Day 9 – Bern (1)

Our Swiss holiday was about half way when we got to Bern.  We stayed with Sonja, a friend of sister-in-law Ariane.  On Wednesday 13 July 2011 I woke at 3:00 in the morning.  There was a thunderstorm outside with lost of thunder and lightning and rain.  Mom slept through the whole thing but I laid awake for about half an hour.

We woke later that morning and relaxed.  At 10:15 we walked to the tram station.  The previous night it looked easy to get there but we made a wrong turn.  We missed the Beaumont station but found the Eigerhof station and took the tram to Bern Bahnhof.  At the station we got a map and went on a walking tour of Bern:

1. Bahnhof Platz
The walking tour started at the square outside the station.

2.  Heiliggeistkirche or Church of the Holy Ghost
The church was completed in 1729.  I loved the baroque interior with sandstone columns, free-standing pulpit and beautiful pastel ceiling.
3.  Pfeiferbrunnen or Bagpiper Fountain
This fountain was built in 1545/46 by Hans Gieng and is a Swiss heritage site.
4.  Käfigturm or Prison Gate
The original tower was built as a gate house during the second expansion of Bern in 1256.  It was demolished in 1640 a rebuilt in 1641.  In 1405 the town’s prison was moved to the tower. In 1897 the prisoners were moved and the tower changed to an archive and court and now it is used as a meeting place for people interested in politics.

It started raining but we decided to continue with the walking tour.

5.  Marktgasse
This is one of the streets in Bern old town.  The covered sidewalks were very busy because it was raining.  We decided to rather walk in the street.  We did get wet but we could see more of the beautiful buildings.  
Anna Seiler brunnen
6.  Kornhausplatz
This square was closed for work on the tram/railway line.  We did see the Ogre fountain and Kornhaus.  We walked with a detour to the front of the clock tower.

7.  Zytgloggeturm or Clock Tower
The Zytgloggeturm was the town gate from 1191 to 1250.  The astronomical clock was added in 1405.  Luckily for us it was just before 12:00 when we arrived at the clock tower.  We waited in the rain with a lot of other tourists to see the clock chime. 
Location: Berne, Switzerland

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Eyewitness Travel Guides – A Book Review

Image
  Last month I wrote a book review and I enjoyed it.   Today I want to share some more of my favourite travel books.   DK Eyewitness Travel Guides I bought my first travel guide in 2008. I was planning a trip with my friend Lelanie to London and Europe.   While planning the trip I bought the DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Europe and I paid R 282.00 for it.   Except for my university textbooks, this was the most expensive book I have ever bought for myself.    We were doing a Contiki Tour and visited 7 countries.   I studied the information in guide the about the cities we would visit.    I made lists of places I want to see and then looked for more information about them.   In the end I did not take the guide with me (the 800 pages was just to heavy to carry along) but packed all my lists to use.  At Departures at Cape Town Airport in 2008 My second guide was for the same trip.   The Eyewitness Trave...
Read more

Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê

Image
   Weather vane on the VGK Church in Carnarvon    This photo made me think of a song we used to sing as kids.    It is a traditional Afrikaans song about the rooster on top of the church. The words of the song and its translation: Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê There is a chicken that cannot lay an egg Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê There is a chicken that cannot lay an egg Daar’s ‘n hoender wat ‘n eier nie kan lê There is a chicken that cannot lay an egg Dis die haan wat op die kerktoring staan It’s the rooster standing on the church tower Dis die haan, Dis die haan It’s the rooster, It’s the rooster Dis die haan wat op die kerktoring staan It’s the rooster standing on the church tower More about all the churches and other buildings we saw in Carnarvon in the next post.
Read more

Dutch Reformed Mother Church, George

Image
One of my favourite sights in George is the white Dutch Reformed Mother Church with the beautiful Outeniqua Mountain as background.   I have many memories of visiting this church: On a history class trip when I was about 10, for a art class when I was about 13, for my cousins wedding in 2004, for her baby’s christening a few years later and many other times.   But most of all I like seeing this church every time we drive through town.   The cornerstone for the church was laid on 14 April 1832.   Slaves were used for some of the building work like the digging of the six-foot deep by five-foot wide foundations.   Due to financial problems it took 12 years to complete the church and it was consecrated in 9 October 1842.  The church is a National Heritage Site. On 13 September 1905 disaster struck when the church tower collapsed.   The wood rotted from water damage and lead to the walls weakening.   After a lot of rain for two days t...
Read more