The Adventure

I was planning on spending the day in Switzerland, but my time was cut short by the cold weather and I decided my time would be more pleasantly spent further south. However, I did still manage to spend a bit of time in Bern before I caught the train to Domodossola, Italy. I actually arrived quite early in the morning, but was very underprepared for the cold weather, so spent a while inside the train station (which was still cold) before committing fully to heading out. Bern being the capital of Switzerland was somewhat surprising to me. It’s a much smaller city than Zürich, for example, and definitely feels smaller too. The area of Bern that I was able to explore in my short time felt relatively untouched by the present, a preserved image of history. Though I don’t know the exact ages of what I saw, the style of the statues and buildings came from a time when there was a bit more focus on complexity and detail. It was also very colourful, even on a cold, grey day.

Highlight

The highlight of this short trip was definitely when I made my way toward the river running through Bern. The foggy atmosphere that came with the cold, grey day was especially prevalent by the water. Like within the city, it was still strangely colourful despite the weather. In fact, I can’t remember every seeing water naturally the colour that the river was that morning. The water seemed lighter, more saturated, and less brown than a lot of rivers and lakes I’ve encountered before. Also, the bridge across the river was a great vantage point where I could see more of the city from a bit below. I wasn’t crammed within the dense buildings and could spot several steeples poking out over the terracotta roofs of the old city. Of course, I ended up heading towards these churches afterwards.

Concluding Thoughts

Bern was a city that I fell in love with immediately, despite the short visit. I’ve already promised myself I’ll revisit another time when it’s warmer. After seeing many cities in Europe, it stood out as one of the cities I would enjoy spending significant time in. I recommend taking a walk around Bern, and I, too, look forward to visiting again in the future.