A morning in Bern

Birds drinking in a public water fountain in Bern

Happy Sunday one and all!

You may remember that I went to Bern for a job interview last Tuesday. I still don't know whether I got the job but I thought that I'd share with you some of the pictures I took. My interview wasn't until 2pm, so I decided to take a mid-morning train from Zurich to leave me a couple of hours to have a wander around the old town.

The Swiss capital is named after bears (Bären), and bears are featured on the city's flag and coat of arms

As soon as I left Bern train station, I realised that Bern was very different from Zurich. It is of course much smaller (despite being the capital of la Suisse) and the old town has almost managed to retain some sort of village feel to it (mind you a very wealthy village...). I turned into Bären platz and found myself in the middle of a very big market.

I did not set off with a particular route in mind so I ended up following the groups of tourists in front of me, thinking they probably knew where they were going. So, I walked past the Swiss Parliament building...

... the cathedral (it was such a shame that it was being cleaned/renovated so I could not take a picture) and this beautiful house next to it.

The old streets of Bern are lined with beautiful statues and colourful water fountains

I also spotted a few of the many churches in the city centre



Church of Sts Peter and Paul




Nydegg Church

 The Nydeggbrücke bridge connects the eastern part of the old city to the new part. You have very nice views of the city's rooftop from the bridge

Returning to the old town, I walked past the Rathaus (not sure what this building is?)

I then walked on Kramgasse towards the Zähringen fountain and the clock tower (Zytglogge)

This is the view of the clock tower from the other side (there is a lot of building work going on in the city centre at present and it proved to be a bit of a challenge to take decent pictures)

The architecture in the old town is beautiful if not quirky at times like this little house below

or this facade

Judging from my guide book, this is just the tip of the iceberg that is Bern and I can't wait to return with Mr T to go and visit some more! Mind you, if I get this job, I should have plenty of time during my lunch breaks to go and explore Bern...