Bern

After the nice long chat that I had with my Tai Chi studying Irish lad room buddy last night, I really was eager to ask him to participate in one of my travel interviews, sadly however he never rose in time and leave it as late as I might, I had to check out at 10am and even by then he was still in the land on nod.

Had I known that he would be such a sluggerbed I would have roused myself up much earlier and headed off to the train city centre in order to do just a little sight seeing, but alas it was not to be.

I did, however manage to get a tiny feel for the place and also spot a signpost for Chur, the birthplace of my fictional detective gentleman hero { copyrighted before any even thinks about it }, which was very cool and a bit like Elvis fans actually reaching Graceland.

Anyway, by the time I got to Zurich main train station I was completely unready for the sheer size of the place.

It seemed to stretch out in all directions, including up and down, had over 50 platforms and as well as the usual crappy shops and restaurants it even had its own gymnasium, sex shop and cinema, THAT'S how big it is.

It's like a mini city in the heart of Zurich, a whole world run to a strict timetable and all under the cover of one all encompassing roof.

There were so many intercity trains that I again regretted not turning up earlier, as I had the choice of at least four in the space of twenty minutes, and were it not for the rucksack on my back I would have for sure enjoyed taking a stroll and coming back later to catch a later train.

Arriving in Bern was like a dream come true, and the first really super amazing point for me on a tour that is crammed with impressive sights, people and places.

The city was so idyllic, so oldie worldie and modern at the same time. The sun was out casting a wonderful warm glow down onto the streets and the greenish yellow brickwork almost gleamed and it was like it was a hundreds years ago.

In the distance the lush dark green forested hills could be seen and down below the main city centre was a ravine and another part of the city which looked tiny by comparison and set beside a flowing river with an ornate bridge spanning across its rooftop all set off wonderfully by the crisp blue sky with barely a single white fluffy cloud was almost enough to bring a tear to my eye and certainly it could inspire a thousand poets to greater heights than they ever managed before.

It was also my kind of place, as it had all the usual conveniences, which included over 20 mini cinemas all within 10 minutes walk of my hostel, numerous coffee shops, the main train station, trams, hills, rivers, bridges, McDonalds and Burger Kings, museums, theatres, banks and ATM machines, clubs and bars, all the comforts of home just in a better setting.

True that most of the folk here speak French as their first language and German as their second, but still they also all seem to speak enough English for me not once to have to reach for a phrase book and as I am used to London prices the cost here is only a little more than I would at first expect, and if I could get a job then this is certainly a city that could keep me entertained for many an age.

In fact, the only mildly frustrating thing that I have noticed about the place, which is in my Hotel / Hostel, is that they ask that you do not use the elevator to get to the second or third floors unless you are carrying luggage, and also that the wi-fi servers signal is not good enough to reach past the second floor even with my range expanding adapter.

Tomorrow the skies will again be dry and clear, although not actually that hot, and so I hope to be able to take plenty of photos to show, but for the time being, here are a few I took this afternoon.