This morning we were up at 08:00. Tavis and Sandra started the sandwich factory and prepared breakfast while the rest of us took our time getting up. We all met at Terris and Sandra’s at 09:00. We had breakfast and were running out the door at 09:36 to catch the bus. Luckily, the bus was 2 minutes late and we got there just in time.
We arrived in Spiez a few minutes late and ran to catch our first train to Bern. It was a new train and Sandra was insistent on catching this one. It was really nice, spacious, clean, and quiet.
We arrived in Bern at 10:24 and had 30 minutes before our next train. We walked through the train station and stopped at a Coop grocery store. We bought a calzone, coffee, and freshly squeezed orange juice. The machine squeezed the orange juice as we watched it… crazy!
We arrived in Neuchatel and walked down to the lake. There was a festival going on. Tavis went to a tent and signed up for a competition. We made 2 teams of 3 and competed against each other. Team Canada (Terris, Tavis, Addison) vs Team Swiss Canada (Sandra, Ayva, Ari). The competition consisted of 3 activities. Sandra and Terris started with the ball throw. Terris seemed to dominate and Tavis ran off to the paddle board. Sandra finished shortly after and Ayva was a ninja grabbing her board and running into he water. She passed Tavis on the first stretch. It was neck in neck. Tavis caught her as they rounded the corner and was back in the lead on the way back to the beach. In the final 10 meters, Tavis fell off his board and Ayva pulled ahead leading the way to the bottle toss. Addison and Ari began tossing and in the end, Addison pulled out the win for Team Canada. We won 3 free towels which was great because we didn’t bring any, and Tavis was soaked. What an awesome spontaneous experience!
After, we walked down the beach to a point on the boardwalk and sat on the rocks while we enjoyed our flippin’ floppin’ sandwiches that Tavis and Sandra prepared. After lunch, we slowly made our way back to the train station. We took an underground tram back which was powered by huge wheels and a cable on each side. We left at 15:32.
We got off the train at Kerzers to transfer to another that took us to Merten. We walked into the historic town. Walking into the village, the scenery changed. It was like walking back in time. The street was lined with historic buildings that had stores on the street level. We walked to the end of town, then we went up steep stairs that took us onto the city walls. We walked back to the other end of town on that wall! It was shaded and breezy up there looking down on the rooftops. What a hidden gem!
On our way back to the train, we stopped at a Coop to get more groceries for dinner tonight and tomorrow. It was much cheaper than Migros. After, we played on the old school teeter totter in the park across the street. After 10 minutes, we made our way to the station to catch our train at 16:46. We made our way back home with transfers in Kerzers, Bern, and Spiez, where we caught our bus to Krattigen. It was a great day!