Bern, Switzerland
where i found joy in the simple things
After my housesit in Vevey I decided to head North to Amsterdam and just take it slowly stopping in cities along the way. I was hoping to meet up with some friends in Zürich in a couple days so I figured I would rather spend one day in Bern than two days in Zürich. So off to the capital I went.
The Flixbus dropped me off a little out from town and rather than taking the local bus to city center I walked the two miles. It allowed me to see more of the small city that way. I checked into the youth hostel and then went out on a walk in the light rain. I had booked a bus for the next afternoon so I needed to see the sights that night.
I walked along the fast moving turquoise river headed to the bear pit. The bear is the symbol of Bern and they have their own bear enclosure so I wanted to check it out. It’s free to walk along the enclosure and even though it was raining one of the bears came out. Then I walked down the flag-lined street full of shops. I noticed many cellar doors below the shops and found it interesting that there were also shops down below in a basement area. However since it was Sunday all the shops were closed. There weren’t many folks around so I enjoyed the quiet of the empty streets. Next I passed by the Einstein museum located in a house he used to live in. I got some groceries for dinner and went back to the hostel by way of their cute, short funicular (tram going up and down a steep grade).
The next morning before taking the bus to Zürich I walked around the parliament buildings and listened to Bern’s famous landmark, the 16th century Zytglogge (clock tower) strike noon. I admired Swiss chocolates through the shop windows but wasn’t able to sample any as it happened to be a holiday that Monday and the shops were closed. Overall, even though there wasn’t anything spectacular to see there I enjoyed the small town vibes I got from Switzerland’s capital.
Next: Zürich, Switzerland