A Day in Bern and the Einstein House

Monday, 5 February, was the last day of our Swiss Travel Passes. After two days in the mountains, we spent it in Bern, the Swiss capital.

The old town from across the river

We began on the hillside across the river from the old town. From up there, we could see the whole of it, a long mass of red-brown roofs on a bend in the river, with the tower of the Minster standing above everything else.

It was a grey, still morning, and the river below was a pale green.

Then we walked down and crossed back towards the old town over a high stone bridge. From the bridge, we looked down on a church with a green spire and the steep tiled roofs of the houses below.

A church with a tall green spire and a clock, above steep red-brown tiled roofs with rows of dormer windows, seen over the stone parapet of a bridge. — A church and the rooftops below the bridge.

Beside the Aare

We went on down to the river. Down at the water’s edge, we came to an old cobbled bridge, and from there we could see the great arch of the high bridge above us, with the river running underneath.

A cobbled bridge with an iron railing in the foreground, looking towards a high stone bridge with one big arch over the river, with old houses on the right. — The arch of the high bridge.

A quiet lane ran along the river, past old houses with gardens and hedges, with more houses climbing the slope on the other side.

A narrow lane beside the river, with old houses and a wooden-roofed building on the left, hedges on the right and houses on the hillside across the water. — A lane beside the river.

After that, we followed a path beside the Aare, under bare trees, with a grassy bank rising on one side. The water was a clear turquoise-green, even on a grey winter day. Further along, another high bridge crossed the river.

The turquoise water of the Aare running past a grassy bank with bare trees, with a high bridge across the river in the distance. — The Aare under the bare trees.

We walked along the river for a while and stopped on a footbridge over it, before going back up into the town.

Through the town

Back up in the town, we came out onto a wide square. In the middle stood an unusual fountain, a tall column covered in moss and plants, with water running down it.

A wide, almost empty square with tall old buildings, and a tall column in the middle covered in moss and dried grasses, wet with water running down it. — A fountain covered in moss.

A little further on, the streets were busy, with red trams passing, café chairs outside and a painted fountain in the middle of the street.

A busy street in Bern with a red tram, a painted fountain, café tables and chairs, and tall buildings with steep roofs. — Trams in the town centre.

Then we came to the Zytglogge, the old clock tower, with a large golden clock near the top and an astronomical clock below it. There was scaffolding around the base of the tower when we were there.

The Zytglogge clock tower in Bern, with a large black and gold clock face high up, an astronomical clock in red, blue and gold below it, and a green spire on top. — The Zytglogge.

The Einstein House

From the clock tower, we walked along the street, under the stone arcades that run along the fronts of the buildings. At number 49 was the Einstein House.

A stone plaque by the entrance says that Albert Einstein wrote his paper on the theory of relativity in this house, between 1903 and 1905. A red sign beside it welcomed visitors to “Einstein’s apartment”, in four languages.

A stone plaque in German saying that Albert Einstein wrote his paper on relativity in this house in 1903 to 1905, beside a red sign reading “Welcome to Einstein’s apartment” in four languages. — The entrance to the Einstein House.

We went inside. The apartment was furnished as a home of that time, with flowered wallpaper, an old sofa with a lace cover, wooden chairs and a round table by the windows.

A room with flowered wallpaper and framed old photographs on the wall, a dark sofa with a lace cover, a small wooden table and a bentwood chair. — Inside Einstein's apartment.

On the walls were old photographs of Einstein. We also watched the short film that was shown there.

Old black and white photographs of Albert Einstein and others in frames on flowered wallpaper. — Photographs on the wall.

Back to Lucerne

Later that day, we were delighted to come across a Thai restaurant. We had a coconut soup, a red curry and a plate of minced meat with rice. It was a lovely find, although the spice level was not quite what we expected.

A table with a bowl of coconut soup with carrots and basil, a bowl of orange curry with coriander, and a plate of rice with spicy minced meat. — A Thai lunch.

By just after four, we were back in Lucerne, at the Hofkirche, the church with two tall spires at the top of a long flight of steps.

A church with two tall, pointed spires and an ornate pale front with a clock, at the top of a wide flight of steps, between old buildings. — The Hofkirche in Lucerne.

That evening, back at our accommodation in Lucerne, I cooked dinner: salmon, a fried egg and salad.

A plate with pieces of fried salmon, a fried egg, green salad leaves and a red chilli. — Dinner that evening.

It was a quieter day than the two before it, with no snow and no mountains, just a long walk through an old city and by its river, and a visit to the rooms where Einstein had lived.