Thursday, May 7, 2009

Girls Trip Part 3: Bern, Switzerland

Grammie, Marion, Betti, and I arrived in Bern late Monday afternoon. After checking into our hotel, we got started on our tour of the Old Town of Bern.

First stop, the Bern cathedral, or Bern Münster.


The Moses fountain in the square in front of the cathedral. Bern is filled with fountains- they are everywhere. Apparently they were added in the 16th century to show the power and wealth of the city.

Betti was hungry so, while we fed her, Marion enjoyed chasing pigeons in the square.


We continued towards the Zytglogge, or clock tower, after Betti finished her bottle.

The Zytglogge clock is one of the three oldest clocks in Switzerland.

Down the street from the clock tower we ran into a market and a street musician.

Marion was just itching to dance, every limb was twitching. But for some reason she held back. Could my social butterfly be getting a touch of shyness?

We were pretty tired after our walk so we headed back to our hotel to order room service, aka a picnic in our room. Marion loved room service!

The next day we went to the bear pit.


We arrived a little early so we had lunch at the Altes Tramdepot restaurant located in the tourist center. If you go there, try their beer. Good stuff! Marion enjoyed the lunch and her new hat. I couldn't resist grabbing it in the kiosk also located in the tourist center at the bear pit.

After lunch, it was time to see the only bear left in the pit, Pedro. The city of Bern is building a new bear pit in response to years of complaints that the old bear pit is inhumane.

Pedro woke up from a nap ready to eat. He made his way over to where we were standing and sat in front of us, obviously used to the eating ritual. We had purchased food for him and were ready to feed the old bear. Pedro was visibly tired and moved very slowly. But he was also hungry.

Pedro preferred to have the food tossed into his mouth, rather than on the ground in front of him. When you are a 28 year old bear, I guess you earn that preference!

Sadly, I just learned that the bear pits are now closed because Pedro passed away. Rest in peace Pedro, nice meeting you.

We came home after the bear pits after an exhausting, but enjoyable trip. We saw a lot in our short trip and loved every minute of it!

5 comments:

Chantal said...

Bern is a beautiful city. Was the scaffolding off the cathedral yet? I thought they were moving those bears...

mrsmac said...

The scaffolding was still around the top of the cathedral. And the new bear bit should be open in October! I read that two new bears will be moved there when it opens.

Hoppy said...

The clock tower is beautiful. What are the lower dials for? Glad you guys had such a great trip! Love to all.

grammie said...

Ahhh...sad to hear about Pedro.
We all enjoyed seeing and feeding him. The new home for the bears
will be amazing and is being constructed along the river, next to the bear pit. It will be a very natural setting.

We had a fun time together and I'm
so happy we decided at the last
minute to have a "girls weekend"

Meghan did a fantastic job being our tour guide, and with driving.
We had a blast and made great memories :)

Hugs and Love to all,
Mom

caitlin said...

Poor PEdro :( Just think, you could've given him his last meal.