Bern, SWITZERLAND

WEDNESDAY 10TH FEBRUARY, 1999

It was still snowing this morning when I opened my eyes and as I felt a bit off-colour I went back to sleep. When I awoke the sun began to peep though the clouds and the church bells rang in the hour of 1pm. After a wonderfully warm shower we made our way downtown, through the rose garden covered in snow and filled with locals walking their dogs and taking pictures of the largest winter dump in 20 years. The scene was reminiscent of those glossy pictures in fairy-tale books where the ground is covered in a blanket of glistening diamonds. Every flake of snow reflected the light and even the bears were dancing and frolicking in the snow. This is the Switzerland on chocolate boxes and one every bit as breathtaking as scenes from the alps.

Our mission was to go into a few travel agencies to suss out the deals available to Egypt and perhaps returning from Athens. As it turned out we were advised to buy a ticket from Zurich to Cairo and then to organise our return when in Athens. It was all so exciting and something we'd just decided to look into on a whim. Somehow it seemed as though we were taking a holiday from a holiday. Whilst strolling back to Frank's under some of the 6 kilometres of arches that flank Bern's medieval centre, we stopped in for a SF3.30 slice of quiche at the Migros Supermarket (which would have to be the most reasonably priced food stuff we've come across in Switzerland).

Frank was waiting for us at home, where we decided to an enjoy an evening on the town. Starting with a delicious dinner at the Bern Hotel, followed by a Swiss pub crawl. I had stuffed veal with spinach dumplings, whilst Dave ate something that looked more like it came out of a kitchen in Shanghai. For the first time in ages we really felt like we were at home with friends, sinking a few beers and enjoying a frenzy of conversation. I am going to miss Frank and the Bern that only a local could share. The midnight hour rang in and we returned to the flat in the falling flakes of snow and I contemplated how nice it was to experience another winter in Europe.