We arrived at the Hotel Continental in Bern(e),Switzerland and requested a room in the back of the hotel since I read in Trip Advisor that the rooms facing the street could be noisy. In corner room 317, we had 1 & ½ walls of windows and the only sounds we heard were the music of sparrows. Moreover, we overlooked a plethora of rooftops, a feature of fame for the old town of Bern, including a Catholic Church steeple. The calming, sensory, qualities of room 317, made it difficult for one to depart. In the Tower of London, they have a beautiful suite for the royal prisoners, who were often awaiting their impending punishment, death. In room 317, I could be a non-reluctant prisoner. I’ll pass up the execution, though.

Bernadette, Lauro, Nathalie, Brigitte, and Stefan, the staff that took the time to get to know their customers, were incredible. Their management of this 3 star hotel was 5 star. Nathalie greeted us warmly when we arrived, Bernadette provided a constant source of restaurant & museum recommendations, and with Stefan guarding the fortress at night, one felt quite safe. Most impressive to me. . .when we came in at night, Stefan greeted us with a handshake and a sincere smile. Lauro helped us each morning with one thing or the other, including providing us with tools when we lost the key to the lock on our suitcase. Furthermore, he conversed in a friendly, charming manner. Our first morning was a Sunday and before breakfast was over, Brigitte was kind enough to tell us that there was time to take more food or drink. If I wanted to start a hotel, I would “hit on” the Hotel Continental to staff my facility. They smile, they talk, they delight.

The location for this hotel was the absolute best in Old Town Bern(e). Without the “e” it is the German spelling; with the “e”,French. The railway station is a 10 minute walk. Exiting the hotel, on the right, one greets the architecturally fascinating Kornhausplatz, built between 1711 and 1718. It is counted among the major works of Bernese High Baroque. The Kornhauskeller received the award "Restaurant of the year 2002". In front of the Kornhaus is “The Ogre”, the famous fountain statue of a man eating children which was erected in the mid-16th century, colorful cafes, and restaurants. The first night, Saturday, that area had the best vibrations. After eating ravioli stuffed with ricotta and a lemon sauce at the outdoor garden of The Krone restaurant, we went to the “Kornhaus” part of town and sat outside under the stars enjoying the cool air & people - watching. They all looked so happy and filled with fun. After all, it was Saturday. I loved watching the assortment of clothing, hair, eyes, bodies, smiles, shoes. We had a great wine from Sicily and sat out for a long time. It felt like the way it should feel. Good people desiring and achieving fun, love, laughs, and company. An important part of vacationing for me is the positive aura in a place.

Thanks to the A+ railway/buses of Switzerland and the great price at the Hotel Continental, we decided to travel out to other towns three out of the five days that we were there. I highly recommend this. If you know you enjoy a city, as we knew Bern would be great based upon previous travel…Einstein House, museums, bears at the bottom of Main Street, Kornhaus,…, you can spend a little time each day in

The first day out of Bern, we railed to Freibourg, which sits on a small rocky hill above the valley of the Saane, and Murten ,a medieval walled-town situated between Berne and Lausanne and the capital of the Lake District of the canton of Fribourg. Fribourg featured an upper old town and a lower old town. In the lower town, we joined in at a medieval festival. We walked up to the upper old town and were delighted to see people swimming in the crystal clear river and 16th century homes with fragrant blooms in the window boxes. Indeed, Freibourg seems a nurturing city since it supplies milk to all the cities we visited around Bern. In Murten, numerous attractions have been well preserved here, such as the castle, the ring wall, the street scene and the arcades. We ate in the Hotel Krone restaurant and were served by an effervescent, informative, young lady named Tanja Collett, where our most exciting delectable discovery was rapsol oil, an oil made from Swiss flowers which was a unique alternative to olive oil. The walled medieval town was well-kept and provided a great after dinner walk.

Neuchatel was our next day’s quest.The Neuchâtelois people are the most French-oriented in Switzerland. The town’s main attractions are its café-lounging Gallic atmosphere and its location, with boats exploring the lake. We took a bus from the train station which weaved down to the entrance at Purry Place and we walked down this street, window shopping until we reached Lac de Neuchatel. Then, we stopped at a quaint café in the pedestrian section which was colorful and cave-like in it’s structure. The coffee was not only delicious, but subtly strong enough to motivate us to delay dinner for quite awhile. When we returned, we ate at The Spaghetti Factory in Old Town, not far from our hotel.

On our third day of travel, we ventured high. We took a train to Interlaken and had lunch at Le Café de Paris, a restaurant we dined in last year. Then, we soared to Grindelwald. If we never disembarked the train, the excursion would have still been worth it. The ride up was so filled with green trees, cows, waterfalls, cows, sheep, old villages, cows, snow-capped mountains, and cows. Grindelwald is surrounded by the spectacular mountain group "Eiger, Mönch & Jungfrau". Grindelwald itself was a rather touristy town loaded with souvenir shops, restaurants, and hotels. I actually like the trip more than the destination. However, if we were ever to stay there, I am sure they have great hiking paths,similar to Zermatt,so I have not ruled this Alpine village out. Again, we returned to Bern to eat dinner. Couldn’t help it. The Spaghetti Factory lured us back, like moths to a flame. This is a restaurant chain, but this particular one has a most unique décor, with art and mirrors, plus great food for the money!

From this experience, we learned that if you have a rail pass and you find a reasonably-priced hotel in a very cool place, like Bern(e), it’s a good economical move to select a base and “travel out”. Old Bern is extraordinary.
Try it.
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