Cities, Mountaineers, and Cookies

"Dress warmly. It's supposed to be -9 degrees today," Tom warned me. My mind flashed to how cold that is. "Stay home," my fingers begged, until reality reminded me that's Celsius. No problem! 

After grabbing an extra set of gloves, Tom and I ventured off. Bern was our main destination today. But we had an important detour: Kambly's factory. 

For those of you who don't know, Kambly's is a cookie factory. Tom likes this spot because they hand out samples like nobody's business. We got off the train outside the door of the factory. It was obvious to see this stop had been made for the cookies. Any other benefit is purely coincidental. 

I was expecting a tour of a factory with some cookies at the end. Oh how wrong I was. Quite literally, it is rows and rows of cookies with buckets of open cookies for testing. It was a great lunch- I mean, snack. They also have videos on their processes from farm to factory. They have a presentation on the original creator of Kambly's. It was all very well done and well put together. But none of that compares to the heavenly cookies. Have no fear, my readers. There are distributors across the world. 

We happily got on the next train to Bern. As the train whooshed past the valleys and rivers, the sun peaked out. Not enough to vanquish all the clouds. But enough for me to excitedly snap some pictures. And finally I saw the bridges into Bern. 

Upon arriving in Bern, Tom and I took about ten steps before the realization of what we had to do. He went off to play Ingress and I went off to wander in the most aimless way. We set a meeting time and place and said farewell. 

When I explore, I'm a big fan of just going. I've had people say that is the worst way because I may miss something. I say, what if I stumble upon something better? 

So I looked up, saw a big church steeple, and headed that way. Sure enough it was open. I opened the big heavy door and found utter silence. I was a little worried I was breaking in somehow through an open door. I looked around and didn't see any signs or anything. So I continued on. I never saw another person in the church, but it didn't matter. This church was unlike any church I've seen on this trip thus far. It had high ceilings and open walls like other churches. But instead of a unifying color, it was like a tie-dye church. No, I'm not kidding. It was incredible. I sat and contemplated this church's coloring versus the more simplistic decorations of other churches. But I realized it wasn't less or more decorated. Just different. Other churches have silver and gold covering complex designs on alters. This had less objects and just more color. I was impressed with it. And the fact it was completely silent only added a factor of elegance in a way. 

My wanderings left the church and found a park that overlooked the city. Old men played chess, a couple had a picnic despite the snow, and children made snow angels. A pond allowed little ducks to playfully splash around. It was quite picturesque but nothing compared to looking out over Bern. 

I walked through the park for a while. Then I exited to head to the Parliment building. I walked around looking at the amazing architecture on every building. Gargoyles hung on every edge. Swirls and twirls lined the walls, showing nothing but beauty and elegance. My favorite building caught my attention. Sure it was something amazing, I headed towards it. "The Federal Finances Building." Well then. I didn't go in, but continued to strain my neck looking upwards at all the designs. For some reason, I only have a picture of the main Parliment building. I don't know what happened there. I guess I got a bit caught up in my staring at the buildings. But as ice skaters laughed in front of the Parliment building, I remembered to take a picture.

I crossed the bridge and stumbled across the main muesum of Bern. I looked at the sculptures in front, the beautiful building itself, and contemplated spending the money to go inside. As I was thinking about it, I glanced the opposite direction. Da da DAAAAA! The hidden gem that wandering will find had appeared. "The Alpine Museum." Reading this some of you will go "What is she saying right now....?" And some of you will go, "Meh, that's decent..." And finally, some of you, most likely climbers, will go, "Oh yeah! Score!" If you are one of the first two, feel free to look at pictures and move on. I'm not claiming to be a climber, (yet! Hopefully soon!) but I was really excited at this. A museum about Swiss and other mountaineers? Yeah! 

The lady selling me the ticket informed me that normally the museum is about how the Swiss have influenced mountaineering. But their exhibit now is climbing in the Himalayas and how media has affected climbing. I was sure it'd be worth it. I was correct. Again, if you were one of the first two answers, not the muesum for you. 

The exhibit started with a excursion up K2. Jules Jacot Guillarmod from Neuchâtel lead the trip along with Aleister Crowley. They captured the first ever panoramic picture of K2. Their journals, poetry, and pictures are combined into an entire museum exhibition. Then the exhibit talks about how films about mountaineering have progressed through time. They showed a 1935 film called "The Demon of the Himalayas." It was the first mountaineering movie filmed on an actual mountain. They only had funding for 2 professional actors. So climbers and sherpas had to act as well. The film was created around the time of the Himalayan Expeditions in 1934. Because of that, many of the actual Exhibition participants were in the film. It wasn't filmed in the Himalayas. Surprise, surprise. It was filmed in Switzerland! However, it was never shown outside of Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. 

The last part of the exhibit was interviews with Swiss mountaineers today. How media affects them personally. They discussed balancing needing to be sponsored and needing the tranquility you find when its just you and the mountain. It was very interesting. It was also a very good reminder that sometimes... Most of the time, the best memories are when its just your eyes. When you finally allow yourself to not feel the need to update the world. When you can allow yourself to just be in a moment. That's when you are passionate about your life. Cheers to finding your mountain face in life and being. 

The Search For a Sunny Picture

As Tom and I walked home today, I told him how I've been getting into poetry lately. He looked at me like I was speaking in tongues. One of my best friends introduced me to the beauty of poetry right before I left. I'm so glad he did. Lines of poetry have been gallivanting through my head lately. Today was no different. 

"I have no friend or intercessor 

No psychopomp or true confessor

But only you who knows my heart

In every cramped and devious part."

                            ⚫️⚫️⚫️

This morning began cold and snowy. After breakfast, Tom and I bundled up... Okay, I bundled up. Off to our adventure! We walked to Adliswil to catch a bus to Thalwil, then on to Lucerne. Out of the train station, we first saw a bridge. This bride had been built in the 14th century. It served as the town's main bridge and withstood many trial and tribulation. The tower standing next to it had served as a dungeon, archive and treasury vault. In the 17th century, the bridge was decorated with paintings on the inside. However, unfortunately, the bridge was burned down about 20 years ago. I asked how and Tom informed me, "Kids were screwing around." I can't imagine being those kids. What a tragedy. The inside, where the paintings had been, now have what appears to be advertisements. 

After that we walked to one of the two main churches in Lucerne. Tom described it this way: "There's the big Catholic Church and then a big church for monks. I don't know why they needed them this big... Rivalry, I guess. But they are cool!" So off we went. 

The "monk's church" is actually a Jesuit Church. After some searching I found the exact date it was built was 1666. My cynical side chuckled a bit there. It was reconstructed in the mid-18th century. And whoever helped with that reconstruction deserves a high five or something. It's astounding. High ceilings, gold and silver carefully adorning everything, white prestine walls, and an alter that could make anyone stand in awe. I stood in silence and adoration for a while and finally looked behind me. On the back wall are the large pipes of the organ. The organist had been practicing, which of course only added to the majesty of the building. 

Tom and I walked through the street with all the shops next. As we walked past the river I tried to explain how, despite how small it was, you can still see eddylines and tiny boils. My rafting excitement was rewarded with a bored look and a "Okay, Becca..." comment. But we also saw a random banana painted on a wall. That made up for my excitement being dashed beforehand. 

The next stop on the "Tom's Tours of Lucerne" was a lion monument. Quite literally, it is a lion carved into the side of a stone wall. It was made for all the Swiss mercenaries in the French Revolution in 1792. It was created by Bertel Thorvaldsen. I later read that the town was not able to pay him his commission. So instead of defacing his art, he made a mockery of the town by making the lion's den look like a pig. Either way, quite the piece of art! 

Tom and I both agreed it was lunch time. Sarah had helpfully packed snadwiches for us. We went to the lake side to eat. I ate quickly for two reasons: A) My hands were to cold to stay of gloves for that long. B) Seagulls were practically attacking us and I had to fend for myself. But it meant I had plenty of time to gaze at the mountains trying to sneak through the thick clouds. We never did see the tops of the mountains, but it was enough to make me marvel. It also made me think of how some of my best friends would have sat there and scouted perfect lines on the mountain. Man, between eddylines and lines up mountains, I must be hanging around climbers and rafters to much... 

It was time to see the other church, The Church of St. Leodegar. The rivalry must have been intense because this church was just as beautiful. It was about as big and open, but due to the darker walls appeared smaller and quieter. But the craftmanship was still greatly visible. Each pews' edge was a different design. The pews had family crests on them. Alters lined the sides, like the last church, for different saints. These were a bit more detailed and allowed me to sit in the silence of the church, staring at the intricate pictures and designs. Afterwards, Tom and I walked around the outside of the church which was a cemetery. These weren't as old as some cemeteries I've been seeing, but still quite amazing. Holy water lined the walkway in basins. One had roses in it! Practically every stone had been recently visited by loved ones and shown off their love with flowers or such. "You shall love your crooked neighbor with your crooked heart..." The words echoed through my mind as I read names. 

(Side note: super proud of this last picture!! Holy water and graves with the reminder of love, given by roses.)

Our next stop was the Panoramic Muesum. Yes, I too was confused. But we went inside and smiled at the warmth the building offered. The muesum was centered a 360 degree panoramic painting about the Swiss involvement in a war. It took the artist 5 years to complete. The room before the painting gave a history about it. But the best description I will be able to give you comes from a website called "MySwitzerland." I am going to quickly excerpt from there, as to not misquote Swiss history. 

"The German-French war of 1870-1871 was the subject of intense public scrutiny and emotions at the time. Newspapers published reports about it, painters depicted the events in images. In the winter of 1871 General Bourbaki's Eastern French Army crossed the border into Switzerland. The Bourbaki-Panorama in Lucerne is a humanistic portrayal of this event and a critique of war." 

The idea of a 360* panoramic painting is to give the viewer a sense of actual presence in the scene. Since the artist was actually in that moment in real life as a member of the Red Cross, he was the perfect man to recreate the scene. It was the pre-movie involvement in pictures. I had never heard of this, but thought it was a great idea. They also had mannequines outside the painting. So as you looked at the painting it really created that 3-D view. The speakers next to certain sections actually made it seem that the women were crying, that a cough came from the small boy, and so forth. The detail allowed you to stare potentially for hours. It is a highlight of Lucerne as far as I'm concerned. If you are ever there, it is worth the trip. 

However, it was time to head home. We got on the train to head back. But, as the conductor announced the stop for Zug, I pulled Tom to the door. The sun was trying to come out and the scenery was desperate for attention. We went to the lake where the mountains soar above the lapping of the water. 

Tom wanted to play Ingress for a bit. Which worked out nicely because I wanted to sit, think of my newfound poems, and be awe-struck at the scenery. So he left and I found a good rock to sit on. Here's the thing... Maybe it was reading the same poems over and over lately. Maybe it's the heart ache that hit me in Dublin. Maybe it was just the pure beauty before me. But I found the sun shone just long enough to wipe away a glistening tear. I chuckled at how cliched I am. Seriously Rebecca? One tear, on the waterside, as the sun just starts to shine? So unoriginal. But, the verse of poetry quoted at the beginning was stuck in my head like a song. I sat and stared. As those words danced off my tongue, I took a few deep breathes. Then finally, Tom and I headed home. Home to a snowy Adliswil, warm dinner, and a loving family. That's better than any sunny picture. 

The Reality

You guys thought you wouldn't miss my blogs. But look! You're so excited to read this post. Well! Here I am again. 

Reality. It sneaks up on us all. And it does when you're traveling as well. The reason I didn't blog the last couple days is ... Well, frankly nothing that exciting happened. We sat on ferries and in the car for two days. England doesn't look that big, but it sure takes a while to drive from top to bottom. 

We stopped in Dover the first night. The ferry would leave in the morning and we wanted a fresh start. We wandered the streets until we found a B&B sign. A man with gray hair and a cut off t-shirt answered the door. It was the owner of the place. He had for 20 years. He was a very talkative man. He and Florian excitedly talked about motorcycles. But finally we got some sleep. 

The next morning, we caught the ferry to France. We got some kebabs and began the drive home. We arrived back in Switzerland to a snowy evening. The family gathered for an evening church service, then I went off to bed. 

Today was a work day for me. The reality of traveling is sometimes it takes a bit of work. I did laundry today I spent today researching places in Switzerland to visit, making plans for leaving Europe, figuring out when I need to leave Europe, and such. That's the reality of traveling sometimes. So, it was a nice day off. Tomorrow I'll restart the adventure. But until then, just wanted to let you all know, I'm still alive. From a snowy Switzerland, good evening!