Switzerland - Bern and Genève

Early in the morning, the train arrived in Bern, Switzerland. To really wake up and rid ourselves from our uncomfortable night on the train we headed to the river and took a long stroll along the banks. The fresh air and cool breeze from the clear light blue-green water shook the sleep from us and got our day started. We got to see the town's public bath, the swimming pool, that was a part of the alpine river and we walked the old town streets where waterways cut through the sidewalks and roads. After a while we headed to a bakery and stocked up on some snacking food. By that time the city's Munster (cathedral) was open and we checked out the Gothic building. Here it was possible to climb the church's tower. From the top we could see the Swiss Alps in the distance in 3 directions. The view was also a great way to look out on the colorful roofs and streets of Bern. On our decent we peeked in a door and found the church's bell towers, just in time for them to start to ring, making our bodies shake as we navigated down the stairs. For being afraid of heights, Ev did pretty good with the climb. It was strange, though, I think he was more nervous at the top of the tower than when we on top of the mountain near Berchtsgaden. As the afternoon moved on we saw famous Bern sites like the 'ogre eating children' statue and a bear pit with no bears. We also took quite a few photos of some great Swiss designed posters.
We boarded our train in the late afternoon and headed to Genève (Genèva), Switzerland. The train ride was a scenic one as we passed along the Alps and most of the route looked out on Lake Genève, the largest Alpine lake in Europe. When we arrived we quickly noticed the differences of the town compared to Bern, which reminded us of small German towns. Genève was a larger city known for its international feel, with a much larger French influence than Bern. For a larger city, though, the streets were spotless and the people friendly. Our sleeping arrangements for the night were a bit different than normal. In our hostel we were to sleep in a 3-bed dorm. A little nervous for who our other roommate was going to be, we were prepared to lock up all of our things and sleep with one I open. It all turned out just fine though, the girl staying with us was a small Korean in her early twenties that was completely harmless. Contrary to the way most of us back home think of hostels, they have treated us both really well. Our rooms in hostels have all be clean, the staff helpful, the prices low and we have even received little perks like those city transport cards or advice on sights and events. That night we spent some time exploring the city and got to try a few new beers from countries not on our list of travels, our favorite of the night was from Poland.