Packing for 6 weeks in Europe

Ben and I traveled to Europe for 5.5 weeks in the Spring of 2014.  Our trip started in early April and ended mid-May.  We traveled to Hungary, Croatia, Italy, South of France and Switzerland, in that order.  Spring season can be rainy in many of these locations and the weather somewhat unpredictable.  Based on our research, we were anticipating daily temperatures in the mid-low 60s and partially structured our route to try to hit the warmer days in these countries. 

Overall, our packing choices were a success. We each made a couple of key mistakes, which I will talk about later.  In preparing for the trip we relied on our past experience with travel as well as a lot of research from other travel blogs.  

One decision point was laundry frequency.  Ben was prepared to do it every few days, I was determined that we could go at least five days without a laundromat and he was fairly determined that we would go no more.  As a result, he packed a few more of the essentials and I packed a few less.  

Pack size was also a key decision.  Ben had done the bulk of research in this area and read a recommendation that a pack of less than 40 liters was ideal for comfort, mobility and truly just taking the essentials.  I needed a new bag and chose the Osprey Kestrel 38.  I thought I needed a larger bag (within the 40L limit), but actually would have been okay with something slightly smaller.  Other than a few times during the trip where I was hauling additional souvenirs or food, my pack was never completely full. I watched a video on how to appropriately adjust the straps and this made a world of difference for me.   My pack was awesomely comfortable and at no time in the 5.5 weeks did I suffer from sore shoulders or back due to my pack load.  This was a combination of choosing the right sized pack and adjusting it correctly.  Ben used the same back he has had for years, a Jansport that might be 33L which suits him well. The bag is quite a bit smaller than mine, but he rarely needs more space than this for any of our travels.

Footwear was the most difficult and time-consuming to select. I took full advantage of Zappos generous return policy and was ordering 2 to 4 pairs of shoes at a time to try to find the right shoe for me. I also hit up REI, Keen and Merrell websites to explore their selection. I was determined to take only two pairs of shoes – one “real” shoe and a pair of flip flops (which I was certain I could not do without).  I was trying to accomplish it all with that one pair: comfortable walking shoe, rugged enough for a few easy hikes, functional enough to dress up or down based on my needs and of course not ugly.  My other challenge is that I have large wide feet.  A square toe box is essential to avoid my little toe rubbing up against my shoe (and I’m determined to avoid any future foot surgeries and consider this requirement non-negotiable).  I ended up with a pair of Keen Rivington MJ CNX that served me well the entire trip.

Ben also purchased a few different shoes in preparation for the trip, but did not spend a lot of time testing or breaking in his new shoes.  He packed a pair of minimalist New Balances that successfully avoided the flashiness of the American athletic shoe, but were so significantly lacking comfort (especially when his feet and legs were not trained on that type of shoe) that he had to ditch the NB and bought a pair of Skechers Go Run in one of the many shoe shops in Split, Croatia.  He loves those Skechers so much that he ordered another pair of them while we were still traveling that was waiting for him when we arrived home.

We purchased nearly all of our toiletries in Europe.

Here are our detailed pack lists with notes:

Kori’s List

• 1 pair Prana Monarch convertible pants - convertible and flattering, but the stitching is coming out in a couple of places
• 1 Athleta Whatever skort – great skort but took too long to dry and was ultimately not very functional for this type of travel
• 1 pair of leggings – a simple pair of gap leggings made a great layering piece
• 1 dress - Exofficio black dress
• 1 fashion scarf
• 1 pair of capris - Eddie Bauer travel
• 2 long sleeve shirts - Exofficio Pave Shirtigan and an Athleta pullover hoodie
• 2 short sleeve shirts
• 2 tank tops – 1 cotton from Target, the other REI
• 1 columbia rain jacket
• 1 buff
• 3 pairs of socks
• 3 bras
• 5 pairs of underwear (mostly Patagonia)
• 1 pair of Keen Mary Jane
• 1 pair of flip flops (Teva Mush)
• Dramamime
• 1 medium REI pack towel

What Kori would do differently:
Things I didn't have but would pack next time: base layer long sleeve shirt, belt, lightweight gloves, knee high smart wool socks, watch (Ben had an extra that I was able to wear, invaluable).

The base layer was critical, the two long sleeved shirts I had were not enough to create warmth.  Only pack a dress if summer travel, love the dress, but wasn’t well utilized.  Bring 5 pairs of Smart Wool secret sleuth socks if I pack mary janes, the others just aren’t as comfortable or effective.  Pack two pairs of convertible pants and leave the skort at home.  Bring capris that are just as comfortable, but with belt loops. The convenience of strapping a travel wallet, camera, etc. to my waist and adjusting my clothing was awesome.  Additionally, I would confirm the quick drying quality of everything that I packed.  We did enough laundry in the room that the ability to dry over night was important.

Ben’s List

• 2 convertible pants (not cotton)
• 2 shorts (cotton blend)
• 2 short sleeved shirts (synthetic for fast dry)
• 1 base layer long sleeve shirt (fast dry)
• 1 long sleeve shirt (not cotton)
• 1 rain jacket - Mountain Hardwear
• 1 rain hat - Columbia
• 5 socks (merino wool for fast dry)
• 5 underwear 
• 2 belts - canvas with plastic buckles
• 1 pair of running shoes, dark gray color
• 1 medium REI pack towel
• 1 Eagle Creek undercover hidden pocket - this held our passports for the entire trip.  Worked well but one of the loops started to tear during our travels.
• 1 waterproof back pack cover 

What Ben would do differently:

Pack three under shirts instead of two.  Test shoes significantly before leaving.  Take 3 pairs of convertible pants instead of two pairs and one pair of shorts.  Purchase an inexpensive pocket knife on day one of the trip, it would have paid for itself over the 5.5 weeks.  The countries we visited in April and May were fairly humid so cotton clothing did not completely dry on a clothes line over night (9 hours). 

Shared Resources

• Individual packets of laundry soap
• 1 package of sea to summit pocket laundry sheets
• Rubber clothes line - not this brand specifically
• Sink stopper
• Mini Clif Bars
• Mini peanut butter (Jif to Go) - easy way to add protein to snacks on the go
• Razors
• Eagle Creek pack cubes
• Toilet seat covers
• Fiber gummies
• Travel roll of toilet paper
• Hand sanitizer
• Hand sanitizer wipes
• Kryptonite retractable cable lock – we read reviews that they were the best and we did not regret having them, the long cord also allowed us to lock the bags into our rental car in case of break in
• Sea to Summit day pack
• Titanium Spork – we used this daily, incredibly useful tool

What we would do differently:

Pack more of the hand sanitizer wipes. Don’t let Ben eat all of the peanut butter before we make it out of the U.S.  Don’t take the sink stopper, it didn’t stay in place very well and everywhere we washed had an existing stopper.  

Get a different day pack with at least one additional pocket and potentially a water proof cover.  We liked the Sea to Summit pack because of how small it packed down when not in use. However, once we were on the trip, we never put it back into it's handy pouch (we would just shove the day pack, full, into Kori’s backpack).  Additionally, the straps started to come apart at the seam early on in our trip, so it didn’t have the durability we needed.

Returning to the U.S. - Final Thoughts on Our Adventures in Europe

We returned to the US via Philadelphia, which my friend Jeff likened to Beirut.  Our experience re-entering US culture at this gateway was a terrible choice.  

It was a bit like being punched in the face with all of the things that we didn’t miss about being home.  People were loud, gruff and even rude.  Things moved slowly and inefficiently and there was so much tension, frustration and even anger around us.  The passport process was also overwhelming and confusing after leaving the smooth efficiencies of our overseas ports of call, especially having experienced the uber efficiency of Switzerland as our last stop before returning.  My passport agent was not simply unfriendly, he was actually slightly mean to me when I didn’t understand the process.  Why?  And, if he is treating me this way, how must non-US citizens who don’t speak the language and are likely more confused going to feel about visiting America if they pass by this counter on their way into the country?

During our time in Europe, we took three regional flights.  In all of those instances we did not experience any angry passengers.  We saw no one yell, or pace or get upset at security or while waiting to board the flight.  Airline and security employees were pleasant and calm.  What’s more, there were no angry passengers being embarrassingly cruel to the flight crew, as we experienced on our flight from Chicago to Denver later that night. (Because the story is so unbelievable, I will share a short version here: woman ignores luggage size requirements.  Woman ignores announcements in the gate area that it’s a full flight and large bags must be gate checked.  Woman boards flight and her luggage is physically too large for the overhead bin.  Woman then verbally assaults the flight attendant for his personal attack on her because her suitcase won’t fit).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not blind to the goodness and kindness that is present in America.  I witness small acts of kindness and large acts of generosity on a regular basis. People are basically good, and I believe given the chance the highest percentage of Americans would show the same pleasant respect that we found around the world. I value our freedoms, opportunities and gifts for an abundant life to my core.  But, there is also an ever-present tension in our hurried culture.  

Ben and I speculated if some of this comes from a lack of long history that may impact the perspective of those who live in countries like Europe.  There you pass battle grounds, monuments to heroes and symbols of survival on a daily basis.  Are these items enough to inspire a better perspective that prevents them from cruelty to another person over senseless things like an oversized suitcase?  

In the U.S. we have a culture of competition, both with ourselves and each other. However, what we experienced in Europe was a culture of community. That's a pretty drastic difference in focus that can have a fundamental impact on how we treat one another.  

With no root in competition, there seems to be less focus on comparison.  Europeans don’t seem to be trying to assess who is better and draw constant comparisons they may justify treating another human being as less than human.  Even in Monaco where the visible wealth is staggering we were never treated as less than anyone else, even when we rocked a Twingo through town.  Why are other culture’s priorities seemingly different?  Afterall, it’s okay not to have any car at all, it’s okay to not force themselves into house poverty.  People don’t seem defined by things.  Prescription drug companies aren’t advertising constantly to feed the personal obsession Americans with finding something wrong with themselves.  If we take all of those focus from comparing ourselves in meaningless ways to others, maybe that’s enough to cause a change in demeanor?

Phew….enough on the trials and tribulations of being American.  This trip was life-changing in many ways. I don’t have the words to describe how much I enjoyed our 5.5 week adventure and how it will impact our future adventures.  The trip was in most simple terms, fun.  It was also interesting, thought-provoking, relaxing, enjoyable, abundant and unexpected.  For Ben and I, who each have our potentially compulsive needs for order and structure in certain aspects of our world, living with total lack of structure for this long was a gift.  This was the greatest freedom I have experienced in my life and it fed physical, mental and emotional needs in a different way than I knew existed.

Europe continues to fascinate me.  The more I experience the more I love it and dream of returning for more time, more learning, more experiencing and yes…more fun.

Some final bullets on Europe from Kori and Ben: 

• Street musicians are everywhere and they add to the experience and wonder of traveling the small towns and bustling cities
• I wish that church bells were heard more regularly in the US – imagine never needing a watch and the town operating based on the bells ringing from a tower at the center of town
• One of my favorite things about returning home is the constant availability of bathrooms
• American music and hit songs are popular all over Europe, most places we went had American music playing
• BMW and Audi dominated the roads, with several models we don’t have here in the US
• Getting a Swiss Pass would have saved us significant $$ in Switzerland
• When shipping back to the U.S. from another country, if they tell you not to put a return address and don't have you fill out the package customs form, be suspicious.  Also, even stone can break in that long journey, so be careful what you pack in the box. 
• Apples in Europe taste much better than those in the U.S., not sure why
• In some places, like Croatia, wine may be cheaper than beer
• Fiat Panda 4x4 is damn cool. (Italy)
• Roundabouts are wonderful. (France)
• When hand written, throughout Europe, 9s look like Gs and 1s look like wishbones
• There were no squirrels in the Berner Oberland region of Switzerland

Homeward Bound

Long ago Ben and I sat at 801 in Des Moines and made an ordered list of the crazy things we would spend money on if we were rich. This was hard for us to start as there are a lot of things that we don't value in more expensive form. However, first on my list has always been springing for the first class seats on long flights. I think that is money well spent!

Well, on the way home it happened, and we didnt even have to make our first milion.  We had first class seats from Zurich to Philadelphia (for those who don't recall from the beginning, we are traveling on buddy passes). There were enough open seats that we received our boarding passes early, eliminating the anxious waiting period watching people get on board and hoping to be one of them.

Our first task in first class? A free glass of prosecco while the coach passengers boarded (yes an intentional refence to "those people" I am in first class you know. And I won't be pointing out the free part anymore, up here I think we get whatever we want. That's what Billy Idol said anyway). We enjoyed the wine while perusing (yeah, perusing, in first class that's how we do it) the menu for the meals we would enjoy in flight.

I was like a little kid at a toy store, so excited about everything, including the many buttons that controlled my seat.  I could not wait for the plane to take off! The flight attendants brought a small toiletry kit to each of us with all kinds of goodies. Heck, right now I want this flight to last twice as long just to use all these cool things.

Of course, I tried to hide my excitement, hoping to blend in with the special first class experts for which the wine before take off and buttons were no big deal. Ben is much better at this kind of thing and appeared unaffected by his seat at the front of the plane. However, I imagine his inner child was giggling at the fun of it all, downright overwhelmed at how much fun this is. Damn he is good at hiding that kind of excitement...

What am I doing now? Well, I'm glad you asked, because a lot has happened since we took off. My shoes are off. And, I raised my feet, so that's pretty comfortable. I've also reclined my seat about 1/3 of the way. That lady in the infomercial with the adjustable bed has nothing on us. Ben is relaxing too, his inner child must be doing cartwheels right now. Oh, and mid-typing I received my hot towel. So, I'm all steemed and clean right now. The stench of the common folk is starting to leave me.

Aren't you hungry, you ask? Why yes, good thing they just delivered my bottle of water and snack of fancy mixed nuts (or, is the "fancy" already implied?).

Lunch? Served on white linen, but only after my appetizer and salad. Ben ordered a bloody mary and he received two mini bottles of vodka to make his own. We have real glasses too. Lunch was followed by dessert, ice cream with the toppings of our choice. These first classers don't mess around.

Other events on the flight included a long nap, a tablet so I could watch TV and movies, and another meal before landing.

Another lesson? Blogging in the air with so much free time really leads to some detail. We hope you have enjoyed this in flight play-by-play. Now, buckle your seatbelt and prepare for landing.

Special thanks to my stepmom, Eve, for busting her butt all those years so she has cool flight benefits to share with her fam.

Zurich

This town surprised us both. Going in, we both wanted to see it but had prepared ourselves to be severely underwhelmed by this large city focused on finance.

It is a big city, very chaotic. And, I think a day here was still plenty, but we enjoy that day considerably more than expected.

First stop was the TI office where they were incredibly helpful including finding us our most affordable Switzerland room of our time here (80 Swiss francs with a bath down the hall and no breakfast). Additionally, we bought a ZurichCard which had several benefits - for us primarily the transportation.

We stored our bags in a locker at the train station. Switzerland seems to be the only country that still offers train station lockers, and our theory is that they don't have much fear of terrorist bombings here because they pretty much stay out of everyone's business.

We started our walking tour of the city in heavy rain. It was cold!  A particularly memorable moment was entering the Grossmunster (big cathedral) while the organist was practicing. Adding music to history and the grandness of the church was a unique experience. Additionally, instead of stained glass, several windows here were slices of geodes that created an incredibly beautiful window.  Photos were not allowed so Ben bought postcards so we would have images of those unqie windows.

After we stopped riverside for a delicious lunch, the sun had come out. Ben's beer had a brewing tale on the bottle that made us both laugh.

We ended our walk at the lake and thanks to our ZurichCard we had a few options to get out on the water. The sky above the city was dark and treacherous looking and moments before getting on the boat (and I mean we were about 20 people from the doorway and in the process of boarding) another downpour started. Happily dry on board, we couldn't see much mountain scenery because of the storm but we enjoyed the water, lake town sightseeing and being somewhere dry (with a warm drink and some Bailey's).  An additional highlight was a woman who got off at one of the stops with a huge Wall Drug South Dakota umbrella, she did not appear to be a tourist.

By the time we returned to Zurich the sun was out again. This time we hopped on a very low, glass roofed boat that went up the river. The boat is low so it can pass under bridges. This got us back to the train station where we hopped a smaller train heading for the hills, Uetliberg.

The train went up above the city, and a short walk uphill took us to an awesome viewpoint of Zurich, the lake, and the surrounding area. We also climbed a tower up on the mountain that offered even better views.

We picked up some take-away food (in Europe it is take-away instead of "to go") and found our hotel. A small guesthouse above a restaurant, we have a very basic room, but it's comfortable and clean and we are looking forward to a good sleep before heading to the airport in the morning.

Some final bullets on Switzerland:

• We saw a free standing air pump for bikes city square

• It is rainy in May
• We have been here for several days and I'm still suffering from sticker shock due to how over the top expensive everything is here
• In Zurich people walked up the moving escalator instaed of just standing there
• In Switzerland, if you request $100 from an ATM, you get a one hundred franc bill. So, that's useful.
• It seems nearly everyone here paints their satellite dish to match their house. A dark brown dish against the wood goes almost unnoticed
• Had we researched ahead of time, a Swiss Pass is a good deal, but must be purchased from the US
• We saw no wave runners on any Swiss lakes
• Swiss beer is boring, time to bring in some Colorado brewers (can you believe this came from Ben, not Kori?)

Lucerne

I had been looking forward to the train ride from Interlaken to Lucerne, anticipating some jaw dropping scenery. We moved to a car on the train with huge panoramic windows (we did not know it was there, we were actually moving to get away from Switzerland's smelliest couple and got lucky to find the sightseer's dream car).  The trip totally delivered. The tracks wove through mountainside, along lakefronts and through towns both adorable and beautiful. With so much to look at, I didn't want to look away for fear I'd miss a waterfall or moment of crystal water.  The blue-green clear water against the bright green landscape is absolutely stunning.

Arrival in Lucerne was easy. It was lightly raining but we found our hotel (Hotel Magic, ha) quickly and easily and it is in a sweet central location. With a "free upgrade to the King's Suite" we found ourselves standing in a huge room with funny dated gold plated furniture and a jacuzzi tub with airbrushed lake scene that took the scenic Swiss lake and turned it into a psychedelic poster from the 80s.

We did a walking tour of the city that afternoon, mostly the old town, and the sun slowly came out. Lucerne is on the edge of the lake and with a river running through town and high mountain peaks in the background there is no mistaking you are still in Switzerland.

Lucerne is one of the top tourist destinations in the country. I believe I read that for many it is the 'gateway' for visiting other parts of Switzerland. It is a nice place, but there is something lacking in terms of the energy or charm we found while walking the cobbled lanes of other cities (both larger and smaller).

Day two brought more rain and was a bit cold. We walked to see the famed lion sculpture, honoring Swiss mercenaries lost in the French Revolution. It is one of the most moving sculptures I have ever seen. And, thanks to the weather and getting there early, Ben and I were able to sit and experience it nearly alone.

Due to weather, cruising on the lake didn't make much sense, so instead, Ben devised our own self guided chocolate walking tour. We have hit the cheese pretty hard in Switzerland, but have spent little time with their prized chocolate. The tour included many shops with floor to ceiling chocolate, a cup of the chocolatey-est hot chocolate I have ever had (Ben described as gritty), and our last stop at an all natural chocolate shop, making everything in house. By this time we could not stand the thought of eating any more chocolate and bought a couple of pricey small things to go.

Dinner that night was at a Wirtshaus Taube, a traditional Swiss restaurant and was delicious. Ben's especially - local pork wrapped in bacon with a morel sauce and huge asparagus spears.

We are on a train to Zurich this morning for our last day in Europe...that's right, we fly home tomorrow morning!

Bullets:

• Lots of bikes in Lucerne but very few scooters
• Zero street beggars in Lucerne

Swiss Alps

We spent two nights in Gimmelwald which is in the Berner Oberland region of Switzerland. Accessing the town took a train, one bus, and one cable car. Gimmelwald has a population of about 120 people, the cows and goats definitely outnumber them. In town there is no grocery, ATM or doctor. There are no restaurants open in the off season and only one was open while we were there (thankfully the food was good), we ate there for dinner on our first night.

Before heading up to Gimmelwald we had also stopped at a grocery store to get food for breakfast. We knew we would have a kitchen available to us at the guest house where we were staying. This helped us to save some money on the mountain top! The guest house was a Swiss Chalet and Esther, the owner, was happy and to the point as she checked us in. I had read something about low ceilings in a review and Ben barely cleared the ceiling but did not clear the two ceiling beams in our room. We were welcomed by several guests who were enjoying the common area when we arrived. We also had conversations with a few people over at the restaurant. Gimmelwald wins the award for easiest town to make friends on this trip.

At night it is the darkest and quietest place either of us have ever slept. Our room was black, no light from anywhere and we even got up to look out the window to see what was visible outside. The moon was casting a backdrop for the mountain peaks.

The next day we hiked up to the nearby town of Murren, this town is larger and more touristy than where we were staying. We walked around, had lunch, and picked up some food at the grocery store for dinner before hiking back to Gimmelwald. There was a tiny one town shop in a farm house in Gimmelwald with homemade goods and we got two hats, some jerky and candied almonds. There were also a couple of "honesty shops" where you take what you want and leave your payment. One was closed and the farmhouse where we went to buy cheese only had huge blocks, so we ended up not purchasing anything. But, love the concept and that it works!

We decided to do one more short hike that night and saw a local farmer trying to coax a new calf out of a trailer. He had driven this one up a back road, but Ben also read (and then saw the equipment) that cows may be brought up in the cable car with everyone else. Our hike let us walk over the top of one of the many waterfalls gushing down the mountain (at one vantage point in town we could see 7 long mountain water falls), we also made it to the river we could see far in the valley below. Our homemade dinner was enjoyed on our chalet patio with some more French wine (no, we haven't finished our three bottles yet!)

See the waterfalls?

The next morning we checked out and took the cable car and bus down to Lauterbrunnen, the local main train station and where we are staying for the night. From there, we hiked up to the town of Wengen (this hike had a steep grade and great views, we took our time). We also stopped along the way to eat the world's greatest sandwich, which Esther had made for us.  Wengen is another town high in the Alps, but it is much larger and a popular resort town for the British. From here we took the train up to another mountain peak that gave us some close up views of a few small glaciers and another valley opposite where we had been staying.  From there, a train goes another hour to the "top of Europe" but the trip is very expensive and there were low clouds on an overcast day so we knew we would not get great views.

There is still a lot of snow at the higher elevations in the Berner Oberland region and as a result some of the trails we were hoping to take were closed. But, we still got in some good hikes and great views while we were there.

We enjoyed our home grown dinner from the balcony in our room and then went down to the Steinbock restaurant for dessert and one more drink. All over Europe we have seen people eating these huge fancy ice cream desserts, so we decided to finally get one of those. Also, Ben has been missing his whiskey nightcap and since we are staying in a hotel with the restaurant he was able to take one upstairs. The very accommodating bartender got down every bottle of whiskey she had for him to point to what he wanted.

Next stop, Luzern.

A few bullets:

• Cows, goats and sheep actually where cow bells, you can hear them clanking all over the countryside
• We saw mostly goats, very few sheep and cows were out grazing this time of year
• It is likely we could have saved some money had we purchased a Swiss Pass for our train travel in Switzerland which would also offer discounts on some of these pricey lifts
• Although high in the Alps, Gimmelwald and many other towns visited are still at a lower elevation than Denver
• Box springs are rare in Europe
• There were no squirrels in the Berner Oberland
• The heat source in Berner Oberland was wood, wood and more wood
• Swiss egg yolk is more orange than yellow

Lausanne and Bern

Our first stop in Switzerland was Lausanne. Set on Lake Geneva, the town climbs up away from the water. We stayed at Hotel du Marche which was a nice quiet hotel and Ben went out to grab dinner so we could enjoy our dinner with our French wine. The next day was a little rainy but we were able to see much of the town anyway. It was also market day and we picked up items from various vendors to make a picnic which we enjoyed at the lakefront with a great view of the water and mountains. A highlight of this day for Ben was finding a petanque course (French version of bocce) with several games in play which we stood and watched for a while.

We took the train to Bern that afternoon and after some help from a nice man near the tram stop, found our way to Casa Silvana, our B&B for the night. While we have been enjoying beer, we have not found (or actively looked for) any breweries during this trip. But, we read about a microbrewery in Bern not far from our hotel and decided to have dinner there. We really the Altes Tramdepot. The beers were good, food was was good, place was packed and the staff was friendly.

Our day in Bern welcomed less rain and slightly warmer weather. We stowed our bags in lockers at the train station and had a very enjoyable day discovering the town on foot. Parliament was in session and we were able to attend and observe. We couldn't understand much, but it was a highlight to be able to sit in. Bern is a quiet city, with ample public transportation and great views of the river that runs through town and the Alps in the distance. Bern means bear and there is also a bear habitat with three brown bears that are the poster children for this town. The habitat is right next to the brewery and we were able to watch the bears and then grab another beer and some lunch on their patio. We really enjoyed our day in this town!

As I write, we are high in the Swiss Alps in a town called Gimmelwald that is accessible via cable car. We will be spending two nights here, I will write about our hikes and the incredible views in another post.

Some initial bullets on Switzerland:

• It is crazy expensive
• People are friendly and helpful
• Laundromats in France and Switzerland are more expensive than expected
• Swiss trains, trams and buses are ninja silent
• Swiss trains are very smooth compared to Italian trains
• Very few smokers in Bern
• Most bikes in Bern were not locked