Today we changed our schedule and went to Basel after pottery instead of going there on Friday. The reason for this is that we wanted to fit the festival in on Friday (Friday coming) before I go on my Winter Rotary weekend.
Oh talking about changing plans.....we did not end up going ice skating on Friday for Language course because rain and an out door skating rink really don't mix. But what we did I thought was much more amazing. We went to the Historic Museum. A museum, I hear you say, how is that interesting….. well it was all Swiss history and the stuff was so old, like 6 hundred plus years old, kind of old. There here rooms all made up like the old Swiss houses, and parts of them were original and had been moved into the museum piece by piece. Everything was so different to anything I have ever seen. Just wonderful. Now I would show you the photos of this ...but I forgot my camera, how stupid of me! So one of the other exchange students took pictures and will email them to me later, so when I have them I will show them all to you!
Oh we also got our test results back and I was not the worst...neither was I the best...I fitted in in the middle (of my class that is I am not sure where I stand against the other students yet.) I received 167 out 0f 200. Now this is good as the lowest score anyone has ever gotten on this test is 20 points and the highest is about 180ish.
So on to today... My host Mum and I trundled off to pottery at about 9 o’clock. We went to this lady's house where she has a kiln in her basement and does classes there. My Host mum is not really a student. It is more a social gathering where you make pottery. I was so proud of my self as I managed to make a bird. I don’t have a photo of it yet...you just have to wait until I paint and glaze it!
After pottery we caught the train to Bern the Capital of Switzerland. We arrived at the train station in Bern and I was wondering what these huge bits of sandstone were doing in the middle of the station. My host then explained to me that they are the remainder of the old wall built in the middle ages that surrounded Bern. The reason that they are in the station was that they were found when it was being built and instead of knocking them down they built around them. Cool hu!
Our first stop in Bern was Einstein’s house. Did you know that Einstein actually changed from being a German citizen to a Swiss one? Did you know that he made his theory of relativity in Bern when he was living with his wife who also was into physics. Did you know that many people say that his wife helped him with his theory but got no credit because she was a woman....no you did not know this....well neither did I until today!
This is Einstein’s desk were he made his theory on relativity.
this is his suit!
We then went and had a bite to eat. I had a Swiss potato and meat bake (it is called this but just in Swiss German). It was really good.
After lunch we went to the Bern Munster. (A Huge church). It was just amazing. What makes this church so amazing is that on the outside it has a picture about the day of judgment. It shows people going to hell and people going to heaven. Look closely and you will see that every face is different.
It also had a huge big satin glass window. This is really special and is called teh dance of the dead. The point of it was to show the poor that even the rich die, and that death does visit everyone. Why such a huge window for such a simple message. Well back in the Middle Ages the poor could not read and they thought that the rich were invincible. So to show them that they are all the same and all have to die and hence go to heaven and hell was meant to be an important message.
We then climbed up to the top of the tower. Guess who we saw on the tower...noe other then the Swiss District man and his short term exchange student from Taiwan. And Guess what her name was...Angela! He also told us where my host brother and sister are going on exchange. Olivia is going to Japan and Benjamin to Taiwan....but shhhhhhhhhhhhh we are not allowed to tell them until they have their country giving ceremony thing.
The view as you can see from the tower was amazing Bern is just so beautiful.
After looking around the church we went to visit the bears. The bears is not a place or anything oh no...it is actually a pit in the middle of the city with bears in it. The bears are very special to Bern because as the legend goes ....back in the middle ages the head of the city wanted to name it. He declared that he would go out hunting and what ever animal he killed first would be the name of his city. And I bet you can guess what animal he killed....yes a bear...hence the name "Bern", the crest for Bern is also naturally the bear.
After visiting the bears we went for a walk along the river that surrounds the city.
We then hopped onto the train and came home after a wonderful day.