Day 121/122: Why Can’t We Live Here

The last two days are bittersweet and a bit emotional. It was the first time Kieran felt the, “What could my life be if I lived here?”

Friday we took a 1.5 hour train to Bern. We sat next to Professor Werner Mueller from Basel who was returning from an orthopedic conference in Milan. We had wonderful conversations and it was like talking to Mary’s papa. We walked 3 minutes from the central train station to the tram, and after a 7 minute ride, we walked 10 minutes into Bern suburbia for our Airbnb. The windows were all open, there was greenery all around, and families were biking outside and enjoying the sun. We opted for a nap and enjoyed quiet time and laundry. There are no dryers so we hung up our clothing outside in the sun.

Saturday we trained out to Cholerenschlucht Adelboden for a 1.5 hour hike. The mountains and green hills were exactly how you imagine Switzerland. From there, we take a train to Interlaken/Grindelwald and we see skiers of all ages jumping on the train with their wet ski gear. There are families with mountain bikes and hikers with their poles. The train ride takes 37 minutes.

It hit Kieran pretty hard that this pedestrian life style was possible with nature. The ability to hop on a train and ski at some of the best resorts in the world and come home after was heavy on his mind. He noted, “This is what Colorado wants to be so badly and it’s not even close. Same price, yet no trams or trains.”

We hop off at Grindelwald and enjoy the traditional Swiss town nestled in stark mountains. Hiked down to a little stream and felt the cold glacier water on our hands . At 6PM, it was easy to jump on two trains and reach Bern by 8pm.

We know Switzerland is expensive and rather homogeneous in its population. Also we will never have the level of amazing Asian, South American, and African food and diversity we have access to in Baltimore/DC. But America could definitely learn from Bern/Switzerland on sustainable public transportation.

Spots:
Interlaken
Grindelwald
Cholerenschlucht AdelbodenRead more