A question I do not mind answering, but one that can consume too much time once I begin explaining and others begin asking questions.

Look to this map.

London, England was my starting point, then I worked south, going somewhat-counterclockwise to Paris, France… Bern, Switzerland… Florence, Italy… Torino, Italy… Pisa, Italy… Rome, Italy… Cortona, Italy… Venice, Italy… Vienna, Austria… Budapest, Hungary… Prague, Czech Republic… Berlin, Germany… Amsterdam, The Netherlands… Bruges, Belgium… and back to London, England.

Miles : 3,500 [approximately, point-to-point]

Number of Cities : 15

Number of Countries : 10

Favorite Small City : Bruges, Belgium

Favorite Large City : Berlin, Germany

I think the reason I love this picture so much is that it embodies the entire attitude of he citizens of Bern.

The people in that city have not a care in the world. Strolling along the streets during work hours. Walking to work, window shopping along the way. Standing on the edge of the bridge as if they have never seen their town before.

I caught these two love-birds catching-up on some sleep at a park overlooking the river.

Seriously…how sweet do they look?

It has been noted to me that I might wanna ellaborate on my beer comment from the other day.

As I stated before, I am not a big fan of beer. The taste of it, the image it has, and the harm it does to lives of people we know.

That said, I do not, nor have a ever supported the comsumption of any alchoholic beverage of an individual who is under the age of 21. Nor do I support the excessive consumption of alchohol for anyone 21 years of age and above.

I think most of you know that, but I just wanted to point it out.

I rarely, if ever drink.

Remember, I am the guy who turned 21 while in New Orleans on Bourbon Street… and all I had was a Coke. (I was not into my Diet Coke phase then… if I had been, I would have gotten a Diet Coke.)

The main reason I got it is simple. Anyone who has been to Europe can tell you: Europeans hate ice. Nothing is ever cold, nor does it come with ice. I ordered the beer so that I could A) Experience some local flavor, and B) I wanted something cold to drink, and they did not have bottled water.

Anyway, it is not a big deal.

A rare back-to-back days worth of posts, but I just had to write to tell how in awe I am of Switzerland and its people.

Right now I am in Bern, the capitol of the Swiss, and I could not be happier.

A city of 130,000 people, yet at 9:00 PM there is hardly a car on the street and everyone is walking and riding bikes.

I had some authentic fondue tonight (bread cubes and riiiiich cheese), with some cold beer that is made right here in Bern. Those of you who know me well know that I am not a fan of beer… put this was pretty darn good.

Tomorrow I will head to the location where Einstien (spelling?) wrote the theory of relativity. I will also walk the city and take some photos.

In a couple days I will let you in as to where I might be headed next.