Bern is the capital of Switzerland and a very beautiful city. What amazed us was the large amount of people out on the streets in the evening and they all seemed happy.
We started the day going to the Rose Garden overlooking Old City Bern. There are over 250 different roses and over 400 different flowers here! A lot of the flowers weren’t blooming yet, but it was still beautiful!
Next we visited the Bear Pit. Bern came from the word bear. It is said that when the town was first established, all the hunters met and decided whichever animal was killed first, that would be the name of the town. Now they honor the bear.
The Bear Pit was smaller than we thought it would beThere are three bears that live here. Papa bearMama bear taking a napBaby bear. They had two cubs, but one was sent to another town for their zoo.This made us think of the way Gator lays at home! Look at those paws!!There were caves under the rocks they could go in tooThey were very active the whole time we stayed to watch themExcept mama bear. She was tired!Baby bear taking a rest in the middle of playing with the barrelOne of our Surveyor friends commented they hadn’t seen any survey markers yet. We have seen quite a lot, but haven’t been posting those pictures Here’s one.Russell pointing to the survey mark
From there we walked around the city a little bit. Lots to see!
Beautiful buildingsThe outside terrace seating had furs to sit on and keep you warm while eatingAll along the main roads there were cellar doors. They all lead down to more shops and bars below ground. One of the shops down belowThe Swiss love flags and they line the main road leading to the clock tower. The Zytglogge “bell”’is a landmark medieval tower that was built in the early 13th century, it has been a guard tower, prison, clock tower, center of urban life and memorial. Most people in Bern use the electric buses. Here we are trying to master the transit system. We didn’t get lost, so it was a success!Such pretty and unique buildings!We took the funicular (cable car) to the top of Gurten MountainThe view of Bern from aboveAt the top was a a beautiful park area where lots of people were out enjoying the dayThey had frisbee golf, fire pits, grills for cooking, a large play area for kids, and lots of trails for hiking and bikingWe sat here enjoying the view for quite a whileWhat a great day to be outside!Some of the hiking trailsThis was the path we took all around the parkThe restaurant/hotel at the top of GurtenHeading back down the mountainWe went to the rooftop bar of our hotel for the fabulous viewsWe were too full to eat dinner, so we just walked around town and stopped for a pretzel.
Hey traveling Hyatts! Thanks so much for taking us along vicariously as you enjoy your big adventure. Looks like an amazing trip! Enjoyed reading about Bern. My sister lives in New Bern, North Carolina. New Bern has several bear statues & was named after Bern Switzerland.
Safe & happy travels!
💙, Chip
Hyatt Adventures 
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