On Sunday we drove to Bern with Simone and she took us to the Cathedral to get a free map and gave us some tips about what to see before catching the train back to Zurich. Being Sunday most shops were closed apart from the ones in the mall-type building above the train station. We looked around those (including the outdoor sports shop!) and then headed out into the city.
We pretty much stuck to the old town and saw some beautiful old buildings such as the Bundeshaus, the Swiss national government building. With all the shops closed and the drizzly weather the town was pretty empty, but it was reasonable easy to get around without getting wet because there are “arcades” on most streets, where the buildings are joined together and the footpath along the front of them is covered with a roof and arches that are part of the buildings. It’s one of the things Bern is famous for, and as well as looking really nice is so much more practical than each shop having its own awning over the footpath, all different heights and styles and gaps in between like most here in NZ.
I wanted to see Einstein’s house but Simone thought it would be closed and I hadn’t written down any information about their opening hours. However we wandered down that street and it was open, what’s more the lady there didn’t charge us an admission fee, even when we asked about it. It was so interesting seeing where he lived when he was working at the university and where he wrote the Theory of Relativity. The exhibition had lots of great information about him and his family, photos and letters, as well as explanations about the science and theories he was working on. It was a real bonus seeing it as we’d missed out on so many of the other things I’d wanted to do due to the time of year/day of the week/lack of time. I’m sure Bern would be lovely on a nice day when things are open, but on a rainy Sunday the Einsteinhaus was its saving grace.
In the late afternoon we crossed over the Nydeggbrücke to see the famous Barengraben (bear park) which had been recently upgraded. Unfortunately we didn’t see any bears, but we saw the old bear pits (from before the upgrade) which looked like terrible conditions to keep bears in; they must have been so unhappy and bored. Now they have a bigger space that’s not all concrete, and their own swimming pool as well.
There was a restaurant beside the bear park that Simone had recommended but we just had a quick look inside and decided to head back to Goldswil for dinner with her parents which was once again a beautiful meal, with pre-dinner appetisers and also dessert to follow.