A Livable, Multi-Lingual Capital CityOur walking tour of the Swiss capital of Bern was a trip back in time, starting at the train station in the new town and passing through three concentric city walls built to protect the city as it grew. We learned about Switzerland's unique system of government, led by a counsel of seven lawmakers, which perplexed our Russian-born tour mate Irina. We saw Bern's old town with its colorful fountains, active market squares and flags representing important professional guilds. We also had fun looking in on Bern's bears, who live in new and improved "bear pits," and grabbing a drink with the locals.
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About BernLanguage: German, French, Italian and Romansh are spoken in the Swiss capital Population: 133,800 Elevation: 1,772 feet Region: Canton of Bern in west central Switzerland Nearest Mountain: Gurten, 2,815 feet Claim to Fame: Da Bears and the capital of Switzerland |
The Classy Swiss CapitalBern, the capital of Switzerland since 1848, was founded in 1191. The official title of Switzerland is "Confoederatio Helvetica", abbreviated as CH. Even though Jody thinks CH stands for chocolate and Jill thinks it represents cheese, neither is true.
The Bernese people and visitors to the Swiss capital love their bears and there are bears everywhere in Bern. From bears on cookies, on flags, decorating numerous water fountains to real bears in recently renovated bear pits the symbol of Bern is the bear. |
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