Posted November 19, 20195 yr Over Christmas and New Years 2018-19 I traveled to Europe with a couple of friends. I will link to the other topics once I create them. Munich, Germany: December 21-24 Vienna, Austria: December 24-27 Prague, Czechia: December 27-29 Berlin, Germany: December 29-January 3 Zermatt, Switzerland: January 3-5 Thun, Switzerland: January 5 Bern, Switzerland: January 5 Zurich, Switzerland: January 5-7 With my day pass on the Swiss rail network I made my way to the Thun train station and got on the next train to Bern, my penultimate stop on the trip. Bern had a very different aesthetic from most of the other cities in Switzerland I saw. Almost all of the buildings are made of unpainted sandstone as seen below. DSC_2487 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2489 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr I got street food from one of these carts. It was from a Mexican place. The food (sort of a torta sandwich) was 17 CHF! $1 = 1 CHF. Everything in Switzerland is generally a 50%+ markup over the US. DSC_2490 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr Bern is the de facto capital of Switzerland. Here is the Swiss Parliament building. DSC_2491 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2495 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2497 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr This clock is similar to the Astronomical Clock in Prague. It's called the Zytglogge and is the oldest monument in the city. The structure is from ~1218 and the clock is from the 14th Century. DSC_2500 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr One thing I noticed in Bern is that there are water fountains everywhere. In a continent that rarely has a public drinking fountain anywhere (city buildings, parks, plazas, etc) they are everywhere in Bern. Probably my favorite thing I saw on the whole trip was the Kindlifresserbrunnen. DSC_2505 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr The direct translation is the Child Eater Fountain, and usually referred to as the Ogre Fountain in spoken English. I had heard about the fountain and wanted to see it, but completely forgot about it the day I was in Bern. I just happened to look up and see it. I would have been really bummed if I had missed it just for being forgetful. Luckily it's located in one of the boulevards/squares in Bern, and it's easy to find accidentally. The fountain dates to about 1545, and the exact reason for the design is lost to time. According to Atlas Obscura: Quote Strangely, no one is exactly sure why it’s there. There are three main theories. The first and most unfortunate possibility is that the Kindlifresser was built as a sort of warning to the Jewish community of Bern. The Kindlifresser wears a hat that is strikingly similar to the yellow pointed Judenhut that Jews were forced to wear at that time. The second theory is that the terrifying Ogre is a depiction of Kronos, the Greek Titan. Kronos has arguably one of the most disturbing tales in Greek Mythology. Long story short, Kronos eats all his god children to keep them from taking over his throne. The final theory is that the Kindlifresser is supposed to be the older brother of Duke Berchtold, the founder of Bern. Apparently the jealousy of being overshadowed by his younger brother for so many years caused him to go mad, eventually sending him into a rage where he collected and ate the town’s children. (It would seem likely that this event would have been recorded in the towns history books, which it is not.) DSC_2506 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr Next I traveled north on Kornhausplatz and crossed over Kornhausbrücke. Bern is situated at the top of a steep hill and surrounded by a river (the Aare). The Aare cuts deep into the earth, so bridges are flat and just connect both sides of the steep hills with practically no grade change. It provides sweeping views of the city and some unique vantage points. Below are a ton of photos from this bridge. DSC_2513 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2511 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2519 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2522 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2523 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2527 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2529 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2532 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr We've now crossed the bridge and we're making our way to the Rosengarten (Rose Garden) for views of the city. DSC_2535 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2538 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2541 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2542 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr Kids were on the roof of this store throwing snowballs at people passing by DSC_2548 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2543 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2550 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2551 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2554 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2553 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2558 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2556 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2561 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr Now we're at the Rosengarten DSC_2563 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2564 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2567 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2569 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2571 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2572 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2579 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2592 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr Heading down from the Rosengarten was extremely precarious. The path had iced over pretty good. At the bottom of the path is Der Bärengraben (The Bear Pit), which has a long history in Bern. Unfortunately, the bears were hibernating for the winter, so I didn't get to see any. Despite the name of "Bear Pit", they actually have a descent amount of land on the hillside as well, giving them prime views of the city (which you'll see below). I didn't take any photos of the physical pit, but I did go down there since the bears were inside. The city itself gets its name from a bear. The legend has it that the founder of Bern (Berchtold V, Duke of Zähringen) vowed to name the city after the first animal he met on a hunt. He allegedly found a bear first on his hunt, so named the city Bern (Bär or Bären is Bear/Bears in modern German). They have kept live bears in Bern since the 1440s, though the location of the bear pit has changed over the years. When Napoleon conquered Switzerland in 1798 he even took the bears from Bern and had them sent to Paris as a prize. DSC_2602 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2604 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2605 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2608 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2613 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr Now we're crossing the Nydeggbrücke back into the Old Town. I had an interesting conversation with someone who didn't speak much English. I spoke broken German to him and he spoke broken English to me. He was a photographer and asked me some questions about where I was from and the like. He apparently spoke mainly German and Portuguese and had recently been to Brazil. It was weird trying explaining that it's actually easier to visit Europe from America than it is to visit South America. DSC_2616 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2617 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2622 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2623 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2625 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr The main cathedral in Bern is the Berner Münster seen here DSC_2627 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2628 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2633 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2635 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2636 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2637 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2639 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2640 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2647 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr The City Theater. The last remaining photos are all near the Kornhausbrücke which I first crossed. DSC_2652 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2655 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2658 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_2660 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr The final set of photos will come from Zürich. Stay tuned!
November 20, 20195 yr Looks distinct from Zurich, Geneva, Lugano, or Lucerne (all four which I've been to). Good stuff. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
November 20, 20195 yr My maternal grandmother's family (Stauffer) is from here -- several generations ago. Emigration patterns of the 1800s led them to Monroe County, the "Switzerland of Ohio". I'd say we'd be better off going back.
November 20, 20195 yr Author 11 hours ago, MyTwoSense said: Gorgeous. Right out of a fairy tale! yeah I was really lucky to see it with a light snowfall. The only time on the trip it was frigidly cold was in Zermatt, and I was sick anyway. So it worked out pretty well.
November 20, 20195 yr Nice! There's something so warm and inviting about all those peaked buildings. Flat rooftops just don't seem to have the same warmth imho.
November 21, 20195 yr Those trams run on 1-meter gauge. That's 17" narrower than our standard gauge. Sad!
November 25, 20195 yr very charming -- i am feeling the bern here/becoming a converted bernie bro lol!
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