Canton of Bern: Day 3 – Back to Geneva via Bern and Fribourg

With Sunday coming around, we had to begin our return to Geneva. For breakfast, we ate a few leftover pieces of bread and cheese, along with a few bananas and cashews we bought yesterday. Rather than waiting for the direct train to Bern, we caught a ride to Spiez, where we simply crossed the platform to make our connection.

I thought Bern was a pretty and historic town – somewhat small for a capital city, perhaps, but full of quaint and quirky features. A visitor to Bern will find that it is full of towers and fountains: the former usually sporting inaccurate clocks, the latter topped by colourful human and non-human figures. On the main artery, for example, one passes by Justice with her characteristic blindfold, various important-looking men, and an anthropomorphic bear in armour with an ordinary bear at its feet.

We began our tour of Bern with a walk to Käfigturm, the old Prison Tower. We noticed that we could see the Parliament Building from there, so we continued southward until we reached it. Originally, I thought we would simply walk east through the old town, but it occurred to me that the opposite bank of the river might offer good views of the old town. Crossing the tall bridge, we did not have to walk up or down to arrive at the Bern Historical Museum, a building with multiple dramatically sloping towers and a small chestnut-filled garden.

Walking along but above the river, we tried to avoid descending so as not to have to climb up the hill again. This strategy paid off. By the time we reached the next bridge back to the old town, we had not expended a single frivolous drop of sweat and still managed to absorb panoramic views of the Parliament, Cathedral, and the rest of the old town. The path led us all the way to the famous Bear Pit, which I imagine and hope to be a controversial place. On the one hand, it is nice to see Bern paying homage to the animal that figures so prominently in its self-image. On the other, the space looks very cramped for three bears, and the round viewing area gives them very little privacy.

After crossing the bridge, we found ourselves on Kramgasse again. The street was once home to Albert Einstein, whose house now appears to contain both a café and a museum dedicated to the physicist. Walking straight from the eastern end of the peninsula, one finally arrives at the famous Zytglogge, a tower named in honour of its colourful astronomical clock. The streets that run parallel to Kramgasse are also worth visiting. The northern one houses the City Hall while the southern street leads directly to Bern Cathedral.

While visiting this house of worship, we learned that it was only completed in the nineteenth century. It was then that a renewed interest in gothic architecture inspired the townsfolk to add a soaring spire, which is now inseparable from the town’s skyline. As the information board pointed out, this neo-gothic wave also inspired the expansion of the Saint Vitus Cathedral in Prague, and the building of new parliament houses in London and Budapest.

After eating lunch at the train station, we set off in the direction of Geneva. It was still quite early in the afternoon, however, so instead of going directly, we followed my last-minute whim to make a short stop in Fribourg. I am not sure whether this train-hopping was permitted by our ticket. However, there was no ticket inspection either before or afterwards, so no matter whether this decision was legal or not, we got away with it.

Our half an hour in Fribourg had a simple but stirring trajectory: we walked out of the station, realised that an extensive tour would entail walking down and up a steep hill, and briskly modified out plans. Instead of climbing all the way down to the bend of the river, we contented ourselves with descending only to the level of the Cathedral of Saint Nicolas. A majestic building that soars above the old town, the cathedral is impressive both within and without. Its interior is bright and lofty, coloured like a slab of frangipane by light filtering through the stained glass. The small crypt also boasts a statuary of thirteen figures along with three silver relics in the shape of hands.

Facing Saint Nicholas Cathedral is the Basilica of our Lady of Fribourg. We did not enter this building but merely walked around it, snaking our way once more to the train station. The last place we saw in Fribourg was a lonely tower just east of the station. Called the Henry Tower, it stands awkwardly behind a fence and a car park overlooking a relatively modern part of town.