"We learned of Bern’s history and the intricacies of its construction"
"The crystal, winding river and old red rooftops would surely be missed."
Alas, our final dinner with the rest of our tour group had come. The restaurant, the Kornhause Keller, was a grand wine cellar with murals all over the walls. A fitting end to a magnificent tour and a final farewell. The food, the wine, the company…a bittersweet denouement to an experience that had taken us to new heights, literally and figuratively. In the twilight hours we strolled around the parliament grounds to watch the fountains spring up again, and sat to watch the sun conclude its appearance for the day. The crystal winding river and old red rooftops would surely be missed.
Day 11
The rest of the afternoon was ours, so we began with the nearby bear park and caught several glimpses of the bumbly, dozing creatures. We could understand why the Bernese were such fans. We then trekked back into the midst of main street. We passed dozens of brand name shops along the main thoroughfare, each calling out with different colors and patterns all vying for attention from passers by. We were intent on finding a watch to bring home with us, since, well, it’s Switzerland. How could we not? Plus, we had already accumulated more than our fair share of chocolate. So many luxurious designs from which to pick! It was mind-boggling to discover all the different ways people have found to display time on our wrists. A beautiful piece with a mother of pearl face with a rose and silver band came with us after much deliberation. We then came upon a hole-in-the-wall gem of a museum, the Klingedes Museum, that housed hundreds of pieces from throughout the ages. The facilitator took us downstairs to their main vault which contained innumerable other brass curiosities that he allowed us to try out. What a delightful diversion it was.
Our last official tour day was ushered in with exquisite weather and a comfortable breeze to keep us cool. We embarked on a city tour down the cobblestone streets during which we learned of Bern’s history and the intricacies of its construction. The lack of overwhelming traffic caused us to almost forget that this was indeed the capital of Switzerland. A refreshing change of pace from our American cities. We passed an old clock that puts on a show every hour and made sure to stop and watch a few times during our time in Bern. Our tour ended at a biergarten for a casual Q&A with our tour guide for the morning. We made sure to ask all the questions we could about the architecture, the daily life of Bern, anything that crossed our minds.
