shop where Cherine bought some gourmet cheeses for me to try.  Swiss cheese is delicious!  Afterwards, we went to a chocolate shop where I bought some amazing chocolate.  It was so delicious that I wish I had some more right now as I write this.  

 Capital Building

 Aare River

 Rose Garden

 Cherine and I

 Einstein House

 Swiss Cheese 

 My cheese expert 

 Swiss Chocolate

     In our spare time, Cherine and I watched a lot of Friends which is my favorite show ever made.  It is just so hilarious!  We also had a lot of great discussions comparing our two different cultures.  One thing I learned from Cherine's mother Anette is that the Swiss don't really have a lot of ceremonies like we do in the States.  For example, high school graduations and university graduations.  Anette was telling me that sometimes when they see all these ceremonies in tv shows and such, they want to have these kinds of ceremonies as well.  This was interesting for me personally because I could have cared less about my university graduation and decided not to go to it.  For me, it was just 3 hours I did not want to waste in my life, but I do see the appeal of course as many of my friends went to theirs.  

     Bern is the capital of Switzerland and yet it is quite small compared to Zurich and Geneva.  The main airports are also in these two cities.  The country has 3 official languages, Swiss German, Swiss French, and Swiss Italian.  Bern is in the Swiss German portion of the country.  I could not get over the color of the Aare River when I was there.  Absolutely stunning water!  I wish I could have swam in it, but unfortunately it was too cold during my stay.  This water is ice water that melts down from the Alps.  Switzerland is heaven!

"One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today". -Dale Carnegie