Bern-Zurich-Innsbruck 2010-07-23
For those of you who want the short version. I had a nice dinner, The “Come Back Bar” was closed, caught a train from Bern to Zurich. I went to the Switzerland Museum of natural History and then another train to Innsbruck.
For those of you who want the details and can read without moving your lips….
Ok, so my mission was to go back to the restaurant that I was denied lunch… it took me a couple of tries and I did have to resort to the droid… I was literally 50 meters from it before I turned away.. uggg.. Dinner was very good. I had pork cordon-blue. It is very interesting with the German, the French, the Italian and all. Switzerland is truly neutral. The waitress remember denying me lunch so they gave me a free appetizer, that was really nice. On the way some Indian man told me that I was a very luck person. He could just tell by my face. He also said I thought too much. I informed him that I am lucky and I do think too much… I was thinking a lot at the time because I was trying really hard not to get lost… he told me that he was a face and hand reader. He then asked me what I thought about that. I told him not much and he went away :>
At the restaurant there was one waitress that spoke some English and German. The other one (very hot btw) spoke French and very little English. We managed.
I then sought after the “Come Back Bar.” Now there are holes-in-the-wall clubs, but Bern brought it to another level entirely. They are actually holes in the ground. They are basement bars right under the shops above. The problem was it was closed for renovations :< a little disappointing. I went to another hole-in-the ground bar for a bit but it was stuffy and no one spoke any English. I hoofed it back to my room and watched Le tour de France… another travel day ahead…
Breakfast was the same. Check out was fine. I got to the train station without any problems (‘cuz I practiced… maybe I do think too much). The schedule told me that I did not need reservations so like a mad-man I did not make any… well, the train was nearly empty so it worked out just fine. Now this is the type of train that you see on TV. One of those sleek comfy ones. It had WiFi and ac power and the seats were nice and there was lots of room. It only went about 90mph, but that worked for me…
We arrived in Zurich at 11:06 and I decided that I wanted to make reservations for my Innsbruck leg. There are only three a day and I did not really want to spend the night in Zurich and forfeit my stay in Innsbruck. I waited in the international travel line for about 10 minutes. It would have been shorter but this Asian man was asking the ticket agent several variations of schedules and destinations… get a guide dude! I asked him if I should get a reservation. He highly recommended it. It is a Friday after all. It turns out that the train is less than half full and I am sitting in a row by myself with a table and two ac plugs… could have saved those 5 franks… on that note… francs are ONLY good in Switzerland. I made some effort to make sure I did not leave the country with a bunch of money. I ended up with 25 cents worth of franks, success! I did have to use some Euros to assist in the effort. They really don’t like the Euro much. When I went to the museum it was 10 francs to get in. I tried to give him 5 francs and the rest Euros. He said it was too complicated and gave me a free ticket! Too funny!
The museum was ok. I have seen a lot of them. I was reading lots of stuff and taking some good pictures and wham, my camera memory card is full! After years of use and 1000’s of miles of travel I finally filled it up. Now I had to decide… delete lots of pictures one at a time or format the thing…. I had only taken a few pictures today and because I dutifully copy my pics to my laptop and upload them I was not overly concerned… it was kind of an achievement. I have taken 8 gig worth of pictures. I know, several people wish I was more selective with my picture taking and maybe I will take some time when I get home (and have a fast internet) I might just go though the pictures and delete the REALLY bad ones…
I have had a lovely conversation with a couple of people that both speak English! Thank god! The guy is going home to visit his mother and help her with the house and the other was on holiday in Bern and has to go home for a wedding. He is the third person that works on the railroad that I have seen in one day. The three of us chatted the whole time. It was very nice. Almost at Innsbruck… then I have to find my hotel. It should not be too hard… famous last words… :>
Oh yeah, the girl has the new netbook like mine… I am a little jealous. The other not-so-good things is that my wonderful trip though the alps was thwart with bad weather…
It rained; I had a very nice dinner of pork schnitzel. It was pretty reasonable also. I had a nice discussion with a philosophy about the problems of the world. He seemed a bit old to be still going to university, but I was not going to point that out…
Off to Munich tomorrow and then Prague. I hope the weather improves…
A women saw me having trouble with the change machine and offered to give me change next to the lockers… it was very nice of her since it cost 1.50 frank to pee in the train station. Note to others pee when you are still on the train before you get to the station.