Bern: the Medieval and the Modern

For the third weekend I went to Bern, a city about one hour away via train from Lausanne! I was already tired from the work during the week so even on Saturday morning I couldn't decide whether I should go or not. But overall I am glad I did!

Bern is the capital city of Switzerland, which most people confuse it to be Genève or Zürich. As I did some research on Bern, I found out that the whole Old Town part of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bern#Main_sights) So the rough plan of the trip would be taking a look at the Old Town, Rosengarten (rose garden), and Bärengraben (bear park), but I did not decide on anything else to give flexibility to myself to go wherever I want to. Carrying my lunch box (rice with some beef, two grilled cheese, salad with cherry tomatoes and carrots), I arrived in Bern around 11 am, after the train ride that stopped through Romont, Palezieux, and Fribourg. The view outside the train was amazing (as always), and I was happy to see more of in-land landscapes, not those of lakeside. It was also interesting to see the language change from French to German all of a sudden, when the train passed Fribourg. 

From the main station I purposelessly walked towards a big building that looks like a parliament and the grand plaza in front of it, chewing on a grilled cheese sandwich I made. And there was a Saturday market open! One thing good about traveling on Saturdays is that I can always run into all kinds of vendors/markets of the cities I visit :)

Then I arrived at what seemed to be the main street of the Old Town. There were so many people wandering around- some were out to shop, but many of them were tourists like me. Trams, buses, and taxis frequently went back and forth, making the street even busier. At the beginning of the street there was a little tower, and at the end was Zytglogge, or the landmark clock tower of Bern. The town was definitely a modern city teeming with people, but it also had such a medieval feel to it due to all the architectures, the doors that lead to basement shops, the murals on buildings, and so on. I could understand why it was chosen as one of the Heritage Sites- it maintained a perfect mix between the Medieval and the Modern, not destroying one another but harmoniously balancing between the two.

At the end of the street there was a bridge that naturally led to Bärengraben, a park by the riverside where few bears were kept inside. There were already many tourists looking down the fence to see the bears. But unfortunately the bears were sleeping. :P It was actually a bit disappointing- the place was just a mere tourist attraction with resturants and pubs all around it. I had expected the city to be more calm, but it was so crowded and busy. I had chosen the wrong day maybe. 

The river, just as it also does in Hahoe Traditional Village in Korea, bent around the Old Town. It was as if it is protecting the town in a circular form. After crossing the bridge, I walked up a road that seemed to lead to Rosengarten. Although I wasn't expecting roses anyway, it was actually refreshing and quieter than the city itself. I could also have a birds eye view of the Old Town. I stayed in the garden for about few hours, eating from my lunch box and reading a book I had brought.

Then I came down to the Old Town again and headed to the cathedral (or münster). In Münsterplatz there was also another market open, but this time of artisans and craftmen. They sold a variety of things- jewelries, baby clothes, candles, bird houses, potteries, and so on. I had a great time taking pictures of them :D

Some parts of the cathedral were under construction but it was still open to the public. The inside was not huge though, compared to the one in Lausanne. Also there were too many people inside, also too many kids running around and yelling, so after a while I left and wandered around the Old Town myself.

Until now I haven't really considered buying souvenirs from the places I go, but I ran into a bookstore in Bern that sold a bunch of interesting postcards (like the one above!) I ended up buying two vintage post cards with drawings from 1800's on them.

The trip did not take a long time than I had expected, so I got on the train back to Lausanne around 4pm. After I came back I went to Starbucks in St. François to meet J. L. and waited for people from church to come and have dinner together. It was my first time eating out [!] since I came here and we went to Chez Xu, which was a relatively cheap Chinese restaurant. I hated their service, but loved their dumplings and sweet & sour fried pork! I wished I could eat out more often :) :)