Arrive in Bern; Our Brushes with Fame

BERN, SWITZERLAND
Today (Wednesday) we arrived in Bern, the capital city of Switzerland located 132 kilometers (82 miles) north east of Geneva at the base of the Swiss Alps.  As we pulled into the train station, we knew we were going to love it.  This cosmopolitan and charming town is bustling with people enjoying the outdoors-riding their bikes, walking, or running.  As we walk through the city, the downtown streets and parks are filled with people enjoying a picnic, playing petanque (a French game similar to bocce ball) while others tube down the Aare River cooling off from the hot day.  (See a few pictures located on the right side of the blog.)  Tomorrow, we will venture out to find out more about one of our new favorites cities, Bern as well as look for Elke's relatives, Bernese Mountain Dogs.

OUR BRUSHES WITH FAME
We have been traveling for just over a week and a half and we have already had two experiences with running into someone famous.  Our first was on our flight from New York to Nice, France back on July 12>  We shared business class with Stephanie Seymour and her entourage.  She is a model/actress and has been featured in such publications as Victoria Secret, Vogue and Sports Illustrated.  She was traveling with her two daughters (one of which was the whiniest child I have ever heard), 2 sons and a nanny, whom I did not envy.  While we waited for our flight, she gave each of them several $100 bills like she was handing them a tissue after they sneezed.  Regardless, she is very beautiful and seems to have a very comfortable lifestyle.

Today, we saw our next famous person in the Geneva, Switzerland Train Station.  I will give you a hint -- he's had the role of James Bond, was featured in the movie Hunt for Red October and is from Scotland....did you guess it?  Yes - Sean Connery.  While Ad and I were in the train station trying to figure out the schedule, I noticed his wife and him standing next to us looking around and trying to figure out which direction they should go to catch their train.  And as we all headed up to the same platform, Ad decided to walk over to him and see if it really was him.  Just as he was about to approach him, another gentleman suddenly recognized him and walked over to shake his hand and tell him how much of a fan he was of his. And, Mr. Connery graciously thanked him.

Good night!