Bern and the Bern Bears

I visited Bern, the capital of Switzerland, on Monday. It is the fourth largest Swiss city with a population of around 120,000 people. It rained the whole day, but I still really liked Bern a lot. German is the main language in Bern, but English and French are common as well. Albert Einstein actually lived for seven years in Bern, and he reflects on that time in several biographies as being "the fondest years" of his life. Bern became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983.

The first picture seen above is taken from the famous Bern clock tower. Our tour guide made us wait 10 minutes in the rain just to see the hour turn on the clock. It wasn't quite what I was hoping for after standing in the rain.

The second picture is of the famous bears of Bern. I was told there were bears in Bern, but I expected them to be in a zoo. That was not the case. We were crossing the bridge over the river, and there were the bears on the edge of the river in a roomy cage. There were four bears: Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and two baby bears. As I stood over them and watched them, I couldn't stop thinking of the scene in Anchorman when Will Ferrell jumps into the bear pit and says "I immediately regret this decision."

The third picture is taken close to the parliament building overlooking the river. The river forms a horseshoe shape as it winds through Bern. The city itself was very uneven and my ears kept popping all day from the continuous change in altitude.

The fourth picture shows the Bern flag and the Swiss flag. Each Swiss canton has its own flag, and then obviously the country has its own flag. Bern's flag displays (what else) a bear; Geneva's shows an eagle and a key.