Ja voll! Ich kann noch Deutsch sprechen!

 March 8, 2010

Life's enchanted cup sparkles near the brim.

Lord Byron  (yes, the mad crush on the dead poet endures…)

Ahh, the bubble has burst.  (The English-speaking/”are we still in America?” bubble, that is.)  It turns out we really ARE in Europe after all.  Our day trip train outing with my mom to Switzerland’s beautiful (and German-speaking!) capital of Bern and nearby medieval town of Murton has us quite convinced that we are not in Kansas anymore.

The epiphany came gradually.  First, there was the observation that the mail is (and can be) delivered by postal carriers on motorbikes.  Clearly no one here is receiving regular catalogs from Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware.  Then Cade observed that the playground basketball hoops fail to “swish,” as rubber or plastic disks woven into the nets serve to stabilize the ball so it drops straight down with more of a “swush.”  (For the record, Cade doesn’t think that would be nearly as satisfying…)  We also noticed fun playground equipment that has been deemed a danger and potential liability in the U.S. (like European versions of merry-go-rounds and teeter-totters).   But it was the $5 (in Swiss francs) that we paid for use of the public restroom that really persuaded us that we are indeed in a foreign country.  (These were regular porcelain thrones, mind you.  There was no historical significance or gold-plating involved.  Come to think of it, they weren’t even porcelain…)  Coming up with the exact change required was a feat in and of itself.  Cade almost didn’t get to relieve himself, but luckily he was half price because he didn’t need to sit down.  Henceforth, I shall consider the use of a public WC as a privilege, not a right! 

By the way, it turns out that my use of German opened the floodgates of confidence in the use of foreign words and accents, and I was able to throw out some assertive "Mercis" and "Pardons" upon our return to French-speaking Geneva.   Redemption.

Here are a few pictures of Bern, including the famous clock tower (above), the covered shopping promenade, one of the city's mascot, the bear (for which it is named), and the Ogre Fountain (built in 1544) which features a statue of a man devouring a struggling infant.  Yup.  Cannibalistic infanticide.  No wonder Regan and Reyna were mesmerized.

Murton (which means "lakeside fortress") is a charming medieval town of cobbled streets near Bern that is encircled by 15th century walls and looks like it once featured a moat.   Apparently, the view from the ramparts is quite lovely, and one can walk around the upper part of the walls of the city and peer out the windows... unless of course you happen to visit on a day when access to ramparts and the like are closed, as we did.  But we enjoyed the stroll around town and the kids got to play on some hazardous park equipment, so all was well.