Day 3: Bern, city of Bears

While eating a plum and some type of cheese I couldn't pronounce, I rode the rail to Bern trying to brush up on my German. Going from a French speaking portion of Switzerland to a German speaking portion sure does wonders to the brain. By viewing the map of Bern, I realized that I would need 2 days to fully see all the sites to the city. I decided to head into one section of Bern referred to as Matte.

Bern is the capital of Switzerland and was founded in 1191. The first appearance of the city's emblem, the bear, was in 1224. In 1405, most of the city was burned to the ground. In 1848, Bern was elected the capital of Switzerland and in 1983 it became classified as a UNESCO's world heritage site.

Since Bern is the capital, the train station, Hautbahnhof, is enormous. After making my way to the street, I followed the masses and ended up in Bundesplatz. Here several governmental buildings occupy the area. The building directly across from the plaza is the Bundeshaus. Fountains in the front of the building give children a relief from the heat. This federal parliament building was completed in 1902. Due to the building being renovated, tours of the parliament building were halted. I walked down a staircase on the right of the building to come to a little park area overlooking Aare river. In the distance you could see the Alps and the Kirchenfeldbrucke (bridge). I decided to walk to the bridge from one of the side roads and crossed over to see what was on the other side of the bridge. There was some sort of Medieval castle/museum at the end of the bridge. Upon further investigation, I found out for a small fortune you could enter the grounds and witness jousting, dancing, crafts, and other time-period events. Since I was on a budget and have seen a Medieval reenactment before, I decided to head back across the bridge to view Munster cathedral.Munster cathedral was built in 1421. It is considered the largest sacred building in Switzerland. The 100m high tower was completed in 1893. For a small fee, one could ascend to the top and look over the city. Of course I wanted to torture myself some more on this day, so I paid the fee and walked the 100m to the top. If you are one who can't stand close quarters you might not want to take the walk up the tower. The passageway was very narrow, maybe 3 feet wide. Ever so often there would be a very small narrow window to look out/down. The stairs were made of stone and continued to spiral towards the top. Of course, once you made it to the top the view was amazing.













After spending some time looking over the city, I headed back down the tower stairs and into the church. The craftsmanship was unbelievable. Many carvings and statues lined the aisles of the church. There were a lot of ceiling ornaments at the apex of the arches. Tombs had wall ornaments or elaborate resting statues. Side rooms were as elaborately decorated as the main area. The number of stained glass windows was overwhelming. Many windows showed biblical accounts; some showed the arms for each canton of Switzerland; others showed zodiac signs/symbols; and yet another showed the Dance of Death.After spending a lot of time viewing the elaborate decorations inside Munster, I headed back outside to view the carvings outside the church. One elaborate carving was over the portal of the church as you entered. It depicted the Last Judgement. Gold adorned many of the statues around the portal and along side of the entrance into Munster. Makes you wonder how much money has been dumped into this building since the 1400's. Sad to think how much an individual gave because they thought that by giving, they would have eternal life. The churches are beautiful, don't get me wrong, but it makes you wonder how much was for show and how much was because of true sacrifice because of their relationship with God and not their religion.I wondered around the side streets and came across the Kirche St. Peter and Paul. The church wasn't as elaborate as Munster but still just as lovely. Across the street from the church was one of the approximately 250 public fountains that enliven the landscape. A majority of these fountains form a 6 km long line in the hub of the shopping district.I continued to roam the streets of Bern slowly making my way back to the train station. Spied Einstein's house along with Rathaus, another political building. I wandered through the shopping district and since I was in Bern, I picked up a pretzel and a sausage type structure.


While leaving the shopping district, I headed past the Zytglogge (Zeitglockenturm). This structure was the city's first west gate from 1191 to 1256. The clock still works and begins three minutes before every full hour. It was pretty neat to witness.














While riding back to Geneva I had the opportunity to speak with an Iranian couple. Both were finishing their schooling in Switzerland but were currently on holiday and were doing some sightseeing. We spoke of jobs, families, kids, politics, our countries, our beliefs and places we've traveled or would love to see. He mentioned he would love to visit the United States and meet those he has collaborated with over the years and he even invited me to visit his country. I told him that of course I would love to visit his country and other countries in the Middle East but since I'm an American and a Christian, I'm not generally accepted in Middle Eastern countries. He stated for the most part, people in his country don't have a problem with Americans, its just the government they have a problem with. Who knows maybe one day, I'll be able to visit his country and other countries in the Middle East but for now, I'll just have to experience those countries from stories, pictures, and other media sources. After several hours on the train, I arrived back in Geneva just in time for dinner. Plans for the next few days were simple: Head to Lyon with S and A for a few days and spend Sunday relaxing in Geneva before my second week in Switzerland began.