Nov 29, 2019 - 6:16 AM
For our last day staying at Thun we decided to go and check out the big smoke - Bern. It was a Sunday.
I must say it left us a little cold but that's probably because we are not really big city people.
We found the Tourist Information Office in the train station building and set off with the City Walk map available for free. But first a detour to the Botanic Gardens. That was a mistake. The route took us through a fairly scruffy part of town and the Bern street sweepers had obviously not yet got round to cleaning up after the preceding night's revelry. Most un-Swiss-like. The botanic gardens seemed a little un-loved.
Back the authorised city tour route.
Bern has a lot of fountains, and trams, and construction work, and clocks, and bridges, and churches and cobblestones. Also bears.
There is a famous clock which allegedly does all sorts of amazing things. We arrived at 1.00pm. The expectant crowd awaited. The clock went . . . . . dong!. That was about it. The crowd waited expectantly but then realised it was all over and dispersed. Get there at midday for the real action.
We spent about 4 hours wandering about and were pleased to get back on the train to the delightful Thun.
Sorry to all the Bern lovers for this somewhat downbeat appraisal.
Pictures at flic.kr/s/aHsmJFCJnG. Apologies for the ads.