The Temple in the Snow

You always see a picture of the Swiss Temple surrounded by greenery. Here is what it looks like on a sunny winter day.

The Temple Herberge

Adjacent to the temple is a four-story "Herberge" or hostel. It is for people who travel a long way to attend the temple. We spent the night there when we attended a special Stake Leadership Training weekend that included a temple session. We were in a four-person room, and it cost about $40. (The Stake even paid for it!) If you stay more than one night, it costs $33 per night. The "key" is a card you just wave in front of the "lock."

This is the shower and sink in the room. They are located right behind the door. I also took a picture of the tiny toilet room, but I think you can visualize it well enough by yourself!

The Clock!

We have really missed having a chiming clock. We found this one at a "Brockenhaus," a second-hand shop, for 30 francs (about $30). It was missing its weights, so we found these at another "Brocki" for 1 franc per 500 g. Six francs and some wire later, our clock rings its little bell on the half hour and rings the hour. (The white things are labels with the exact weight of each weight.)

The Canton of Bern's Welcome to the 2010 Federal Council

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Orange Birds

A lot of work here in Switzerland is done by hand. It keeps lots of people employed. We were walking down the street when I saw these fellows all in the trees, pruning them. It looks like a fun job. But I wonder what OSHA would say...

Bern's Ad Campaign

They have some funny ads here in Switzerland. There is a campaign going on now about different fans of Bern. This was the first ad that caught my eye. This dog says he is a Bern fan because Bern has the nicest trees.

The people of Bern are often chided by the other Swiss for being slow. The jokes are like "Why does a Berner never finish eating an apple? Because it is rotten by the time he gets to the other side." So I really enjoyed the caption that says why this man likes Bern. "Because people here don't talk faster than they think."

Apple Crisp for a Crowd

Apples were on sale, so I thought, "I'll do Apple Crisp for refreshments." First I had to make a big bowl of topping. Then, after coring 10 pounds of them with that special tool you see by the knife (you just jam it through the apple) and then peeling them all by hand, I just had to take a picture of my handiwork.

Voila! Apple Crisp for 40 people! Still faintly warm, served with ice cream, it was gone in about 10 minutes!

New Year's Day

They rang all the bells at the Munster (main cathedral) the afternoon of New Year's Day. The Munsterplatz (a large area) was a sea of umbrellas, as the rain didn't seem to keep people away. There is scaffolding around the top of the spire as they are restoring it. Sorry for the sideways picture, but it is the sound that you want, anyway!

Bells on New Years

How many different bells can you hear?

Br-r-r! It's cold!

Here we are, all dressed for the cold. Maria Nyenhuis just had to take a picture of these Californians in Switzerland in January.

More Bells on New Year's Day

I had one more movie, so I had to include it. You can hear the deeper bells on this recording, and you can also hear the rain really well!