bern

Alright, so most of you (like me) have never heard of Bern, Switzerland and would have never guessed that it is the country's capital. Also, I was completely surprised when a public holiday popped up on my calendar on August 1st for Swiss National Day. It definitely made up for having to work on the 4th of July! My friend at work, Daniela, is actually from Bern and knew that the Federal Building opens its doors to visitors one time each year on the national holiday. So, I decided to make the trip to Bern on August 1st to see the sights and go inside the Federal Building (something a lot of Swiss have never done). Daniela and her roommate came along as my tour guides.

I started my holiday by going to Burkliplatz in Zurich and watching the parade which was complete with flag throwers, alphorns, and plenty of traditional Swiss costumes. Sausages were being sold everywhere and I almost fit in since I'd happened to wear a red shirt.

They really play these things - so cool!

Look closely to see all the smaller Swiss flags being tossed in the air.

After the hour long train ride to Bern we stopped for lunch and then after waiting only 5 minutes in line walked into the Federal Building. The building was really pretty. After wondering around a bit, we made it to the best part of the visit--free Swiss chocolate! We each had our choice of a full size bar of Toblerone, Cailler, Lindt, and more!

After the tour, we walked around a bit, saw the river we would later swim in and had a beautiful view of the Alps.

We then we went to the bear park. The bears were so cute!! Unfortunately, I somehow didn't get a good picture of them up close.

We then walked along the river and laid out for a bit. This was definitely a more popular activity for everyone's day off than visiting the federal building - we barely found a spot to lay out our towels! I then had my first experience swimming Bernaise style. We walked barefoot up the river along a path for about 20 minutes, we then jumped in the COLD water (river comes from snow melt from the mountains) and floated down the river. It was fun and let's just call it refreshingly cold :)

After dinner at Daniela's friend's apartment, we headed back to Zürich and ended the evening with beers on my rooftop terrace watching the fireworks which were being set off all around the lake and on top of Uetliberg.