The back roads between Thun and Bern, Switzerland

Cycling past a village I spot a cornfield filled with dozens of cars parked across from a big barn. Better check it out.   
 

It's autumn and villages are celebrating the seasonal change with fests. 

Lots of pumpkins, gourds and strange-looking vegetables to choose from. Note: pumpkins and gourds are technically fruit but fall into the vegetable category. 

Huge tents are sheltering visitors. Sausages are being grilled and is smell is hypnotic. Unfortunately I recently ate. 

I come across this sign "Schloss Kiesen". These brown signs signify something of historic importance in Switzerland and it's normally open for visits so I make a detour. 

Hmmm, that's strange. A sign on the left of the driveway says "privat". That's no problem for me as I can plead ignorance of the word "privat".

Wow, look at this place. It dates back to the 17th century. It looks really rundown. 

It was empty for 20 years (from 1975-1995). In 1995 a local quarry company bought the property. What the heck are they waiting for?--bring it back to its glory!

In the same village as Kiesen castle (Kiesen, population 1,000) I come across this museum. The second floor is an apartment and a woman on the balcony yells out the museum is only open two afternoons a week.

The small building on the left is part of the museum. So, what is the museum?

Wow, this dinky museum is Switzerland's National Dairy Museum. What's here? It houses, in its original state, the first cheese dairy built in 1815. Emmental cheese (which you can buy in the USA along with Gruyere) is produced in this region. 

I'm approaching Worb, population 11,000, and stop a couple cycling. I ask, "Is that a castle up on the hill in the distance?".  I learn I'm right and wrong. Up on the hill to the left you can see a brown pointed roof peeking out--that's Worb Castle. On top of the hill to the right--that's just a big house--it's owned by a wealthy former newspaper owner. "Can I visit the castle?, I ask. Turns out it's privately-owned.

Of course I have to cycle up to Worb Castle (dates back to 1130) to get a better look. After having visited hundreds and hundreds of castles I've learned finding the right way up to a  castle can be a frustrating ordeal. This road ends at an unrelated barn so, the search is on. 

I found the correct way up. This is the entrance to the castle.

Closer view of the castle's entrance. I spot six mailboxes to the right so, I'm assuming (though I've been known to assume wrongly) it's been divided into six apartments.

I'm passing through Bern, the capital of Switzerland, and this is the Capitol Building. I've posted about Bern many times so, why this photo? Normally when I'm here the square in front of the building is filled with demonstrations, protesters, market stalls etc... messing up my opportunity to snap of photo without all the clutter. One time it was jam-packed with farmers and their tractors complaining about something. Note: Swiss farmers are heavily subsidized by the government. 

I've passed many a chicken farm but, this modern range-free facility about 10 miles from Bern looks impressive.

The chickens come and go on their own out of the new building with a huge expanse of fenced-in land to roam. Don't know why they hang out in the dirt instead of all that green grass in the distance. 

The chickens reside in the far-end of this building. I go inside this door and find a self-serve shop. Would like to know what's upstairs--could it be an apartment? 

At the far end of this mini-shop I see a sign reading "Little Town Coffee Shop". It's closed.  

A large selection of eggs are for sale but what intrigues is the display of various size eggs. Stores normally carry medium, large and extra large size. Is that a turkey egg at the end?

I wonder why turkey eggs aren't sold in stores. I learn turkey eggs are just as good as chicken eggs. So what's the problem? Turkeys lay eggs only twice a week and take up a lot more room on a farm (thanks for the info Google).