A Trip To BernJun 29, 2011
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The Girls Arrive In Bern
Seat Of Swiss Government
Lower Bern And The Aare River
| June 29, 2011 The weather for Wednesday was predicted to be rain and thundershowers and it was spot-on. Rosmarie decided a trip to Bern was in order as the streets of Bern offer plenty of protection from rain. We avoided raindrops for the most part but it was pouring all around us. Old Bern is built on a rock promontory inside a sharp bend on the Aare River, with another lower part below along the banks where major flooding in 2005 caused over 1 billion Swiss Francs worth of damage. Flood control measures since have substantially reduced the risk. We used our time in Bern to full advantage, mixing shopping with sightseeing and dining. In 2006, we had seen the famous (or infamous) Bern bear pits (“bern” is Swiss for bear) where live bears have been held captive since the 1440’s. They have since moved the bears to a more natural enclosure nearby on the Aare but maintaining the captivity is very controversial. Another famous Bern sight is the unique Zytglogge or clock tower in the centre of town. We joined 1,000 or so Japanese tourist at noon to wait for the striking of the bell, a somewhat anticlimactic tradition. We dined near the bear pits and unfortunately were seated inside with the heat and humidity because the threat of rain limited patio seating. After a little more shopping, we took the small funicular car down the level of the Aare where the river had dramatically changed colour to a muddy brown and risen considerably from the rain in the surrounding hills and mountains. We were entertained by workers on the flood control dam in their efforts to release the accumulating debris. We had walked a considerable distance as we collected the car and joined the Bern rush hour to the suburbs. Penny and I did the proverbial “head bobbing” nap during the 35 minute drive home. We received a call from Susann to ask that we cancel our plans to have dinner at Gabriel and Sara’s as she had just heard that Gabriel had lost his job in an undeniably non-Swiss way, with no warning or notice. We wished we could somehow counsel or console him with all our experience from the old Telco. It was ironic because we had talked a lot the night before about how we came to have early retirement and the means of notice and severance in Canada. Rosmarie and the girls prepared a great leftover dinner from our previous feasts and we made several phone calls where Brenda finally talked to Katie and Penny talked to son Dave. The rains of the day had made the house much more comfortable for sleeping and we drifted off easily. |
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