Bern

Monday, November 9, 2009 - Bern: the Swiss-German word for Bear after the duke that founded the city supposedly killed a bear. Bern: Einstein's temporary residence. Switzerland: FLIPPING EXPENSIVE. I overheard some people in our hostel talking about how a hamburger at the McDonald's there (yes, I know, unfortunate) cost $12.

Of course, it is beautiful. The train ride in was especially ridiculous; alps everywhere, lakes everywhere, green everywhere. The old town area of Bern is super interesting.. There are apparently over 250 fountains in it alone, and each of them is hilarious; and sometimes creepy. The fountain closest to our hostel was of a brute-ish looking fellow eating small children. Oooookkkkkay? as my dad would say.

One thing I found particularly interesting were these cellar doors all up and down the main streets. When we first arrived some were open and some closed.. But we quickly realized that they weren't cellars - they were shops, restaurants, bars, etc that are underneath the street.

We also got to see the apartment Einstein's lived in while he worked on his theory of relativity. It's open to the public and is very informative. I learned all kinds of stuff about him I never knew, from being foundational in starting the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, to the fact that he was offered presidency of the state of Israel but declined! Can you imagine?