Bern is the capital of Switzerland and dates back to the 1100s. The old town area has a lot of fascinating architecture, including a pair of clocks that are less than ten minutes away from each other. The
Kafigturm dates from the 1600s and is closer to the train station. It is a clock and bell tower. I love buildings that have passages through them!
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Kafigturm |
In the middle of the town is
Zytglogge, which was built in the 1200s and had a lot of additions, especially the astronomical clock. A museum is attached which we did not visit.
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Zytglogge |
The streets have many fountains with drinkable water and fancy statues on pillars. A lot of the statues have bears. The word "Bern" is related to "bear" so they are mascots for the town.
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Bear in armor |
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A local hero |
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Lady Justice (near the capitol) |
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Matronly statue |
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Another obvious bear |
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Moses, by the cathedral |
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Ogre eating babies?!? |
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Patriotic statue |
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Aggressive statue |
Some of the street statues are not fountains, just dramatic portrayals.
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Why "soap" grafitti? |
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River goddess, who is on a fountain |
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Her fountain by one of the state buildings |
The government buildings are on the south side of old-town Bern, overlooking the Aare River. A nice park is nearby where locals relax.
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National bank building |
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The capitol under scaffolding |
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Nearby park |
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View of greater Bern |
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Bridge and river in the distance |
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Better view of the Aare |
Further to the east is more of the old town, including the
Casinoplatz, where the casino or concert hall is located (not for gambling).
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Casino |
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Medieval street |
The medieval area includes the Munster, the local cathedral for Bern. They don't allow pictures inside, so I have some of the outside stuff.
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Munster door |
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One-eyed gargoyle |
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Doorway again |
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Detail of the Last Judgment above the door |
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Getting water from the Moses fountain |
The old town is surrounded by a bend in the Aare River, with some picturesque views. Also, just across the river is a bear pen on a hillside.
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Less population, more greenery! |
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The bend in the river |
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One of the handful of bridges on the end of town |
The bear pen is quite large and it can be hard to spot the three bears living there. They do have some statues for unsuccessful visitors to look at.
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Bears hiding place |
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Bears in stone |
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We did spot a bear! |
Above the bear pen is a bench with a statue of
Albert Einstein, who became a Swiss citizen in 1901 and lived in Bern for several years.
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Einstein and me |
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Not as much of a fan |
The town has a lot of odd bits in it.
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Nobody talks about the plane |
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Starbucks is everywhere! |
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A small playground that has three in-ground trampolines |
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Medieval streets with automobiles! |
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Is "Modern Antiquarian" an oxymoron? |
We visited
Drachenascht, or the Dragon's Nest, where we bought some games. The name means "Dragon's Nest." In German, the word for "dragon" is the same as the word for "kite" which the store sells, along with magic supplies, juggling equipment, and comic books.
Bern also has a funicular railway up to a mountain park,
Gurten Park, south of town. A lot of locals come here to get away and enjoy hiking or summer concerts.
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Ominous funicular station |
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On our way up |
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The part where the trains pass |
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View of the town |
The park includes an observation tower which I climbed.
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Not reassuringly solid |
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View of Bern |
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View of countryside |
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View of the park's restaurants |
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View of the concert venues |
On our last day in Bern, we took a walk along the River Aare to a playground to get some fresh air and sunshine before the long ride to Italy. Imagine our horror when we arrived and dozens of children were at the playground using all the equipment! Also, they were younger than our kids, so the situation was double-awkward. My son played with the unused helicopter for a bit, then we left.
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Helicopter with graffiti |
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"Get me out of here!" |
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View of a bridge on the way back to our lodging |
The river is available for swimming, with several staircases leading down into the water. We were amazed at how fast the water flowed and were afraid to try it out on our own. Many people just float along with a "dry bag" holding their clothes as they are whisked away down the river.
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People swimming in the river(!) |
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View with a line for swimmers to go down from a bridge! |
Bern is a great city to visit with a lot packed into a small space. Our rental place was just outside of the old town, which was a great location, but it had no air conditioning and windows that opened to nowhere, so not a lot of ventilation. On the other hand, the Bern tourist office offers free public transport tickets to rental guests, so we rode the funicular for free. You have to take the good with the bad.
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