Day Fiftytwo - Jul 12, 2012

The morning started at 3:00am when our new friend Suzi got off the train, and then again at 6:30 when Eduardo got off the train, and then at 7:30 when we were about a half hour from Zurich. In the early morning light we could make out some really amazing peaks surrounding the train, but by 7:30 the mountains were giving way to farmland. All of it is really beautiful countryside. We got to Zurich a half hour late and had to alter our connection. There were unreserved seats in first class, so we settled into our preferred social class for the hour to Bern. We got in around 8:30 and true to our nature, immediately misread our map and headed the wrong direction for 5 or 10 minutes. We are getting quicker at realizing our mistakes, and changed our way and found the very nice Bern Backpackers Hostel 15 or 20 minutes later. It was a little after 9:00 and check in wasn't happening until after 3:00, so we had a few hours to explore Bern in our groggy state. The hostel had recommended a cafe across the street where we could get breakfast for 20 Swiss Francs apiece. The exchange rate is right at one dollar to one franc, so this sounded ridiculous. We figured it must be a tourist area thing. We proceeded to march across the bridge over the Aare river that wanders through Bern for a few blocks, with the idea of finding a cheaper part of town to the south. We walked a good distance, but the few places we found didn't seem to be any cheaper. We eventually had a couple croissants and coffees for $12. We walked around the picture postcard that is Bern for an hour or so and then decided to see if we could do better with lunch. The hostel had a list of recommended restaurants, and one said something along the lines of "brew pub". We headed a different direction through old town and found the place, an old tram station. We looked at the menu and both saw our first ever $27 hamburger. Stunned, we headed for a grocery store and found some "take away" that worked. At 3:00 prompt we checked in and immediately fell asleep. Our room is (of course) fifth floor, but this time with a lift and a pretty great view of Swiss rooftops in Bern old town. We came to in the late afternoon and this time just went straight to the grocery for some takeout dinner. We relaxed, watched Bern from our windows in the rooftops, and called it a long and lazy day.