Biel, Switzerland, Sept 16, 2013

A rainy day

Those of us who have need of a rest day really enjoy seeing the rain. Others do not!

So we decided that this was laundry day. Stephen had scoped out a laundromat yesterday, but it was closed (Sundays are pretty boring commerce-wise around here!). So today we bundled our laundry into our backpacks, and strode out in the rain. It was about a kilometre away.

As Stephen had observed, this was a real hole-in-the-wall place. And we were not sure if it was a self-serve coin-operated laundromat or not. Last year, we went to a place that we thought was self-serve, but it was instead a drop-off place.

Anyway, now we are two-for-two. This was another drop-off place. So much for saving our coinage and for our frantic purchase of laundry soap on our way there!

We then ran into an interesting language barrier. The lady didn't speak English. We started talking in French, but she soon lost us completely - it didn't sound French - or German either! But sometimes I heard German from her! And I alternated between speaking French and German with her. Eventually, it appeared that we had reached an agreement - that she would do both the washing and the drying, and that we would pick it up at 5 or 6 (she closes at 6:30), and that it would cost 15.5 Francs.

Language here is kind of interesting. The city claims to be bilingual (French/German). Many people do speak English, but many do not. It appears as though the housekeeping staff at the hotel speak only French. The desk staff are trilingual (and maybe more). When we were in Lucerne last year, we seldom had to rely on our minimal German skills - everybody we dealt with spoke English (except in the rural areas).

We stopped at the Starbucks on our way back, and had a great conversation in English with the baristas. Their big question was whether Canada was colder than Switzerland - yep!

Thanks to the rain, we spent some quality time with our computers in the hotel room for the afternoon, and then hoofed it back to the laundry lady, where our clothes were ready, at the agreed-upon price and time.

A quick stop at a grocery store for something for supper, and back to the hotel room.

Where, on the window ledge, there is this very interesting and somewhat emphatic sign, don't you think?!

Anyway, for a rest day, I walked somewhat in excess of 4 kms. Some rest day!

We found what looks like another interesting funicular-and-hike trek for tomorrow, depending on the rain. It has been pouring most of the day. We can always hope that it eases up tomorrow.