Continuing our awesome tour of Switzerland, we went to the capital Bern next. We got on the morning train and were there in a bit over an hour. First stop at the train station was for a fresh croissant and coffee or Red Bull in my case.
From there we hopped on a tram and went to the Einstein museum first. We were fans of National Geographic's Genius series about Einstein and MsFlamingo was very excited to check this out.
Love Swiss precision, 57-minutes exactly!
Up an awesome entry way.
The museum started with an explanation of the growth of Bern and Jewish integration into society as a lead up to WWII and Einstein's role in the Jewish community.
Next a section about his early life, school and first wife. Below is a mark of his academic performance.
Some good animations explaining the Special Theory of Relativity.
More examples of what domestic life was like and the troubles that afflicted his first marriage.
A family tree showing the strange relationship tree with Einstein's second wife who was a 2nd cousin.
A real Nobel Prize!
The museum wrapped up with the history about Einstein's emigration to the US due to Nazi Germany and the role he played in helping get the Manhattan Project green-lit.
After the museum we headed to meet Zuerichspotter's godmother for lunch next to the capitol building. Below is the view outside the museum.
Walking through the old town parts of Bern.
There are bigger farmer's markets on the weekend, but these stands had great produce.
Nice flower arrangements.
We went to lunch at Cafe Federal which is literally across from the capitol building and with the amazing weather, we sat on the patio. What a view!
We had a nice and fresh salad to start, get those greens in!
And the star attraction, the entrecôte with cafe de Paris butter, was absolutely amazingly flavorful, tender and not fatty. Bravo!
After a great lunch, it was time for a tour of the capitol building itself.
The fountains were really cool and each one representing a canton of Switzerland.
The back side of the capitol, gorgeous architecture.
Great views of the Alps.
Then we went through security and were into the main central atrium of the capitol building. It was beautiful and none of my pictures capture it properly.
Then we got a very special tour of the chamber of one of the houses. Similar to the way the US is setup, this is the equivalent chamber to the House of Representatives.
A panorama of the house.
One of the several rooms for more private discussions of the politicians.
Then we went to the cafe for a coffee, it has stunning views of the Alps.
What an amazing tour and we are so thankful for the experience.
We then took the train home and took power naps to get ready for a family and friends dinner at the house that evening.
Trip links:
- Budapest
- Onyx
- Zurich
- Lucerne
- Bern
- Dux
- Escriba
- Xerta
- Lasarte
- A.O.C.
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