Monday, April 29, 2013

1397. KINDLE STORIES. TRAVEL STORIES. April 28, 2013 Sunday. Lucerne, Berne and Interlaken

APR 28, 2013

Riverside hotel.
The receptionist was kind enough to lend me the iPhone charger. As this hotel was modern and internet connected, the charger was made available for guest unlike the Frankfurt hotel. Ken, the tour manager said it is one year old. I asked the receptionist who said it was 4 years old.

Who is correct? I asked the coach driver - Dutchman Charles who is most knowledgeable about Switzerland, being an ex-Dutch tour guide. He said , "One year with the 3 restaurants built,  but 4 years when it was first opened".  All of us loved this hotel.   

Lucerne.

All guides recommended Bucherer Lucerne to shop for watches. It seemed to be the dominant seller. More Chinese-speaking service people now. Couldn't find a Tissot titanium wristband watch for a lady friend there as they don't stock. They had one for men. However, there was a branch in Interlaken which opened till 10 pm on Sunday. Lucerne has the famous Lion Sculpture of Lucerne.


Interlaken.
No such titanium watch in Bucherer Interlaken. There was a robust competitor called "Casino K." advertising various brands on its shop front. It was crowded even at 9 pm as compared to Bucherer Interlaken.

Surprisingly, it has the Tissot titanium wristband for a lady. Titanium is much lighter and the watch has the roman numerals much liked by the lady. 

Giving what the customer wants can be difficult. The buyer needs to spend time shopping around. I bought a dull chrome watch from this shop. Unknown brand name but exactly what I hope was wanted by a young man in Singapore.

Berne.
Ken said the old brown bear I saw 2 years ago had died. A new female bear with 2 cubs arrived and so there were 3 bears. There was a 4th bear who was male.

"The 4 bears came from Finland where there are too many. Many bears are shot to control the population" Charles explained to me. "The cubs came from Croatia. To build the new enclosure, the public donated 10 Euros per stone.The donor's name would be inscribed."

"No worry, there are many stones in Berne," he laughed when I said that 10 Euros donation per stone was too cheap. In Singapore, donors of over $1,000 will have names inscribed. The masses with small donations was a good idea.

I did a few videos of the brown bears as they were out swimming. One mummy bear appeared to favour one cub. The cubs were fighting and climbing over her. She chased away one of the two cubs, now quite large.

Interlaken.

This Bebbies Restaurant Interlaken was near the train station. I was there 2 years ago during the Christmas tour by the same travel agency, EU Tours.

Great fun here as the boss had this song and dance routine. His staff carried Singapore flags and performed lion dances and sang local songs. This time, I thought this entertainer had lost weight. 

"The muscle man is my boss," he laughed out loud. He has the same temperament. A love to entertain the tour groups. I recalled him taking a very long Swiss horn, went across the road and made sounds as he blew heartily into the horn at passing cars. He waved his hands and wriggled his body. The diners laughed loudly as they loved his performance.

The restaurant was packed to the gills. The Taiwanese travellers screamed and took iPad photos with him. So much joy and laughter with the group of young people. 

My group had 30 Singaporeans who were senior citizens. The laughter was much subdued. Or were Taiwanese more outgoing and had drunk more? A difference in culture of the two countries?

"Is the muscle man OK?" I asked the entertainer who was the general manager.
"Yes," he replied.
"How did you lose 15 kg in 2 years?" he had told me he was much trimmer now.

"No carbo," he said. "I go to the gym every 2 days".
"You want to take over muscle man's business?" I asked him. "Is he retired?"
"He was here yesterday," he replied. "Soon he will retire."

This restaurant boomed as the Asian tour groups packed it. The tour managers could connect with the management. I heard from Ken that a Chinese restaurant is opened by the muscle man. All waiting staff I saw were Chinese or Korean.  This restaurant was unlikely to be bankrupt with the rise of Asian tourism and packaged tours. 


"Koreans only visit Switzerland one day and then go to other countries," Ken said to me.
"Most likely they are on budget." I replied. "When I was a student in UK, I visited 10 countries in 14 days."
"You see nothing, just passing through," Charles replied. He was correct.   

UPDATES IN THIS BLOG:

 https://2010vets.blogspot.com/2013/04/1397-april-28-2013-sunday-lucerne-berne.html

 

 
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TRAVEL STORIES BY DR SING

The Bebbis Restaurant Interlaken was packed to the gills with tour groups in April 2013 when I visited. It was fun and laughter then as the general manager was good at socialising with the customers. The chocolate fondue was something new.
 
Interlaken.

This Bebbies Restaurant was near the train station. I was there 2 years ago during the Christmas tour by the same travel agency, EU Tours.

Great fun here as the boss had this song and dance routine. His staff carried Singapore flags and performed lion dances and sang local songs. This time, I thought this entertainer had lost weight. 

"The muscle man is my boss," he laughed out loud. He has the same temperament. A love to entertain the tour groups. I recalled him taking a very long Swiss horn, went across the road and made sounds as he blew heartily into the horn at passing cars. He waved his hands and wriggled his body. The diners laughed loudly as they loved his performance.

The restaurant was packed to the gills. The Taiwanese travellers screamed and took iPad photos with him. So much joy and laughter with the group of young people. 

My group had 30 Singaporeans who were senior citizens. The laughter was much subdued. Or were Taiwanese more outgoing and had drunk more? A difference in culture of the two countries?
 
 
 
TRAVEL PHOTOS
2013 visit to Switzerland
Canon 70D. P Mode.
A photo of a lady tourist was taking photo of the sculpture lion.
 
The lion was to symbolize the soldiers' courage, strength, and willingness to die rather than to betray their oath of service. Thorvaldsen thought poorly of the idea of a dead lion, preferring a living, resting beast. They compromised on a dying lion
 
 

 



April 2013 visit by Dr Sing Kong Yuen
My visit in Apr 2013. There were 4 bears. Two adults and two young ones. The public donated to the building of the bear enclosure. Small amounts of donation and they get their names inscribed on the stones.

 

2.  1 Oct 2018

Three bear park with 3 bears

Review of Barenpark by JorinGoh at TripAdvisor on 1 Oct 2019.

We walked through the old city from Bern train station to the park. It took us about 30min as we stopped along the way to take picture of the famous clock tower & many, many historic fountains. When we reach the park, the scenic views of the town lifts us up! Today all the 3 bears are in the area facing the stream which is a much bigger enclosure for them walk around & explore. The circular enclosure is under maintenance. The pavement has lots of names engraved on it, probably those who contributed to the building of the park. There is a lift that takes you up & down the park which is great especially for elders & kids. When you get to the bottom which is next to the stream, it is very relaxing looking at the bears taking afternoon naps or walking around to find food. In summary, it is good to have such a park with free viewing for tourists & locals.

3. Others

 2019

The Bern BearPark is a unique recreation area at the lower end of the old town of Bern. It is open around the clock and free for all visitors. Brown bears have been living in this generously-sized enclosure on the banks of the river Aare since 2009.

 

rejected by shutterstock as "out of focus"
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Picturesque



 

Apr 2013

Canon 70D.



On packaged tours, there is always a rush down the coach and get moving to do the sight-seeing and walk to the Bear Park. I saw this picturesque view of the old city of Bern and took two quick shots using P Mode. I was not skilled in Manual or AV Modes 9 years ago.



I had my camera ready and was at the right location to get this picturesque view of the old city during my tour.

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UPDATES IN THIS BLOG:

https://2010vets.blogspot.com/2013/04/1397-april-28-2013-sunday-lucerne-berne.html






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