On Saturday morning as we headed down the mountain from Murren. The rail car coming up were packed- definitely a difference between weekends and weekdays. As we descended, we saw the runners from the marathon. We had to make a decision- explore Wengen while towing our carry-on roller bags, or go directly to Bern, as Saturdays host the Farmers Market, and the shops were open. Previously I had been to Bern twice, on Sundays, when all the shops are closed [outside of the train station]. We chose Bern. Once down the mountain [took about an hour], the direct SBB train from Interlaken Ost to Bern took an hour. It's just amazing that the BO is so accessible from the cities!
Our hotel, Hotel Savoy, was less than 5 minutes from the train station Facing the train station, we went one block towards the back of the station, and turned right at the Burger King. [17chf for a Whopper.] We passed a large Coop City store, and found the hotel. The room was very modern, with the best rain shower I've ever experienced. The covid mandate for eating indoors started the next day, and as the friendly staff were very confused by the rules, offered to deliver breakfast to the room if necessary. I would definitely stay here again, both for the convenience and the service.
Bern was very busy with pedestrian traffic, as the day was in the 80's We wandered through the stores. We found great Mideastern meals at food trucks at the Farmers' market, and had a beautiful day to wander the stalls, which stayed open to 3:00pm. The regular shops close at 4:00pm on a Saturday. Bern overall had more food options for those of us growing tired of Swiss food, with many ethnic options, and cheap 10chf walk-up food places. Most of the restaurants had outdoor seating, as they had expanded onto the sidewalks and pedestrian streets.
The crowds of visitors stayed into the evening. The park two block straight out from the train station was very full of families, and the plaza in front of the station was packed with young people, many of them smoking. The train station was even more crowded this Saturday evening, and it's ironic, as the next day the Swiss government was going to regulate eating indoors at restaurants, yet the train station was mobbed. As we had to complete our covid self-tests the next morning, I was wary of crowds, kept our masks on, a bit tense.
As reported, Bern didn't really shine: there were many construction sites, the clock wasn't performing its whole routine, there were no colorful banners. Bern is a city I like and feel very comfortable in, but it wasn't spectacular. Maybe the stress of covid testing was clouding my outlook.
Sunday morning we completed our Abbott covid self -tests. We first watched the video again. It was easier to do one at a time, as we had to hold the phone screen over the test kit for 15 min; we couldn't find a good way to prop the phone screen over the test kit, which had to lie flat. Negative results on the Navica app took another 15 minutes. Easy -until my husband wanted to add his middle name to the app- there was no place for a middle name, [weeks ago I put mine in the first name place.] Well, the change caused the program to throw out his negative results!!! This was his error, no fault of the program. He retested immediately, with another negative result, but no the official results in the Navica app. Hours went by- no results , most likely because taking two tests in an hour was flagged. On phone hold 45 min, told not to worry, but nothing appeared. On a second call we learned that it was Sunday in Florida, staff was short, and tomorrow the results would post- [& that's what happened!]
Finally out of the hotel, we happened upon a Bike for Life health festival. A sleepy Sunday took on a festival air with a bike race, rock music, kiosks, & bike displays. And, a walk-through colon with polyps! Where else would one see that??