Bern
Wednesday 11th August
I did a one-day flying visit of Bern, coming in on the train from Lucerne
in the morning and leaving on the train to Basel in the evening.
At the station I left my backpack in a locker, keeping just my camera and
what I could fit into my pockets (since I didn't have a small backpack).
At the Tourist Information I found out that the museum card mentioned
in my guidebook no longer existed.
I wandered down Marktgasse to the Zytglogge or clock tower, which
is the symbolic centre of Bern.
The Münster platform, under the cathedral, is a flat open area that
juts out towards the river and offers great views.
Then I climbed the tower of the Münster Cathedral, which is some 100
metres up and offers fantastic views over the city. On the way down
I was passing the upper bells just in time to hear and see the 6.7 ton
midday bell sounding — with my hands over my ears; a solid grill
stops anyone touching the bells or being injured by them. The plot of
Dorothy Sayers' The Nine Tailors seemed more plausible after
this experience!
There's also a great diorama over the main door, and some lovely stained
glass windows.
Crossing the river, I visited the Historiches Museum, where the big
attraction is the Einstein exhibition, but there's also some local Bern
history (though not an integrated historical presentation).
The nearby Alpine Museum has excellent displays and reliefs about the
development of Alpine cartography, the history of the Swiss Alpine Club,
and the Alpine hotel industry.
After a quick lunch from a bakery I walked down to the Bear garden,
where the crowd didn't seem particularly interested in the poor bear,
and from there up to the Rose garden, which would have been a nice place
to sit and relax if I'd had more time. I caught a bus to the Zentrum
Paul Klee, where the major attraction was an exhibition highlighting
contrasts and comparisons between Klee and Picasso, in which I spent
over an hour and a half and got sore feet.
people outside the station
I caught the bus back to the station. Nearby is
the Stauffacher bookshop, which
is a pleasant place to browse and has lots of English-language books
(but not a history of Bern). I grabbed a few slices of takeaway pizza
for dinner, then caught the train to Basel.
Next: Basel: Goetheanum + Tinguely Museum
Previous: Lucerne
Up: Switzerland
