Bern, June 7th outing

We decided to board Tucker and spend the afternoon walking around Bern. We visited the Bern Minster and the Rosengarten.  These are two places we will take visitors.

The Bern Minster is a gothic style cathedral and is also the tallest in Switzerland. Construction began in 1421 and completed in 1893. There are 7 bells, with the biggest one called the"Big Bell" weighing in at 10 tons. All 7 bells only ring a few times a year. And on those special occasions they advise you to wear ear protection.  Since 1944 the bells are electronically rung, apparently a hunchback was killed by the clapper of the Big Bell.

For 5 swiss francs (CHF) you can go to the top of the cathedral. I'm not sure why I thought there would be an elevator, but there was most certainly not an elevator. It's 340 steps up a narrow winding staircase to the top. But the view was worth it! It gives you the best view of the entire city.

Narrow staircase headed up

Weekend Market

The room that housed the Big Bell

You can't see it, but even the bell had elaborate designs on it. 

Every month there's a market with handmade items for sale. Besides this one there were 2 other markets (that we saw) going on.

After the church we walked through Old Town towards the Rosengarten.

We passed by the bear pit.

Michael looking deep in thought

View of the Bern Minster from the Bear Pit.

 And a view of Bern Minster from the Rosengarten.

The Rosengarten has a large field were people can lay out, a kids play area, a restaurant, and a rose garden.

The roses were beautiful. There were lots of different colors and they were huge. I've never seen roses so big. I'm not sure who takes care of the roses, there were plagues next to them with names and dates. Some dated back to the 70s. We are guessing that's the date someone either planted the rose or started sponsoring it.

Our healthy lunches and not so healthy beverages. 

We passed by a Starbucks and I had to get a Mocha. A grande Mocha is 8.50 chf. Expensive but so worth it sometimes. Only Starbucks serves Mochas.

One of the many bike parking lots

On our way to the tram stop we left Old Town. These pictures are a more accurate portal of what most of Bern looks like. There's only cobble stone roads in Old Town.