ISSI
Workshop on "Strategies for Life Detection"
24 - 28 April 2006
ISSI, Bern, Switzerland
LOGISTICS
HOTEL
Our secretary at ISSI, Ms.
Fasler, will be handling travel and
lodging logistics. She plans to book a block of rooms, paid by
ISSI, at a nearby hotel within walking distance of ISSI and the main
train station. These rooms will have private shower/toilet,
phone, and TV. If you wish to make your own hotel arrangements,
ISSI will reimburse you up to 130 CHF per night during the workshop,
but only
by wire transfer, not by check. In order to ensure a room
reservation, please send your arrival/departure dates/times to Ms.
Fasler by 27 March 2006. Once you send this information, Ms.
Fasler will provide you with all of
the information needed to get to your hotel, to get to ISSI from your
hotel, and to be
reimbursed for food.
TRAVEL
ISSI will not cover any
transportation costs, but for your information . . .
Flying to Bern
The closest airport is the Bern/Belp airport (BRN), but unless there is
a sale, it is quite expensive to fly into Bern. The best
connection is probably via Munich (MUC) with Lufthansa. There is a
shuttle bus waiting outside the terminal after each arriving flight
(giving you plenty of time to go through customs and
get your bags) that travels
directly to the main Bern train station. The cost is about 17 CHF
one-way and must be paid in cash.
Flying to Geneva (GVA) and
taking the
train to Bern
Taking the train in Swizterland is easy. The
Geneva (GVA) airport is only about 1.5 hours by train from Bern.
The train station (bahnhof) is inside the Geneva airport; after you have gone through
Customs, just follow the signs for the train
station (in French: Trains, 
,
sometimes a picture of a train).
It is a short walk within the airport. The direct trains to the
main Bern train station leave every hour at xx:36 until
22:36. You can buy tickets either from automatic machines
at the airport train station (you can use these in English and they
take most ATM cards and most credit cards if you have a password for
your card) or from a person at a ticket window. If the ticket
window is closed, and you can't use the machine, you can buy your
ticket on the train for an extra fee. The tracks are easy to find
and well-labelled. While
the train will make a few stops, you do NOT need to change
trains. On
the train, stops are announced in French and German and sometimes in
English, but you can always ask someone on the train if you are worried
about missing the Bern stop. The train will certainly stop long
enough
for you to get your baggage and get off the train. There are bathrooms on the train
and usually there is a snack cart and cafe car. There are no
assigned seats.
Flying to Zuerich and taking the
train to Bern
Taking the train in Swizterland is
easy. The Zürich (ZRH) airport is only about 1h15m by
train from Bern. The train station (bahnhof) is inside the Zürich airport; after you have gone through
Customs, just follow the signs for the train
station (in German: Bahn, , sometimes a picture of a train).
It is a short walk within the airport. The direct trains to the
main
Bern train station leave every hour at xx:13 and xx:39 until
22:39. You can buy tickets
either from automatic machines at the airport train station (you can
use these in English and they take most ATM cards and most credit cards
if you have a password for your card) or from a person at a ticket
window. If the ticket window is closed, and you can't use the
machine,
you can buy your ticket on the train for an extra fee. The tracks are easy to find and
well-labelled. While the
train will make a few stops, you do NOT need to change trains. On
the
train, stops are announced in French and German and sometimes in
English, but you can always ask someone on the train if you are worried
about missing the Bern stop. The train will certainly stop long
enough
for you to get your baggage and get off the train. There are
bathrooms on the train and usually there is a snack cart and cafe
car.
There are no assigned seats.
FOOD
ISSI will reimburse
you for
food through a per diem of up to 70 CHF per day (with catered lunches
and the workshop dinner subtracted from that). Again, you will be
reimbursed only
by wire
transfer, not by check.
SOCIAL ACTIVITIES
Workshop dinner:
We will
have a workshop dinner on Wednesday night at a hotel just outside of
Grindelwald.
Tourist excursion:
We
will have an organized touristic excursion on Wednesday
afternoon.
During your free time:
In case you plan some free time into your travel to Switzerland,
there's of course plenty to do. The city of Bern has a great tourist
website >>
with
information about the city and excursions within the canton of Bern.
?????? QUESTIONS
(Including Visa Issues)?
If you have any questions
concerning
travel, hotel arrangements, or visa issues please contact ISSI
secretary, Ms. Brigitte Fasler
(fasler @ issi.unibe.ch, +41 31 631 48 96).
SWISS POWER OUTLETS
230V, 50 Hz, Please make
sure to bring an appropriate adaptor. (ATTENTION) Swiss power outlets
will NOT accomodate plug the same plugs as in mainland Europe
EXCHANGE RATES (24.10.05)
1 € = 1.54 CHF
1 CHF = 0.64 €
1 £ = 2.28 CHF
1 CHF = 0.44 £
$1 US = 1.29 CHF
1 CHF = 0.77 $US
1 CAD = 1.09 CHF
1 CHF = 0.92 CAD
1 DKK = 0.21 CHF
1 CHF = 4.83 DKK
1 MXN = 0.21 CHF
1 CHF = 8.40 MXN
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