Today we intended to show a very different side of Switzerland by taking our guests to the Ballenberg open-air museum near the town of Brienz. Ballenberg is famous for finding classic Swiss buildings around the country, dismantling them, then reconstructing them using many of the original building methods on site at Ballenberg. The various buildings (farms, shops, crafts etc) are then operated as they did in the past to get a snapshot of the various architectural and cultural flavours from around the country.

We arranged to meet the three groups (Walters, Donovans and Sims) at the Autogrill rest area just south of Bern at Munsingen and then proceed in convoy to Ballenberg. Somewhere along the way we lost the Sims, but they managed to find their way OK and we all arrived there within 5 minutes of each other. We then headed off to explore Ballenberg. Some of the sites we visited during the day are shown below.

Throughout the day, we noted a rather incongruous happening as military jets from the Swiss Air Force continually made low-level runs over the top of the Museum (at one stage 6 jets flew over about 10 seconds apart - probably the entire Swiss Air Force). It somewhat destroyed the mood when looking through these centuries-old buildings to be reminded so forcefully that we were indeed in the 21st Century. If Switzerland is a neutral country whose main income is tourism, then you would think they could go find somewhere else to play around.

After everyone was well and truly tired from walking around, we headed back to Bern. That night we had dinner at the market square near Parliament with Regina, Sarah and 12 others from our group. Because of the size of the group, we were split across two tables, with two different waiters. When we ordered at our table, we asked how long it would take (because we were hungry) and our friendly Indian waiter informed us that “Sometimes I am quick; sometimes I am slow”. This time he was quick and we were served within 15 minutes. Unfortunately, the other table got the reverse treatment and were still waiting an hour later! After numerous enquiries, it turned out that their orders had been delivered to the same number table in the upstairs section of the restaurant (and returned when they were found to be incorrect!). There seemed to be much accusation and argument among the waiters and management staff (although it was hard to be sure since they were speaking in Swiss), but eventually everyone got served. For once, a Swiss business was not running like clockwork!