Bern Memories

A few ore Bern memories.  The impressive chocolate shops, the famous clock tower and fountains everywhere. Over the main doors to the cathedral was a terrifying view of Heaven and Hell.

 

Maël

Maël on our days out. Standing in his great grand dad's pulpit and giving his opinion on a local Ripasso wine......

Bern Tour

Toshi and son Maël took us for a tour of Bern.  We started in the Rose Garden which had an impressive view of the river and city. The church spire directly behind Tosh's head was where Maël's great grandfather used to preach. The priest is also associated with a Japanese gift of cherry trees that dot the hillside of the gardens.

We caught a glimpse of the famous Bern bears and walked along the incredibly speedy river. 
 

Grandfather's House

We flew back to Switzerland today and after a fitful experience on the train, finally arrived in Bern.  Anna's grandfather had built the house in 1906 in a Germanic Nouveau style. His architecture 0ffices were on the first floor and basement while the upper levels were for apartments. He designed three buildings in a row including a more Italianate post office (now apartments).

Some of the original details still exist. The cremone bolts were of particular interest to me.

It was also interesting to see Anna's painting studio and her works displayed on the walls.

Gaffer63: Cremone

Gaffer63: After the Storm

Last Sunset

 

We finally got to the Prosecco bar near the house to view our final sunset. Periodic showers had the staff running around protecting the furniture cushions but we took refuge with a British couple on an upper, protected deck. When the sun did pop out, the result was pure Hudson Valley painter bliss.

Slow Boat to Cavtat

 

Things were a little cloudy and showery in Dubrovnik yesterday morning so we hopped onto the morning ferry to Cavtat. We had the boat to yourselves. By the time we finished an excellent Italian lunch, the sun was blazing and we found a rock in the harbor to relax and read. While waiting for the return ferry, we watched some boys playing water polo. 

Back in DBV, we returned to showery and cloudy weather. 

Finally

 

Gin Crazy

 

We had a gin making class yesterday. Habitat Distillery is the brainchild of master concoctionist VlahoCarevic. After explaining the history of distilling and gin, he guided us through the process of picking what botanicals we would add to the still. Heat was added and soon drips began to collect in our shot glasses. Every few minutes we would replace glasses to catch the next phase of distilled liquid. Being lighter, the citrus distilled out quicker than the heavier cardamom..

My flavoring was bitter orange, lemon, lemon verbena and sage.

At the end of the process, we were left with a base gin and 4 glasses of differing distillates. We then  tasted and chose which of those four glasses we liked and combined. I liked three of mine, Kim used two.

Now we wait for two weeks to let everything mingle.

Fascinating guy, fascinating class.