Bern, Switzerland

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!

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.

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.

Bear in armor

A local hero

Lady Justice (near the capitol)

Matronly statue

Another obvious bear

Moses, by the cathedral

Ogre eating babies?!?

Patriotic statue

Aggressive statue

Some of the street statues are not fountains, just dramatic portrayals.

Why "soap" grafitti?

River goddess, who is on a fountain

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.

National bank building

The capitol under scaffolding

Nearby park

View of greater Bern

Bridge and river in the distance

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). 

Casino

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.

Munster door

One-eyed gargoyle

Doorway again

Detail of the Last Judgment above the door

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. 

Less population, more greenery!

The bend in the river

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.

Bears hiding place

Bears in stone

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.

Einstein and me

Not as much of a fan

The town has a lot of odd bits in it.

Nobody talks about the plane

Starbucks is everywhere!

A small playground that has three in-ground trampolines

Medieval streets with automobiles!

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. 

Ominous funicular station

On our way up

The part where the trains pass

View of the town

The park includes an observation tower which I climbed.

Not reassuringly solid

View of Bern

View of countryside

View of the park's restaurants

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.

Helicopter with graffiti

"Get me out of here!"

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.

People swimming in the river(!)

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.