5. Paul Klee, Cats, and Bridges: A Day in Bern 9/1/2022

BERN!!! Yet another totally charming, well-preserved city…with a population of about 150,000. We started our day with a very light breakfast at Einstein Café. There are a lot of references to Einstein here in Bern since he lived here for about two years but supposedly developed his theory of relativity here. We sort of stumbled on the café as we walked through another area of arcaded streets as we headed to the Paul Klee Museum. The glasses have various mathematical formulas on them harkening to Einstein’s work. 

Then we began our marathon walking day; roughly 20,000 steps and 9 reported flights (but I think there were a lot more than what the iPhone recorded)… and a lot of uphill paths. Our destination was the Paul Klee Museum, which in addition to having a delightful show of the artist’s work, complete with a lot of areas for visitors to participate in creating their own Klee versions of geometric patterns and other activities for kids—is a phenomenal work of architecture. The building was designed by Renzo Piano. Apparently, Klee’s daughter-in-law donated most of her inheritance of about 700 works by Klee to the city of Bern.. and other documents were donated by other family members. Klee was very enamored of children and their art.. and seeing so many of his works in one place really conveys that. Klee had a very beloved (and big) cat who is in a lot of photos of the artist. So the curators had a delightful silhouette of a cat scattered at the base of several walls almost sneaking around the space. A good form of whimsy.

The building is a series of three undulating steel “hills” or “waves” that “emerge” from the ground and blend into the landscape. I’m generally more interested in more urban museums and have problems with buildings that are unto themselves “sculptures.” But this one really stands out and yet is modest in the way it becomes part of the landscape. Even if you’re not a Paul Klee fan (which I happen to be), the building is spectacular enough to warrant a visit. The inside includes wonderfully expansive exhibit space, places for concerts and dance performances. 

The walk – which was pretty intense was worth it, although perhaps we should have just taken the bus from downtown. No… definitely worth the walk.. which included an elevation change of about 400’ (40 story building). The walk took us through some beautiful (yet more) neighborhoods and vistas from bridges. Lots more red-tiled houses and complexes. The location of the museum is on the outskirts of the town with some commanding views of the local terrain.

From there we walked to Rosengarten Restaurant which is situated in Bern’s Rose Garden – with spectacular views of the Old Town – and a life-size sculpture of Paul Klee seated on a bench – you can sit next to him—which many people did to take selfies (not us!) We had lunch out on the terrace and then braced ourselves for our walk (downhill this time) back to town. But then we decided to head to Dampfzentrale which is a former power fossil fuel power plant that has been transformed into performance spaces and other art venues. Apparently, the city was going to demolish the building but there were a lot of protests regarding preservation and artist demand to create a cultural venue. The artists took over the building and squatted for some time and the authorities eventually relented. 

The walk eventually took us down to the river where once again people were swimming and floating on rafts and totally enjoying the water and the weather (By the way, we have really lucked out thus far…. No rain, a lot of sun or partial sun and temperatures in the low 70s – perfect travel weather…. But we think we will hit rain and hotter temperatures in Geneva tomorrow.)

Then as we headed back to the hotel—once again uphill—we reached a point with a pretty steep incline and were totally exhausted. Thought we’d never make it up… But then we spied a funicular and hopped on—with everyone else who needed to get to the top of the incline!! Saved!! 

Arrived back at the hotel exhausted… but then it was time for dinner which we decided to have at one of the hotel’s three restaurants. We picked Noumi— the hip restaurant whose menu is focused on interesting fusions of gastronomy.  Should have taken notes, but in general we had the Lebanese beef tartare with all sorts of spices and herbs… the second starter was dumplings prepared in a Filipino style. The main dishes we chose included cod prepared with pomegranates and some other goodies… and charred salmon with some lemony butter sauce and yet more goodies. 

Okay – ending now.. More on Bern tomorrow and our drive to Geneva.. Onward to the wedding.

Fern