A chilled sunset

20 minutes ago...
Always a great way to end the afternoon!

Hanging out in the lift shaft

For anyone following this blog closely (...!), this is the lift shaft connecting the station (here and here) to the heights of the Grosse Schanze.

Market day in Bern

It's cold, it's sunny, and it's market day on Bern's main square!

Unitobler Hof

One of my favourite places in Bern, the Unitobler Hof is a little square hidden away from the main streets, featuring a smooth paved area with stone tables, cool sculptures and on the side, a small enclosed gravel park where old guys play boules in the summer.

Unitobler is the yellow brick building in the photos above, and is so-called because the University of Bern converted the former Toblerone factory building into its Arts & Social Sciences library. There's still a cool Toblerone exhibition in the basement of the library.

For another perspective, the uni has a rooftop webcam with views over the Hof.

Daybreak in Bern

Early this morning in Bern, the first golden rays of winter sun light up the dark and quiet streets.

The best beer in Bern

So after so many serious posts to this blog, it's definitely time to sit down and sup a pint. I can only recommend this place to any visitors to Bern - just out of the old town, over the bridge at the tip of the Aare peninsula. As the name suggests was formerly the town tram depot, and now has a great little microbrewery (find out about the beers on the website). The food is hearty Swiss kitchen, really matching a few good beers on the terrace overlooking the river Aare and the Münster at sunset... ;-) Make mine a Märzen!

Swiss bank accounts

It might sound like a cliché but banks are omnipresent here. One side of Parliament Square is lined by the parliament. Half a side is open space. The remaining two and a half sides are taken up by various heavyweight Swiss banks. Could we say that the ratio of 1:2.5 is the Swiss estimation of the value of politics against money?

Russian photoblog?

Hi to the photoblogging community! It's great to see that we're all linking up around the world. I would be interested to know if anyone knows of a Moscow, St Petersburg or other Russian city photoblog? Grateful for some pointers...

Between two main streets

Bärenplatz in the fog, 5:30pm

Theaterplatz / Zytglogge intersection

On my lunch break - from the left, the Kornhaus, the Stadttheater, and in the fog, the Kursaal Casino. The yellow and red flags are the Bernese banner.

Labor conquers all things

This is also on the state seal of Oaklahoma.

Background of labor omnia vincit

Link to a very short Swiss productivity bar chart

Food for thought

The fog thickens

it's like a pea soup oot there!

here i'm on the münsterplatform

Berner Hauptbahnhof

Rush hour below the platforms in the main railway station

Unitobler & the church on Freiestrasse

When I went to work this morning the whole town was swathed in freezing fog, with the few pastels of sunrise feebly dispersing and the streets unrolling from nowhere in front of me and rolling back up again right behind me... and suddenly this - the Unitobler faculty building, and die Pauluskirche.

Today felt like this

This is the only photo I took today. It's the view from my balcony across the sleeping neighbourhood where I live. I used to live in the old town but I moved out last year because I had enough of living the whole medieval thing, it was great but got claustrophobic. The smokestacks are from the town waste incinerator. The Swiss incinerate everything because they have no space for landfill.

I'm happy because I bought tickets to go see Arab Strap in Fribourg next month. So that's the kind of photo this is, melancholic suburban European happiness ;)

Washday at the Nydeggbrücke

This shot is taken from the Nydeggbrücke at the head of Bern.

Nydeggbrücke, literally the 'nether corner bridge', is the main thoroughfare in and out of the lower old town.

Barges used to tie up at the smaller, lower bridge pictured here, bringing cheese and milk from the Alps. The entrance to the Schifflände, literally 'ship-landing', has been preserved and can be seen behind the tree.

Today was obviously wash-day for the family in the Nydegg bridgehouse!

The Swiss Parliament

Taken last night from the Monbijoubrücke (Monbijou Bridge), you see the Bundeshaus at dusk with the River Aare running below.

There is some good detail in this photo that you can only see when you view it large, the small version above doesn't do it justice (click on the picture).

Kramgasse

It's Sunday and it's bitterly cold, so it's very quiet.

The Swiss Parliament

The north side of the parliament, facing onto the Bundesplatz, or Federal Square


The south side, the top of which is lined with the coat-of-arms of each Swiss canton.


The vaulted arcardes at the botton of the south face, directly underneath the facade with the coats of arms.


A small anti-World Economic Forum protest on Federal Square. The WEF will take place this month in Davos, eastern Switzerland.

The woman's placat translates as "It's not about giving more to the people in the Third World, it's about stealing less from them." (Jean Zeigler)

Zytglogge - Berne clock tower

The east face

Tourists gather to hear the clock strike the hour. They're inevitably disappointed - despite all the grandeur and detail, the king just waves his wand and a little chicken spins round on a wheel! Forewarned is forearmed!
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The west face

The neighbouring chemist (sign says Apotheke) is all lit up for Christmas
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underneath the Zytglogge

post box and phone booths on the right, roasted chestnut stand on the left, and Kramgasse panning off in a slow curve down the hill towards the river

Putting Berne in perspective

This post is to put in perspective some of the photos I've been shooting around the town. Berne is a quaint old Swiss town, founded in 1296, and although in the last 150 years Berne has outgrown it's little loop in the river and modern neighbourhoods have spread out (see computer graphic, below), the heart and soul of Berne remains the old town. You can see from some of the old maps I've fished off the web that the old town really hasn't changed at all, mostly thanks to a group known as the "Citizens of Berne", who have a vast fortune between them and finance all the upkeep and restoration.
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Berne - the lower old town
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A computer model of Berne from the air, looking north and showing clearly how the town has expanded outwith the Aare peninsula.
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A map of Berne from 1353 (i think - MCCCLIII), looking south. You can see by comparing with the two modern pictures above that the original style and layout of the town remains almost completely intact today.

One major change is that the roads became narrower. The width of the arcades is the width of the extensions from the original housing - many of the original buildings were extended four metres towards the centre of the street using stilts to prop up the new facades. Over time this arrangement became permanent, leading to the arcades...

Another major change is that the street level has risen by over two metres, so all around the town there are cellar flap-doors leading down to vaulted caverns which are in widespread used as shops, clubs, restaurants, storerooms, workshops, flats, churches, secret society meeting places...
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An English-language town plan from 1800, with a key to the main buildings
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Unexpected snow in January

trams and buses couldn't get into the town centre and had to let their passengers out to walk

snow on the rooftops of the lower old town

Even Kramgasse didn't look great

the trams and buses couldn't make it but this guy in his covered electric tricycle thought he could

the Swiss army looking glum

the Swiss parliament and the market on the Bundesplatz

Berne railway station

Swiss trains are awesome (you get what you pay for). www.rail.ch

The main thouroughfare
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This is known as "the wave of Berne".

Lorrainebrück (Lorraine Bridge) - Bern in winter

The Lorraine bridge spans the River Aare and connects Berne railway station with the east of Switzerland - out to Lucerne and Zurich. The green-domed building is the Swiss parliament.

Kramgasse in Winter

A typical Bernese fountain, and the No. 12 trolley bus

Münstergasse Christmas lights

Cathedral Street in late November

The Bernese Cathedral, from Münstergasse (Cathedral Street)

Berner Münster (Bern Cathedral)

The Berne Cathedral viewed from a corner of Cathedral Square. The impressive gothic church is undergoing restoration, the result of which can already be seen to great effect on the arches at the front entrance. Interesting is that just below the spire, where the white scaffold is, the "cathedral masters" (a married couple) have an apartment. They sell entrance tickets when you climb to the top levels and are on hand to tell visitors about the cathedral's history. The lady who lives and works up there told me that for the best thing about living in the Münster is waking up every morning, opening the curtain, looking out and realising where they are and what they are doing to earn a living.

Münsterplatz 180-degree panorama

Münsterplatz - Cathedral Square houses

Münsterpark autumn trumpeter