Saturday, September 09, 2006
Bears and Fountains of Bern, Switzerland
A couple of days ago, we had to travel to Bern to visit an embassy. Everytime we go we take the chance to see a bit more of the city. At least we can combine something pleasant with the chore of having to go to the embassy. Bern is a lovely city, and this time we visited the Barengraben or the Famous Bear-Pits. Bern's mascot is the bear, and the bear is even featured on Bern's Flag.
We had mixed feeling from the Bear Pit. On one hand, we saw the bears running and jumping in the small pool. One of them, obviously the male, looked like he was having a great time, while the female sat quietly and stared at him as though he were crazy. Then, later we saw that she was right, he was crazy; he began to pace back and forth, back and forth. I guess being put in a Bear-Pit will do that to you.
The pretty city is famous for its 15th century arcades, or covered side-walks. Arcades are sort of medieval shopping malls. When they built the city, they extended the second floors of the buildings to cover the side-walks on the ground floor in order to protect them from rain and bad weather. Lining the arcades on one side are shops, cafes and restaurants. On the other side are a series of columns and arches which give the arcades and the city a charming appearance. While many European cities will have some arcades, Bern's are everywhere.
There are also old and usual fountains which date back to the 16th century decorating the streets of the city. The fountains have interesting figurines or statues on the top. For example, there is lady Justice, blind-folded and holding her scales. This is the obvious one that everyone understands. Another is a figure of a Bear in a helmet no doubt giving homage to warriors of ancient times. Yet another is the famous Kindlifresser or child eater. Legend has it that this fountain stood guard at the city limits to warn children not to leave the city or they meet a terrible fate
The large clock tower is perhaps the most striking thing in the city. It seems ancient and imposing. We saw a crowd gathering a few minutes before the hour, apparently waiting for the clock to chime and entertain them. They were wrong, the stubborn old clock made a couple of rude sounds and a few minutes past the hour, the crowd slowly dissipated.
The city of Bern is listed in the UNESCO world heritage list and is only one hour from Zurich by non-stop train. The city offers a very useful tourists information site, where you can find direct links to all of the cities hotels. To read more and see photos of Bern click here
We had mixed feeling from the Bear Pit. On one hand, we saw the bears running and jumping in the small pool. One of them, obviously the male, looked like he was having a great time, while the female sat quietly and stared at him as though he were crazy. Then, later we saw that she was right, he was crazy; he began to pace back and forth, back and forth. I guess being put in a Bear-Pit will do that to you.
The pretty city is famous for its 15th century arcades, or covered side-walks. Arcades are sort of medieval shopping malls. When they built the city, they extended the second floors of the buildings to cover the side-walks on the ground floor in order to protect them from rain and bad weather. Lining the arcades on one side are shops, cafes and restaurants. On the other side are a series of columns and arches which give the arcades and the city a charming appearance. While many European cities will have some arcades, Bern's are everywhere.
There are also old and usual fountains which date back to the 16th century decorating the streets of the city. The fountains have interesting figurines or statues on the top. For example, there is lady Justice, blind-folded and holding her scales. This is the obvious one that everyone understands. Another is a figure of a Bear in a helmet no doubt giving homage to warriors of ancient times. Yet another is the famous Kindlifresser or child eater. Legend has it that this fountain stood guard at the city limits to warn children not to leave the city or they meet a terrible fate
The large clock tower is perhaps the most striking thing in the city. It seems ancient and imposing. We saw a crowd gathering a few minutes before the hour, apparently waiting for the clock to chime and entertain them. They were wrong, the stubborn old clock made a couple of rude sounds and a few minutes past the hour, the crowd slowly dissipated.
The city of Bern is listed in the UNESCO world heritage list and is only one hour from Zurich by non-stop train. The city offers a very useful tourists information site, where you can find direct links to all of the cities hotels. To read more and see photos of Bern click here
