This autumn has been specially beautiful here in Swizterland. It hasn’t rained so much and there have been many warm days. With the visits we had and these warm days we have explored our new country a bit more, like Grindelwald or the mountains of Zurich. We’ve been busy this last season enjoying the colourful Swiss autumn!
A few weeks ago we made a day trip to Bern. We didn’t know the Bundesstadt (the capital) of Switzerland yet and it didn’t disappoint us. Well, we only knew the train station, as Bern was one of the mandatory stops when we have traveled to the Bernese Oberland (Grindelwald and Lauterbrunen)… But those stops didn’t count as a proper visit 😛
We spent almost all day exploring the old medieval streets of Bern Altstadt (oldtown). Founded in 1191, downtown Bern was mostly built between the XII and XV centuries and, despite a major fire in the XV century, the old town retains all its medieval character (it is an UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site since 1983). It’s a beautiful sight, the main street of Bern with its colorful renaissance fountains and its famous Zytglogge (“time bell”). We also visited the Bärengraben, or Bear Park, where the city of Bern has three brown bears, symbol of the city (we were lucky enough to see them before they started hibernation); the Rosegarten, where we enjoyed incredible views of the city center and the Aare river; and we went to Gurten, a hill in the outskirts of the city we there are panoramic views of the city and the Bernese Alps.
Here are some photos I took that day from Bern Altstadt and its surroundings. I hope you like them as much as I enjoyed taking them!! Have a great week! 🙂
Mercedes, these images are stunning. What an amazing town, and architecture.
Thanks, Anne!!! Bern is a very pretty city!! All the Swiss cities I’ve visited since I arrived are really impressive. As they haven’t suffered all the recent wars, their old towns are very well conserved and you can see all the medieval buildings and streets… and all of them have this German character and at the same time they are so different between them!
Do you know why the buildings, in the street scenes, have what look like triangular braces at the bottom of the buildings?
Uuummm I guess it is because there are arcades in all those buildings, so the columns of the arcs are like buttresses to support all the extra weight of the building…. But again, I’m just guessing!! Next time I visit Bern I’ll try to remember and ask someone! 🙂
These images are art. So beautiful. I had to stop and watch the Alley picture closely, to soak in that game of light and shadow. It is unbelievable what the camera can see (and the eye not always :))
Thanks a lot!!! I love to go to new cities and explore more than the usual two or three famous sites. Bern is beautiful, but I think I loved it just because of the colours and light I found there in Autumn! It was really beautiful! 🙂
Have a great day!!
I haven’t been to Bern but it looks that autumn suits it especially well 🙂 And the autumn light is so precious, and makes it perfect for taking photos.
Bern is really pretty!!! And very different from the other Swiss cities I’ve visited so far!! I’m sure I will visit the city again in other season, but now I can’t imagine Bern without those golden tones everywhere, hehehe
I still have to discover Switzerland, and I have never had an idea of Swiss cities – but am getting it now 🙂 Aren’t they like German and Austrian cities?