Tuesday this week, Paul and I took a day off so I could go to the Danish Embassy in Bern. Not that I was unable to go there myself, but it's always nice with great company, and neither of us had been to Bern before.
The reason I had to turn up in person at the Embassy was in order to apply for a new passport. As newly married and having taken my husband's (I can almost say and write that without giggling...) name, it seemed only right to have that added to my passport - which means getting a new one. When Stefan turns up, we can go to the Danish Consulate here in Zurich and apply for his passport as he's under 12 years old. (Yes, we want him to be a Danish citizen. He won't get Swiss citizenship from birth, as neither I nor Paul is Swiss.)
I always think of Embassies as being slightly palatial, or at least housed in a cool old building with whitewashed walls and perhaps a guard outside. Hence I was rather disappointed to find that the Danish Embassy in Bern is placed on the second floor in an apartment building, and that the first person to greet me was the cleaner! The reception room did have the obligatory pictures of the Queen and Henrik, (though they could do with being updated), and there were also a couple of magazines promoting tourism in Denmark. My query was dealt with quickly by a very nice lady and I was out of there within 20 minutes.
Paul had been waiting for me outside a cafe and seemed surprised to see me back so soon. His dealings with embassies have always taken quite a while and involved queueing, but I guess this is one of the advantages of coming from a tiny country with few inhabitants...On the way back, we passed an embassy with a guard outside (furnished with a big gun!) as well as some housed in beautiful buildings. I might consider changing citizenship. Though then I might have to queue.
Bern is much more beautiful than I thought. It seems less busy and noisy than Zurich and even though we didn't see that much of the town, I still managed to take some great pictures which I think give a good idea of what the town has to offer views-wise (I'm sure that's a word!):
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| This could be Italy! But it's not. |
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| An iron bridge over some river. And blue skies! |
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| Another bridge over a river, forgot if it's the same as the one above. (I should work as a guide, I know.) |
And let's not forget the famous bears of Bern, which we also managed to see. Some cities make do with ducks and swans and flying rats as part of the city ambience, but not Bern, oh no, they've opted to include bears. I even took a couple of videos (shot according to the dogme-rules) - unfortunately I'm unable to upload the best one, so you'll have to make do with the one below and a few pictures instead.
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| They have it good! Their own pool including two apples! |
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| A barrel and sticks to play with. |
Once back, I realised I'd overdone it with regards to walking around, so had to get a new appointment with the chiropractor. I saw him yesterday and he sarcastically asked me if I had more excursions planned over the next couple of weeks. I don't. But it's hard when one is so naturally active to cut down on exercising... ;-)
A couple of weeks ago we went to a baby-equipment store in order to get a few essentials before the event in July. The pictures below show the backseat and boot of our car after we'd finished part one of this exercise. The cot and changing table are on order and should arrive by the end of June. Should Stefan arrive before, we can borrow items from the shop which is good to know!
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| Stuff. |
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| More stuff and the expectant dad. |
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| Okay, we could perhaps have packed this a bit more cleverly - it's just still such a novelty to have space in the back! |
Thanks to those of you who've provided me with recipes, and especially to Jess for giving me a cooking lesson a couple of weeks ago. I have added a few things to my repertoire and will report on my progress soon.
Lots of love,
Karen x
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