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Bookmark & shareA Top Day in Bern
Every time I visit Bern I pinch myself. Can this cutesy picture-postcard old town with 6km (3.7mi) of arcaded stone streets and a distinctly provincial, laid-back air really be the capital of Switzerland? My day starts with a meander around those very cobbled streets, covered arcades and decorative fountains that make it so extraordinarily charming - a precious World Heritage Site protected by Unesco, no less. Extra time is allowed for Gerechtigkeitsgasse, a particularly lovely road with myriad art and antique galleries, antiquarian bookshops, little shops specialising in funky house design and some darling fashion boutiques - Alpin, with those gorgeous mix 'n' match dresses by Nathalie Schweizer, is my favourite. Ahh! Four minutes to one. Time to watch figurines dance in the hour on Bern's legendary Zytglogge (Clock Tower) before lunch at Kornhauskeller - part 18th-century granary and market hall, and an old favourite. Later I stroll past the series of folk figures frolicking on fountains since 1545; past the bears catching apples in the Bärengraben (bear pit); and out of town to Bern's Guggenheim. Sucker that I am for modern art and contemporary architecture, Renzo Piano's Zentrum Paul Klee - three perfect ocean waves sculpted in metal and glass - really does it for me. My dinner choice is riverside and sticks with the same theme - the sleek glass cube of Schwellenmätteli on the Aare is the most cutting-edge window in Bern.
Author: Nicola Williams
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