Bern

Bern is the capital of Switzerland. Many people we talked to online said to skip it ... but we decided we didn't want to. It looks like a great city. It is on the River Aare. It's "old town" is a cobble stoned Medieval town. I think the whole town is a UNESCO Cultural World Heritage Site. It was built in 1191. A fire destroyed it's timber buildings in 1405 and the town was rebuilt of stone. This link will take you to one of MANY sites about Bern. Check it out for more information!! http://www.berninfo.com/en/welcome.cfm

The Old Town: It is agreed by many that this is the best-preserved historic town center in Switzerland. The layout of the streets has been largely unchanged since the 15th century. We could take a walking tour of the old town for 18CHF.

There are many many things to see and do in Bern ... it'll be tough to choose what we do in our limited time!

Zytglogge -- a Medieval clock tower with moving puppets. It's chimes begin at 4 minutes before the hour.

Munstergasse -- a street which has a street market Tuesday and Saturday mornings.

Französische Kirche (French Church) -- the cities oldest church. Originally a Dominican monastic church, it has been a place of worship for French-speaking Protestants since 1623. The attractive Romanesque church is especially notable for its rare frescoed rood screen behind the altar.

Fountains -- There are well over 100 fountains in Bern. 11 of them to this day feature the original statues with their beautiful allegorical figures. These fountains - Gerechtigkeit (Justice), Chindlifresser (Ogre), Zähringen and many more - dating from the 16th century bear testimony to the wealth of the bourgeoisie at that time.

There is a botanical garden (which sounds great), a rose garden, and a zoo. I'm not sure we want to take the time to see these or focus more on the historical and one of a kind things that we could see here.

The Elfenau Estate had its heyday in the 19th century when it provided sanctuary to the Russian Grand Duchess Anna Feodorowna (1781 - 1860). In 1814 the émigré Grand Duchess acquired the Brunnadern Estate including the country house dating from 1735. In 1816 she officially registered the name Elfenau. The City of Bern acquired the Elfenau in 1918 and set up the Municipal Nurseries there.

House of Parliament: Construction work on the House of Parliament (the west wing of today's House of Parliament) started as early as 1852. In 1884 the east wing, mirroring the west wing, was added and in 1902 the whole thing was finally extended into a building complex consisting of three parts. All in all 38 artists from throughout Switzerland are responsible for the decorations featured on the House of Parliament. The new water display with a total of 26 fountains representing the cantons located right in front of the House of Parliament.

Bern Cathedral (Muenster) is Switzerland's largest ecclesiastical building. Construction started in 1421 and for generations thereafter work on this masterpiece continued under a series of different builders. It took until 1893 for the spire to be completed. The portal with its depiction of the Last Judgment is an outstanding feature. The vantage point of this masterpiece is located 344 steps above the entrance in the 100-meter-high cathedral spire. From Switzerland's highest church tower visitors can enjoy magnificent views across the city into the depths of the Bernese Mittelland and of the snow-capped mountains of the Bernese Oberland

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On the way to Bern (which is less than an hour from Le Locle) we should (could) go to Aventicum. It was the Capitol of Roman Switzerland. It was built in the 1st Century AD. The Helveti were a Gaelic Tribe. By the 7th century it was already being mentioned as a "ruin". There is a museum there that is supposed to be great. There have been many archeological findings there: ampitheatre, theatre, temples, city wall, gate, baths.

I am sure that it is somewhere that we could spend a day and still have more to see. But, we won't be able to see everything and if we stopped off here on our way to Bern we could probably see a lot in 3 or so hours. Click on this site to see about the museum, however, it is French so you would have to put it in google intrepretter (link on front page of blog) http://www.avenches.ch/aventicum/fr/Musee/a0.htm.

Here are some pictures