Bern - Einstein War Hier

Albert Einstein and his family spent 7 years in this Bern apartment at the start of the twentieth century when he worked as a technical expert (third class) in the Swiss national patent office…

The Einstein Haus looks out over the main street of old Bern – an elegant cobblestoned street of magnificent stone buildings…

…complete with numerous ornate fountains and wide covered colonnades that have protected pedestrians from the harsh Swiss winters since the 17th. Century…

However, it is the clocks of Bern that are most striking. This splendid city clock (the Zytglogge) in the middle of Bern’s main street has been keeping time for the citizens since it was completed in 1614…

The Swiss are sticklers when it comes to timekeeping and there is no shortage of timepieces to keep them on track. Alongside the numerous chocolate shops and upmarket trinket emporiums that line Bern’s ancient streets there are stores just bursting with cuckoo clocks, Rolexes and every make of posh chronometer imaginable…

There are clocks around every corner. The truly monstrous station clock can be seen for hundreds of metres and that’s important here because, just as in Japan, the trains and buses in Switzerland run like clockwork.

Bern was named after the European brown bears which once roamed the surrounding mountains. The city is very small as far as capitals go so the surrounding countryside and mountains are never far away, but the Bernese have brought the countryside into the city with many parks and gardens alongside the meandering river and avenues of plane trees on almost every street.

Every Tuesday and Thursday the country comes to the city centre in the form of a market when many of the ancient streets and squares are filled with stalls offering all manner of local products. The numerous stalls offering autumn flowers were particularly attractive...

Bern also has bears. However it is November; winter is almost here and the bears of Bern are sensibly hibernating. The alpine snows are coming for us too and we are anxious to see them so we are headed to the high alps; to Interlaken at the foot of the mighty Eiger. Hope to see you there - Meanwhile, to give you a true taste of Switzerland, please enjoy these delicious chocolates...
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