BERN DAYS

Bern, capital of Switzerland - small and accessible. We've been here so many times that we're comfortable getting around. There is an excellent transport system - bus and tram - and then of course because the city is small we walk. Anna's apartment is in Kirchenfeld - literally church in the fields - the long gardens of the apartments slip into the forest. We're continually dipping into the forest and love walking through the trees in the filtered sunlight down to the zoo and to the Aare River that snakes through the city.

Our days are spent ambling around - across the bridge to the old  city where the terraced buildings tumble down to the icy blue-green Aare. The city nestles in the bow of the river and has that festive atmosphere of summer with the restaurants spilling out onto the streets and we have watched with amusement what seems like most of the population floating down the fast-flowing Aare, some of the more adventurous jumping from one of the bridges. I'm longing to do the float but Conal says I'll die of a heart attack - the water temp is still at about 15 - 16C.

Floating down the fast flowing Aare

The people are kind, gentle and friendly with that up-and-down-the-Alps lilt of Swiss German. Walking through Bern with Anna is very much a stop-start affair as she introduces her friends to us. We've been to the flower shop where she'll be having an exhibition of her drawings in September and had coffee at the Einstein cafe a very smart new place that's opened right next to the house where Einstein lived and where 'relatively the best' is written on the saucers.

The city discourages cars and is therefore peaceful and the cobbled streets, ancient buildings with arched, covered walkways lined with all the usual trendy shops but also with tiny places making and selling unusual quality merchandise is fascinating. And the ever present chime of church bells and clocks marks the passing time.

We've been staying in the attic and our view from our window below the eaves is of the garden and the forest - today we start moving again, this time into the mountains for a few days.

View from the balcony of the apartment