Berne in (late) Summer - Aare river, Marzili, views...

View of Bernese Alps from Bundeshaus/Bundesterrasse, September 4th, 2006.


View of Bern and Bernese Alps from Bierhübeli, Friday evening, September 1st, 2006. The building on the right, all wrapped up, is the Bundeshaus, currently being restored and renovated.


A PS on the open-air play about Dällebach Kari (see below): performances are now over for the season. However, the play has been so successful the director and management have decided to do a rerun next summer, very largely with the same cast (almost all of them lay actors and actresses) -- what an achievement! So those of you who have not yet had a chance will be able to try again next summer. :)


Dear friends

It's not every day that one has the above kind of views, nor is it every year that August is a miserable, wet and cold as it was this year. Glad it's behind us! It went out with a couple of lovely days, if nippy, but September has been fabulous so far.

Last Friday (Sept 1st), we sat out on a rooftop in our t-shirts until almost 10pm! And yesterday afternoon (Sept 4th) the Aare river was once again 18°C, flowing slow and clear and simply deliciously refreshing. Air temperature at around 8pm was still 27°C!
Why do I have all these data? because the Marzili has two large displays giving the water temperatures of the river and of the swimming pools and the city has several displays indicating air temperature and time -- very Swiss, I think...


Not many people enjoying the perfect sun and warmth, but those who are there really appreciate the tranquil atmosphere.

Take care, enjoy life as much as you can -- you never know how long it'll last... :)






Blog entry dated August 25, 2006:

Last time I wrote, mid-August 06, we were freezing! Since then, things have been a little less wintry but temperatures have not returned to the summer highs of July (just as well) and there's a decided early-autumn nip in the air.





However, just a week ago, it was warm enough for me and a friend to be sitting in an open-air theatre to watch a biographical play about a famous Bernese man. Dällebach Kari was a barber who lived in the early 20th century. He had his shop in downtown Bern. At the time, everyone knew everyone else -- Berne was a little city. Dällebach was a very special man. Life was hard: he was born with a cleft palate into a large family whose father died when Kari was just three years old. At school he was the butt of cruel jokes. But rather than give in he decided people should laugh at his jokes rather than at his odd mouth. His barber shop was almost always full and he could have enjoyed a modestly comfortable life if only -- he hadn't fallen in love with the wrong girl. Very sad, moving story, exquisitely played.

Here are some photos, not of the play, but of the view from the place where it is still being presented, the Gurten mountain above Bern. As you can see, the weather could have been better. But it WAS better than on these photos, taken more than an hour before the play began. We actually ended up sitting under a canopy of perfectly sparkly stars. I even saw a shooting star just before my friend and I returned to the cablecar that was to take us back down into town. I know that wish will come true! :)

Enjoy!






And this is the stage where Dällebach Kari's life will soon unfold. The round wooden structure in the background has nothing to do with the play but is a viewing tower. Once you've climbed the spiral staircase -- easy steps but still quite a breathtaking exercise -- you can see across Bern and northern Switzerland. On a clear day only the Jura range stops your eye from roaming all over Germany... ;)





Since then, we've seen some downpours of rain but also some spectacularly beautiful weather -- crisp, clear mornings, lovely Indian summery days, colourful evenings and starry nights –– yes, another shooting star, just the other night, but I wasn't fast enough with my camera to catch it... :)




(Entry dated mid-August)
If you scroll down you will see that in mid-June 06 things were rather different than they are now. That's life, I suppose. After the hottest month of July on record we seem to be in the middle of the coldest month of August on record: for the third or fourth day in a row I woke to temperatures of around 10°C and there's snow capping the pre-Alpine peaks (photo further down).

At least it has stopped raining. Yesterday I was worried the river might flood the lower-lying areas of Bern again. But because the cold has put a halt to snowmelt in the Alps, things are not that serious just now. Still, a lot of water is coming down the Aare river -- not safe for swimming (and much too cold to boot)!



The central heating came on at my office a week ago and I have asked the caretaker at home to please switch on the system so that my neighbours and I might be at least moderately comfortable in the evenings! It's mad to be using fuel at a time when oil prices are skyrocketing, but we have no alternative. Our flats have no fireplaces, the buildings are not very well insulated. Ultimately, I'm sure it's more efficient if the central heating system is on rather than if everyone is using ineffectual little heaters, hairdryers or even their kitchen ovens to warm their flats.





It's not all dreich and dreary, though. Late yesterday afternoon, a beautiful rainbow lit up the sky.



The rainbow stayed for quite some time, followed by a spectacular moment when a brilliant sun hit the rooftops of the buildings downtown (my paternal Grandmother would have said it brings more bad weather: 'Sun at six, weather-hex').



Today the sun is bright on the newly snow-capped pre-Alps. No wonder we need the heating on...




With this, I wish you a peaceful, productive day and week.
Take care.
M


******


The following was written on June 16, 2006:

Hi, folks, I'm back.

Summer has truly arrived in Berne (and in much of northern Europe), so I thought I'd share some photos and impressions of what must rank among my very favourite places -- anywhere! It's the river Aare which embraces the oldest parts of the city of Berne. Indeed, the loops it has cut into the fluvial bedrocks are the reason why Berne ever came to be built: it's a natural fortress. (At the end of this entry, I'll give you a few URLs to websites with photos and more information about this city.) And down by the river is a delightful open air pool and public park, the Marzili, which takes its name from the surrounding neighbourhood. (For the linguists out there: the debate re the origins of the word «Marzili» is still ongoing.)

Here's a look back at a few previous summers, in particular the summer of summers, in July/August 2003. Enjoy!

When you reach what is locally known as «z Marzili» [pronounced ts martsEElee], this is what you see: a huge lawn and lots of bathtowels and half-naked people having a good time below the Swiss Houses of Parliament. They tower above the place of pleasure. At least our politicians and hard-working civil servants don't have to go far to cool off! And no-one pays admission -- that's what I don't mind paying taxes for...

(There's even a very convenient funicular railway connecting the centre of the city with the lower-lying Marzili. The ride lasts less than two minutes, people say hello to each other when they get on, and good-bye when they get off -- at least during off-peak times.)





Good swimmers enjoy the privilege of privileges, a swim in the sometimes swiftly-flowing, cool river Aare with its very clean water. Early in the season it runs fast, with lots of meltwater from the Alps and is often a milky turquoise. That's when only the most experienced and hard people go in. As the summer wears on, the water grows clearer until it reaches the clear, dark bottle green of late August/early September. I remember a very long, very hot summer back in the 1980s when I enjoyed my last swim on October 3 or 4 -- bliss! Had to watch my knees, though, because the river had dwindled to a stream.





Local kids soon learn to cope with the river's tricks, and there are a few spots where getting out is made easier.



It can still be tricky on a busy day, when there are about ten thousand people crowding the lawns, and the river is chock-full of swimmers -- and rubber dinghies. I've learnt to avoid the place on those days. Too risky, too rowdy, too. But on a good day, the «Geranium Stop» is the best place to regain dry land.





Last August (2005, that is), the whole area was devastated by the «flood of the century» -- only six years after the previous «flood of the century»! Climate warming is having disastrous effects already... The Marzili had to close for the rest of the season. Other people were much harder hit, having basements and ground floors filled with stinking water and mud that grew as hard as concrete as it dried. Many small craftspeople, artists and freelancers lost their livelihoods. Some of the victims are still not back to normal as I write some ten months later.

When the waters had subsided, I went down there, not to gawp but to see what had happened to all my belongings. I have a cubicle in the compound which I rent for the season. It's very handy as it saves me lugging my swimsuit, towels etc. up and down. I couldn't get in that day (August 25), but when I returned about a week later I found my bag still intact. Mind you, everything was sodden and rather smelly -- an odd, seaweedy kind of smell, and of drying mud -- but not as bad as I had expected. Only my friend's bikini top was lost; we managed to salvage everything else. Lucky us!




This is what the same site looks like on a normal day, like today, Sunday, June 18, about an hour before a pretty strong gale powered through, scattering everything out on the lawn and sending people running for shelter:




Two more from last year, a few hundred yards from the river, taken after the worst of the flood was over:





Well, here's hoping this kind of disaster won't repeat itself. Have a great summer, everyone, and a safe and happy one!
Thank you for your visit.



The URLs I promised, for whose contents I am not responsible:
• the official website of Bern Tourism (in English): http://www.berninfo.com/en/welcome.cfm -- details about the Marzili in the Sports & Leisure page.
• an informative site about Marzili, including water temperatures, weather etc. (in German): http://www.aaremarzili.info
• a website featuring the Marzili (in English) and lots more travel information provided by a travelling couple turned guides: http://europeforvisitors.com/switzaustria/articles/marzili_bern.htm