September 8

September 8th (sunny and cooler)
We woke up, had breakfast and did the 25-minute walk along the Aare River into Bern. Georg, not being a very good sleeper, was disturbed by the young couple who were serenading each other until 3 in the morning. Georg did not say anything just in case we got another flat tire.
At the end of the walk along the river, which runs at about 20 kms/hr, we came across an outdoor pool centre which had about six pools right adjacent to the river with the city of Bern rising up the hills around it. It was at this point that sirens began and we were witness to a river rescue attempt. Unfortunately, the river runs so fast that we were not able to see whether they rescued the person or even found him. That aside, we saw a lot of people swimming in the river – more like floating with the current. I noticed right away that this city, even though it is touted to be a ‘World Heritage Site’ is not as pristine as Lucerne. It could be that it is twice as big, but these were our first impressions.
We walked for about five hours through the old section of the city, up and down hills, in and through passageways and found it to be a most wonderful city to visit. In the main pedestrian area, we noticed what used to be street access to the basement have been converted to shops underground. Must say that this city’s shopping area is more crammed than any we have seen, but still delightful to walk through.
We returned via the river again and stopped to take in the 75th Annual Wasserfahrverein (Water Ride Clubs) two-man Swiss championships. This is only a Swiss event – a very grueling sport which has its origins in history as their mode of transportation up and down the rivers and lakes. The crafts are made with a shallow draft and uplifted ends somewhat like a flat gondola. The object of the competition is to navigate up, across and down the river circuit twice – best time wins. Had some beer and enjoyed the camaraderie of the “wasserfahren people”.
Returned to our site, had dinner, phoned our boys to wish Matthew a Happy 28th Birthday. Sounds like everything is AOK at home but Georg detected a need of his project coordinating skills to finalize their apartment renovation. Georg was particularly interested in the World Rugby cup and heard that Argentina upset the host country, France. As we are heading to France tomorrow, he is looking forward to possibly taking in some of the matches on TV at a pub somewhere.