There was relatively light traffic on the A1 Highway from Zurich Airport to Switzerland's capital Berne. But it was the first glimpse of the Swiss "Mittelland" (low land) for our guests, the winners of the Adopt-an-Alp program 2019, Covid-delayed for a year: Rich Cooper, owner of the "State St. Fruit Store" in Northampton and "Cooper's Corner" in Florence, western Massachusetts. And Mark Sutherland, a longtime salesperson at our US-partner "World's Best Cheeses". Unfortunately, rain accompanied us. That was not much of a surprise, the weather had been terrible for weeks - and the forecast did not announce a change anytime soon.

Luckily, the sun gave us a break once we arrived in Berne. We went down to the Aare river, the "Matte" quarter, where in old times the poor people had lived. There we saw the impact of the bad summer weather: The fire brigade was preparing for flooding.

Bundeshaus and Einstein

Strolling through the wonderful "Lauben", the covered, arched sidewalks through the century old core of the city, we visited the "Bundeshaus", the Swiss government building. Lunch was taken at the "Cafe Einstein", named after the famous scientist who had spent several years in that building at the start of the 20th century. Here the first ideas for the "Relativity Theory" were born. We also checked the little museum in his former apartment.

Introducing "Gruyère Double Cream"

Going further west towards Les Gruyères there's an almost mandatory stop: the ice cream shop "La Mucca" in Bulle. Here, ice cream is made with the famous Gruyère double cream. It's smoothness in perfection.

The Hotel Gruyères was our stay for the first night. It is old-fashioned, with beautiful views, and an excellent breakfast buffet. For the apéro we visited the H.R. Giger Bar. The interior brings you into the "Alien" movie set. It gave Mark the opportunity to drink "Absinthe", the infamous "Green Fairy". We enjoyed dinner at the "Restaurant Les Ramparts" in the picturesque center of the village.