Bern

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Easy to explore Bern with Public Transport

Our landlord, Jürg, sent us codes to access tickets on my phone for free public transport around town for the duration of our stay. With that and Apple Maps we have been able to navigate our way around and go where we wanted to.

Today we set out to ride the fenicular up to Gurten Klum . It’s just a little hill and the ride is only about one km but it is quite steep. We planned to find a coffee and a sandwich but, no such luck. The casual dining was closed and we weren’t ready for another formal meal.

So we went back down and found a Chinese restaurant which was more what we felt like.

The view from the top – we couldn’t see any snow on the mountain tops.
Classy looking hotel at the top.

We’ve both had a nap this afternoon and I’ve almost completed the packing as tomorrow we catch the train to Zurich for a couple of nights before flying home on Thursday.

A couple of simple things annoy me when I’m travelling. I hate this idea of having a heavy quilt and no top sheet. Here, the rooms are heated anyway so you don’t need a thick quilt- not now anyway. I wake up in a lather of perspiration. Just give me a top sheet please. In hotels and appartments, you are given two towels, both identical in colour and design. There’s one small towel rack and not enough space to hang them. How are you supposed to tell who is using which one? Surely they could be different colours so you could tell which one you’re using. Two simple things; so easy to fix! Hotel Managers and AirBnB hosts please take note.

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Sunset over Bern

Yesterday we caught the bus to the Zenter Paul Klee, an art museum. We’d never heard of the artist but thought we’d have a look. It was not our cup of tea. It’s housed in an interesting building and we had a pleasant sandwich there for lunch.

On arrival back in the city we found more fountains.

And a Swiss Chocolate Shop. Switzerland is a very expensive place. Check out these few chocolates we spoiled ourselves with:

Guess how much they cost? About $30! just as well the grandkids weren’t here!

It was a day of extravagances! We had dinner at the Rosengarten Restaurant just near our AirBnB. It’s up on a hill and is renowned as the place to see the sun set over Berne. It had been raining on and off all day so we were a bit worried. Would there be a sunset? We were lucky.

The restaurant is quite lovely and we really enjoyed our meal. Our waiter was very pleasant and very professional and we would recommend it. After dinner it was a ten minute walk down the hill to bed. perfect!

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Bern, city of fountains

It was raining quite heavily this morning when we woke so we had a lazy morning. We have a pass for free public transport so about 10 we caught the Number 10 bus into the city to the farmers markets, always a favourite of ours. We were particularly looking for white asparagus which David loves, but there was none to be found, sadly. I think the markets in France are more impressive than those here but the flowers were beautiful.

The markets were held in front of this lovely old building which was decorated with more pretty red geraniums.

Time for coffee and cake after all that walking.

Since Bern is known as the city of fountains, I’ve been taking pics of some of them. Apparently they all tell particular stories.

Bern has a lot of choice in public transport: buses, trains, trams & trolley buses.

The weather chased us home again after we had salad baguettes for lunch. Just relaxing now!

3 Comments Posted on by dapperdaveanddinkydi Food, Travel

A proper cup of tea…

My first cup of English Breakfast tea with proper milk in weeks!

After our shopping yesterday, I came back to the appartment looking forward to a cuppa but there was only coffee. Now I love a coffee or two in the morning but mid-afternoon I just want a cup of tea. So today when we arrived home from our wanders I went out to buy some English Breakfast tea and it tastes so good that I might have another.

The forecast is not looking good for the rest of our time here so we went to the Rosengarten this morning. It’s a very easy stroll from here and gives lovely views over the old town of Bern. Not many of the roses were in flower at this time of year but it was still an enjoyable walk.

The Rosengarten would be a lovely place to sit with a good book.
A view of Bern Old Town from the Rosengarten.

There’s a lovely restaurant in the gardens and Jügh, our landlord, told us that it’s a wonderful spot to watch the sun set over the old town. We may not get the chance if the days are rainy.

We walked down into the old town very carefully over cobble stones. It was very steep. At the bottom of the hill is The Bear Pit. Legend says that Bern is named for the bears which have been here for centuries. They feature throughout the city; on walls, fountains and hanging from phone lines. The live ones look well fed but I’m not really in favour of caged animals.

Three bears in the Bear Pit of Bern

Bern sits astride the River Aare which is fast flowing. Apparently once a year people jump in and float down stream. I’m not sure it would ever be warm enough for me to do that.

The River Aare in Bern.

Einstein spent some time in Bern and the house he lived in has become a museum.

Einstein sitting in the window of the shop next door to his house.
A plaque telling of Einstein’s time in Bern

There are many beautiful buildings in the Old Town, some with flower boxes of red geraniums. They look so pretty.

I’ve never eaten fondue so we decided that today was the day. Jürg had recommended to go to Arlequin and we found it easily but we’re a bit worried as there were no other customers. It was OK but I can’t say it’s my favourite meal.

Here we are having traditional fondue in Bern

David was sorely in need of a haircut. His eyebrows were resembling those of a certain ex-prime minister of Australia so we’ve been on the lookout for a barber without much luck. Today we found a lovely young lady with time to make him presentable again. Only CHF70 or about AUD105. At home he pays $25. The two coffees we had at the restaurant at the Rosengarten cost us CHF12 or $18. Switzerland is certainly not a cheap place to visit. But it certainly is beautiful.

It’s time now for that second cuppa!

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Settled in Bern

We managed to get ourselves to Bern quite easily. It’s just 52 minutes from Interlaken by train and we took our time at the hotel this morning. We dawdled over breakfast, had a wander up the street, finished our packing and caught a cab to the Interlaken OST train station for our midday train.

View of Lake Thun out the train window as we travelled
Views of the mountains as we travelled.

We had lunch near the station and caught a cab to our AirBnB where our landlord, Jürg, met us. It’s quite comfortable but there’s no washing machine and no TV. We haven’t had the TV on in our hotel rooms so we won’t miss that but a washing machine would be useful

David had a nap while I unpacked and then we walked around to the Coop where we stocked up. So tonight we had our first home cooked meal since we left Wiltshire. Tasty, it was too.

Nice to see some trees out the window of our apartment.

Early night tonight, I reckon. This time next week we will be up in the air on our way home. We will be ready for it.,