A few days ago, we ventured into Switzerland's capital city Bern. It was crazy becasue it was only 1 1/2 hours away, but it felt like a completely different country. About halfway through the drive the road signs changed from being written in French to being written in German. When we drove into Bern my dad said it looked just like Germany. He felt more comfortable since he speaks German...whereas my mom and I were completely lost! It was a lot of fun touring the city, and the people were very friendly! That's right - no matter where we are in the world, my mom can find Starbucks! She claims it's a gift... 
Standing in front of the capitol building 
Visiting a Protestant Cathedral 
We walked all the way to the top of the tower...it was A LOT of stairs! Dad was a little tired... 
Mom and I were fine! (or we just had lots of time to rest before the picture...)   View of Bern from the top of the cathedral  
Pretty stained glass windows on the inside 
Bern's name is actually derived from the German word for bear. Here's a brief history below... 
Because of this, the symbol for this canton is a bear; and there's even an exhibit of bears in the middle of the city. You can even pay for food to toss down to the bears!   After visiting the bears we decided to walk around the town and the shops... 
Raw meat never looked so...organized? 
Look at all the chocolate bunnies! 
Wandering through the shops...  This was a fun store! It's full of fresh oils and vinegors of all sorts of flavors! And the best part...free samples :) 
Another view of the city 
Cool lamp in the window of a shop 
After a long day of walking, Dad treated us to dinner at Kornhauskeller. It was delicious! And the interior of the restaurant was fantastic!  
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Give your parents a hug for me! When you get back state-side, I'd love to get together sometime!