I finished up my work in the morning on day 5 of our trip, and we took the train up to Bern from Lausanne - about 1 hour. Yet in that hour, the character of the country changes immensely. Most obvious: the language spoken changes from French to German.

But more subtlely - the architecture is quite a bit different. Geneva and Lausanne both had what might be described as a lot of Belle Epoque buildings. Bern is a much older city - it was established in the 12th century, and much of the old town dates from the 15th century. Consequently, cobblestone streets are the norm, and much more "Germanic" looking architecture dominates - the Münster (cathedral) looks like its cousins in German more than France.

Bern has been the capital of Switzerland since 1848, and yet has been able to preserve the old-town small city feel, content to let Zürich and Geneva take the yoke of holding up the cosmopolitan and commercial face of Switzerland.

Unfortunately, the weather for these days didn't cooperate with us - at best we had broken clouds and some sun; most of the time was overcast if not out-and-out raining. We missed the best view - which is seeing the snow covered Alps in the background of the old city, as seen from north of the old town across the Kornhausbrücke, looking southeast.

In addition, there are several restoration projects underway - the entire Bundeshaus (capital building) is shrouded, Christo-like, in gauze covered scaffolding, hiding the famous dome and rotunda from public view. The Münster similarly has the east side of the main tower covered in a box. A few yellow construction cranes are also quite visible in the skyline.

Yet...we came to see the medieval streets and the Zentrum Paul Klee, so while these factors may have affected the photography, they didn't affect our reason for coming. (Some better postcard photos of Bern showed up the over the next couple of days, so if this gallery seems sparse, look at the others when they show up.)


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