Bern 2

Here are a few more looks at Bern in the spring.
The 1st picture is taken on the hill across the river at the bottom of the U bend within which Bern was built. You can see a few sections of the Aare, with the upstream section along the treeline to the left. The section of river right of center is flowing downstream, away from you.
The 2nd picture is in the Rosengarten, not far from where the previous picture was taken. I'm told there are hundreds of varieties of roses here,. April is too early for roses, but spring flowers and flowering trees are are here in abundance.
The heraldic animal of Bern is the bear. It seems no one really knows how that came about. But for centuries, bears have been kept in enclosures by the river. The 4th picture is one view.
The 5th picture is take from down at river level. Across the way is a weir that control flow and provides for water power for early mills. The houses down here by the river were the "low rent district" where the less well off lived. This was a flood zone. In fact, the lowest houses still flood each year. You can get a sense of how far above the river the main part of town is.Read more