Biked 30 km from Bern to Biel


Switzeland Pictures



Trip out of Bern


As Rana and I suited up by our bikes, the hotel manager asked us if we should reconsider staying an extra day till the weather cleared up. The weather was gloomy and probably the worse of all the days we were in Switzerland. Not only was the rain pouring heavy drops, but it also cold which caused anything exposed to the weather to freeze and ache. Getting out of the town was a bit tricky because every street looked alike. After a couple of U-turns we finally found our familiar red bike signs with arrows out of the town. The paths were more level and Rana and I were able to ride comfortably side by side as we carried a nice conversation during our ride. In the ladder part of our trip, we mostly rode through vineyards and bridges along the river. Luckily the rain only lasted till mid-day and we once again experience great biking climate. Our path to Biel now mainly followed along the Aare River, and we had water views majority of the time. We saw the river start as a small narrow street get wider and faster. It grew and rushed through electricity-generating plants and damns and eventually crashed and merged with other nearby fast flowing rivers. All the rushing rivers eventually converged and flowed into another large bright turquoise lake. At the other land of the lake lied our final destination city, Biel. As we approached into towns the village architectures and wood craft art, which we saw at Meringen and Iseltwald, replaced with modern geometric buildings set on the hill side with large ceiling-to-floor windows framing the perfect view of the lake below. I was very impressed with the artistic modernism; however Rana found it plain and almost ugly. He was convinced the buildings were more of an eye sore which stuck out from the wondrous natural settings like a large colorless-soulless cube.


Beil



The first place we went after reaching the city was the local train station to return our bikes before the offices closed. We are scheduled to leave the next day at six in the morning. We were a bit saddened to finally come to a realization that our trip was at its end, however, glad that we don’t have to sit on those hard bike seats again. Overall, we had a great time but we were also ready to go home. Home was where everyone speaks English and the land of endless all-you-can-eat buffets at cheap low prices. We walked through the main plaza area towards our hotel and Rana pointed out that the street going to the left, for exampleRue de Schlatz was named differently from the same street going to the right, Schlatzstrasse. I explained to Rana that the street names were in fact the same name but one was in French and the other was in German, which read Schlatz Street. The population within the city of Biel consisted of 50% German speakers and 50% French speakers and is said to be the gateway where the Germans and French culture collide in Switzerland. According to a local, the city is equally shared by cultures and traditions of French and Germans and everything is written out in both languages. Biel is also home of company headquarters Omega and Rolex. Rana and I spend our last days in Switzerland tasting pastry sweets and goodies and we each had a 10.00 swiss-franc ice cream desserts. We had practically replaced all the calories we lost biking through the country in the last few days within half an hour. However, it was all worth it. For dinner, we had gyros on the plaza common area, where I had used my German and French interchangeably in just short phases, of course. When I couldn’t think of how to say one thing in French I would say it in German and vise versa with the same person. After dinner and dessert, we walked through an Ikea-like home décor store and we started to think about our new home back in the states. The Europeans have such great styles and creative designs.


Then next morning, we caught our three hour train ride back up to Zurich airport and we finished our last Switzerland meal at a Starbucks, just before boarding our flight home, with 2 cups of lattes and 2 bagel sandwiches which costs us 50.00 Swiss-francs an equivalent of $57.00 in US dollars! Switzerland will be missed but there is no place like home!