We hung out at the house for a bit, looking through our travel book and trying to decide what to do for the next few days. Brian found this 4 day Swiss pass idea where we would have access to all trains, buses, subways, etc around Switzerland for the next 4 days. It seemed to be a good deal and I was sure Brian would make sure it was worth our while. Meanwhile, I continued to trip over the thresholds (is that what they're even called?) as I walked from room to room in Yetta's apartment. One thing about Switzerland (and Heidelberg for that matter) is that every doorway has one of these:
It is even more difficult in boots!
Patrick stayed behind again as Yetta volunteered to be our tour guide for day 2 in Berne. Our first stop was the train station to buy our Swiss passes. We walked along the same route as yesterday and took the elevator to minus 4 ("normal farht"- Brian got a juvenile kick out of this) in the SBB (Bern Bahnhof train station). No matter what time of day this place is always chaotic! Yetta brought us first to the local sales desk and then we realized we had to go to the international sales desk...we took a number and waited our turn. A stern Swiss man informed us that we could not purchase Swiss passes without our passports. He looked at our PA driver's licenses with a blank expression as Yetta explained they were valid means for identification in combination with a PDF file (Brian had thankfully made) of our passports and negotiated with him until he relented and gave us the passes..."Supa!" Yetta exclaimed and sent us all into hysterics as the man just looked at us with confusion in his eyes...
We continued out of SBB and walked along the arcades, the clock tower again and through an alley way to one of the smaller arcaded streets. Yetta told us that the signs with blue backgrounds meant whatever it is is "allowed". So this sign means fixed gear, flat handlebar bicycle parking is allowed:
And this sign clearly means that creepy men wearing top hats and long sleeves can cross with little girls wearing dresses:
None of the stores were "offen" (open); it seemed that all the shop keepers were having a siesta. This was convenient...we wondered if Patrick and Brian were behind the timing of this?! We approached the Münster (no, not cheese but the Cathedral) whose construction began in 1421 and continued for 180 years! Not surprisingly, this cathedral has become the largest and most artistically important church in Switzerland. The detail of the artwork was stunning and I simply could not fathom how this typeof construction was even possible so long ago. Even Brian was moved by the church's magnificence:
The "finishing touch" was the addition of a 328 foot steeple which was added in 1893. If you climb to the top, the reward is 360 degree panoramic views of Berne and getting up close and personal with the bells...a nice woman cleaning bird droppings off the stone at the top (an exhausting 312 steps) told us that an entire family lived on the same level of the bells and that the father was responsible for sounding them as an alarm for the rest of the town in case of fire, emergency, etc. I didn't bother taking pictures out front Or at the top (1- because the whole church would simply not fit on my iPhone camera and 2- because I was sure Brian would show me up...) but I did get one of the impressive organ which seemed to take up the entire loft:
We descended the vertigo-inducing 344 steps down (not sure how or why there are more steps down) and I purchased a few postcards from a woman who asked us where we were from and then shared that she had visited Philadelphia just last year before vacationing in New Bern North Carolina on a Bernese group tour. Apparently the Bernese founded 50+ "Berns" in the USA. Who knew?
We continued along the arcades and past a running store which proclaimed "this will be your best year" and we all agreed:
Yetta insisted we get Thai for lunch, and you know Brian would not argue with that. We went to her favorite secret, tiny Thai place which I can say with authority was authentic. The workers were speaking Thai and for a minute I thought about greeting them in Thai (sawatdeeka) but decided against it for fear they would want to continue on in conversation and I would only be able to respond with kortotka (excuse me), or kapkunka (thank you). We all had a delicious and creamy yellow curry with carrots, peas and potatoes...it was filling and afterwards I was ready for a nap...
Yetta wanted to take us to the Paul Klee museum...more for the enjoyment of the building's architecture than to see his actual artwork. Before that however, she made us stop to see this building because it was important although she wasn't sure exactly why ;)
After paying 1 Franc to use a bar's restroom (told you it was almost like South Street!) we boarded the 12 bus again which drove past the bear park to the suburbs and dropped us off at the Paul Klee. The building was impressively designed and Yetta said in the summer you can actually walk over it. I wasn't sure exactly how that would be possible but didn't question. We went inside and browsed the gift shop. His artwork reminded me of my dad's friend Rachel's artwork. We flipped through books (this was free) and Yetta pointed out his scary collection of puppets that he had designed to entertain his children(yikes!). We opted not to enter the actual museum and headed back outside. There was an art class for children in the lower levels and all of their watercolor paintings were displayed neatly along a clothesline. They bore a striking resemblance to Paul Klee's style...
We jumped back on the 12 bus which seems to run every 3 minutes (septa could stand to learn a lot from the Bernese public transportation system) and headed back to Yetta's apartment. She checked her phone for the time of sunset, as Brian didn't want to miss his blue hour of opportunity to take some great shots of the clock, and we arrived to her apartment by 530pm...I did some blogging, Brian worked on pictures, and Patrick made us some coffee...
Brian and I set out alone to stop at the clock tower and we were disappointed that it wasn't lit up. This doesn't make for great pictures. But Brian jumped at the opportunity to take some shots of the Parliment instead which turned out pretty awesome. We walked along-you guessed it- a cobblestone path lined with restaurants with outdoor seating and a semi outdoor section topped by a communal tin roof and glass surrounding each one. We took the 12 back towards Yetta's and met them at Le Carousel- a French Creperie for dinner. The place had a top of a carousel mounted to the ceiling and an old fashioned silver candlestick reminiscent of Les Miserables on our table. We had a delicious dinner of an assortment of crepes (tre frommage, honey/goat cheese and walnuts, plums/cheese and lard aka bacon, and figs/goat cheese and lard) and shared one for dessert...chocolate, banana and ice cream...Yum! Yetta made us try a sparkling apple wine and insisted on treating :)
We headed home and went to bed early...tomorrow would be an early day for all of us!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Berne Switzerland
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